![]() ![]() Project Description Sample of an Autochrome photograph. As reform efforts swept in and the Pendergast Years faded away, so did many aspects of the city's Jazz Age identity. The Pendergast Years brought historical highs and lows to Kansas City, and the aftermath of Pendergast's downfall in 1939 eventually had a moderating effect on both. Kansas City-although in the midst of something resembling a golden age in so many ways-also became known as America's "wide-open" town, where mainstream commerce and high-brow culture intermingled with the gambling, bootlegging, embezzlement, election fraud, bribes, and prostitution that were inextricably linked to the activities of political bossism. Boss Tom, the namesake of this website, overshadowed Kansas City and exerted influence on many of the best and worst aspects of its history throughout his reign. Pendergast (or simply "Boss Tom"), an unelected dealmaker and leader of the "goat" faction of the local Democratic Party, and longtime rival of Shannon's "rabbits," consolidated control of Kansas City's machine politics and ruled Kansas City's government and criminal underworld with impunity. Truman Library and Museum.įor nearly a decade and a half between 1925-1939, political boss Thomas J. Kansas City had all of them and produced such notorious figures as the "rabbit" Democratic boss Joe Shannon, Italian North End leader Johnny Lazia, mobster Charlie "the Wop" Carollo, and the boss of "Little Tammany," Cas Welch. Of course, many of the most notorious memories from Kansas City in the Jazz Age and Great Depression relate to the same characteristics that the era is remembered for nationally-mobsters and ward bosses, speakeasies and bootleg liquor, Tommy Guns and massacres. This is to say nothing of the famous jazz musicians and baseball stars of the Negro Leagues, among whom were bandleader Bennie Moten, saxophonist Charlie Parker, pitcher Satchel Paige, and so many others. In the midst of such cultural florescence, Kansas City seemed to have a knack for attracting or raising famous names: author Ernest Hemingway, who wrote for the Kansas City Star Walt Disney's first animation studio painter Thomas Hart Benton pathbreaking female lawyer Mary Tiera Farrow architect Nelle Nichols Peters President Harry S. A flourishing nightlife scene grew up around the African American community at 18th & Vine St., where a unique "Kansas City style" of jazz emerged. ![]() People with diverse backgrounds further enriched Kansas City, as prominent women and racial minority leaders confronted traditional legal and political barriers to progress. Its economic achievements could be seen in extensive railroad connections, the second-busiest stockyards in the world, a world-class garment industry, a plethora of national conventions, innovative and trend-setting suburban communities, and a rapidly growing population. ![]() ![]() Such nostalgia stems from the confluence of several factors, not the least of which was its central location in the continental United States and the successful melding of its distinctive Old West "cowtown" cultural roots with a modern environment of art deco skyscrapers and avant-garde cultural institutions. In terms of cultural achievements, economic dynamism, and national relevance, the 1920s are often remembered as a pinnacle in Kansas City's history. Jackson County Courthouse and City Hall, 1936. ![]()
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