African-American History

Trace the state’s rich African-American heritage at cultural sites including the Old Courthouse in St. Louis, the Black World History Museum and the home of the famous St. Louis ragtime composer Scott Joplin. Kansas City’s 18th & Vine Historic District offers tours at the American Jazz Museum and Kansas City’s Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

The Black World History Museum in St. Louis is the second of its kind in the country and is dedicated to African-Americans who were either born in Missouri or who spent a significant amount of their lives in the state. The museum tells the story of such prominent history-makers as Josephine Baker, Dred and Harriet Scott, James Milton Turner, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Clark Terry and William Wells Brown. The museum also features life-size likenesses, a slave cabin, historical artifacts, documents and videos.

Home to one of the most influential court decisions prior to the Civil War, St. Louis’ Old Courthouse showcases the courtrooms where Dred Scott’s suit for freedom began.

Scott, who as a slave had lived for a time in free territory, sued for his freedom in Missouri. While the court in St. Louis ruled in his favor, Scott lost his case in an appeal that went before the Supreme Court in 1857. Scott died in 1858 a free man after being purchased and freed by St. Louisan Taylor Blow.

The case focused national attention on the slavery issue, and permanent exhibits at the Courthouse explain the significance of the Scott decision in our country’s history.

Scott’s gravesite is located in Calvary cemetery.

At the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis, the “Seeking St. Louis” permanent exhibit highlights prominent African-Americans who shaped the city we know today, and provides a look at the stories of people who built St. Louis amid powerful currents of change.

The Scott Joplin House State Historic Site in St. Louis, former home of the famous ragtime pianist, features exhibits on Joplin’s life and work. Characterized by its jaunty rhythms and whimsical mood, ragtime music was the first original composition music America could call its own, and Joplin was the “King of Ragtime.” It was from this modest flat that Joplin produced some of his better known compositions, including “The Entertainer,” “Elite Syncopation,” “March Majestic,” and “Ragtime Dance.”

In the early 1900s, jazz influences from New Orleans blended with Joplin’s established ragtime, creating the unique sound that became known as the St. Louis blues, termed after W.C. Handy’s immortal tune by the same name, which has gone on to become the most recorded blues song in history. St. Louis blues can still be heard today along the cobblestone streets of Laclede’s Landing in the restored 19th Century warehouses, or in the historic Soulard neighborhood in blues clubs tucked away in red brick buildings.

Born in the speak-easies, dance halls and cabarets in the 1920s, jazz music flourished in Kansas City in the 1930s, even as other cities went dark due to Prohibition. Legends such as Count Basie, Andy Kirk, Joe Turner, Hot Lips Page and Jay McShann all played in the Historic 18th & Vine District, the same place that Charlie Parker began his ascent to fame.

The American Jazz Museum chronicles the stories of Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. At the museum, sample the works of more than 100 recordings of the greatest jazz ever played and experiment with the many sounds jazz offers in a studio-like environment. The adjacent Blue Room plays host to living history throughout the week as local musicians continue Kansas City’s jazz tradition.

The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum shares a lobby with the American Jazz Museum and pays homage to one of baseball’s (and Kansas City’s) true icons, Buck O’Neil. O’Neil, former player and manager of the Kansas City Monarchs, is one of many well-known names highlighted at the museum, along with greats such as Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. The museum displays artifacts, photographs, uniforms, equipment and other Negro Leagues memorabilia. Computer stations feature film clips of the players and how they dealt with adversity on and off the field, James Earl Jones narrates an original documentary, and the Field of Legends baseball diamond contains 12 life-size bronze sculptures of some of the great Negro Leagues players.

For decades the Mutual Musicians Foundation, founded in 1904 as the Black Musicians Union Local 627, has been the after-hours meeting place for some of Kansas City's most talented jazz performers. Designated as a National Historic Landmark, late-night jam sessions are still held on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Black Archives of Mid-America, also located in the historic 18th & Vine District, is the largest repository of artifacts documenting the African-American experience in the four-state area of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. The archives’ artifacts cover every facet of African-American culture from music, art, theater and education to the military, medicine, sports, religion, and community affairs. Newspaper clippings, periodicals, books, personal papers, photographs and oral histories are housed in the archives, including the original post-Civil War Ordinance, which freed slaves in the State of Missouri, as well as private correspondence of George Washington Carver.

The Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center, named for one of Missouri’s great political and social activists, is a museum dedicated to the legacy of Kansas City’s early African-American pioneers. The museum features exhibits, films, crafts, workshops, theatrical performances and special ceremonies.

The Benjamin Banneker School in Parkville is one of the earliest remaining segregated schools in the state. Constructed in 1885 with the assistance of students and staff of Park College, the one-room brick building served the community until about 1902, when a larger facility was constructed. Later used as a residence, the building was eventually abandoned until local citizens decided to restore and preserve it as a museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Two mansions with strong ties to the Civil War exist in Lexington. James Hicklin, owner of 18 plantations, had his mansion built with quarters for his slaves located behind the mansion. The Oliver Anderson mansion offers first-hand evidence of the battle between the North and the South. The refurbished mansion shows evidence of wartime with bullet holes throughout the house and bloodstains on the floor.

In Sedalia, music lovers learn about Scott Joplin and his life at the Scott Joplin Archives. Proud to be called the “Cradle of Ragtime,” Sedalia was home to Joplin in his composing heydey, when he wrote the famous “Maple Leaf Rag” that catapulted him to fame. The Maple Leaf Room, located on the campus of the State Fair Community College, houses hundreds of ragtime treasures, including photos, sheet music, tapes, scrapbooks, letters and even the bar from the original Maple Leaf Club, where Joplin was often heard playing. Every June, Sedalia plays host to the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival featuring some of the world’s finest ragtime musicians, playing in the same spot where Joplin played.

The Old Cooper County Jail and Hanging Barn in Boonville was completed in 1848 at the hands of slaves who retrieved stone quarried from the Missouri River. The very jail they built would be their holding place until the annual New Year’s Day sale, when they were auctioned off to white landowners. Visible remnants of those days can be seen in the jail, including the shackles that chained the slaves to the wall.

Members of the 62nd and 65th United States Colored infantries established Lincoln University in Jefferson City as a school in 1866 after pooling their money. Most were uneducated former slaves, and their stipulations for the school stated it should benefit freed African-Americans, be located in Missouri, and should combine study and labor. Lincoln University is the oldest historically black college west of the Mississippi.

Columbia is the home of John William Boone, more affectionately known as “Blind Boone.” Born free to a runaway slave in 1864, Boone lost his sight as an infant but rose to become one of Missouri’s most famous musicians. Besides a classical repertoire, Boone played plantation melodies, religious hymns and ragtime. His home is on the National Register of Historic Places.

In Laclede, learn about the military career and African-American ties of Gen. John “Black Jack” Pershing, one of the highest-ranking military officers in U.S. history, at the Gen. John J. Pershing Boyhood Home State Historic Site. Prior to serving as the commanding general of American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, Pershing was the First Lieutenant of the 10th Calvary, a black regiment, dubbed the Buffalo Soldiers by the Cheyenne Indians. Gen. Pershing was given his nickname, “Black Jack” by West Point Cadets as a result of his past command of the black soldiers. A statue of “Black Jack” stands next to the home surrounded by tablets naming war veterans. Inside Prairie Mound School, an exhibit gallery displays artifacts from his childhood, military career and numerous accomplishments.

At the George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond, visitors can trace Carver’s life from his birth through his youth at the Carver farm, to his role as an artist, educator and humanitarian, as well as his world renowned work as a scientist. The park consists of 210 acres of the original 240-acre Moses Carver homestead, and includes a bust of the agronomist, the birthplace site, boyhood statue, William's Pond, 1881 Moses Carver dwelling and the Carver family cemetery.

The American Saddle Bred Horse Museum in Mexico highlights the life and work of Tom Bass, with exhibits that include an extensive range of equestrian memorabilia. Born into slavery, Bass gained notoriety working with and training horses as well as having a smooth riding style earning him national recognition. Bass was instrumental in establishing the American Royal Horse Show in Kansas City and was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians in 1999. A bronze bust of Bass is displayed on the third floor Capitol Rotunda in Jefferson City.