Protest Against Segregation at Fairyland Park, 1961-1964
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Fairyland Park was a Kansas City institution between 1923 and 1977, but the park did not admit African Americans (with the exception of one day per year) until 1964. Kansas City community college student Gloria Newton worked with other students and community leaders to organize the first protest against segregation at the park in 1961. In that year, adult members of the NAACP and CORE parked their cars at the entrances of the park and refused to move unless they were allowed to entre. Each driver was arrested and spent the night in jail, but this "park-in" protest inspired other protests that would eventually compel the park's management to change their policy. A key turning point came in 1963, when popular opinion turned against the park after the mass arrest of white and black protesters.
Images
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio