Institution

Paseo Baptist Church 100 Year Anniversary Program

Paseo Baptist Church started as the Vine Street Baptist Church located on the 1800 Block of Vine Street before moving to 25th and Paseo. Under his expansion plan, $250,000 was raised to build the current structure and the name of the church was changed to Paseo Baptist Church. The church's outreach ministries grew significantly under the leadership of Reverend Daniel Arthur Holmes who was at the forefront of Kansas City's civic engagement scene until his retirement.

Paseo Baptist Church 

This driving tour includes several of the most historically-significant African American churches and church-adjacent institutions in and around the 18th and Vine district. In addition to long-standing institutions such as St. Stephen Baptist Church and St. Monica Catholic Church, the tour also includes the site of the now-demolished Holy Name Catholic Church, which played a key role in the 1968 riots that consumed much of Kansas City, and the former location of the Watkins Brothers Funeral Home, the proprietors of which were both highly prominent political and social activists.

St. Stephen Baptist Church was founded in 1903 by Reverend James Wesley Hurst who began his ministry preaching on a street corner in the neighborhood of Belvidere Hollow on the corner of Independence Avenue and Charlotte Street. The small church's first permanent location was established soon after at 604 Charlotte, after members of Hurst's small but growing congregation working in the evening after they had completed their regular jobs in order to construct the building. Upon completion in 1905, the church would remain at that corner through years of growth until 1921, when the size of the congregation prompted a move to a new venue, a brick building purchased at 9th and Harrison. Around this time, Reverend Hurst passed away, and the congregation members served as lay ministers and leaders for the next two decades.In July of 1936, Reverend Raymond J. Jordan became the second pastor of St. Stephen. On February 15, 1938, however, the 9th and Harrison location was destroyed in a fire. Members came together in support of their church once again, and Reverend Jordan acquired space at the northwest corner of The Paseo and Truman Road, which at that time was a renovated dance hall. Work began on converting the space to the needs of the congregation, an endeavor that Reverend Jordan was unable to see complete as he passed away in 1944. Later that year, Pastor John Wesley Williams became the leader of the congregation, ushering in a period of growth for St. Stephen Baptist Church.Reverend John Wesley Williams was a renowned civil rights activist who served as pastor of this church from 1944 to 1983. Born in Houston, Texas, on January 2nd, 1906, Williams was one of twelve children born to a Baptist minister and his wife. Williams chose to follow his father in ministry, receiving an A.B., a Bachelor's of Theology, and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Conroe Normal and Industrial College, as well as attending the University of Kansas City (Now UMKC). Furthermore, he received an honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree from Western Baptist College in Kansas City, Missouri, and an honorary L.L.D. Degree from Union Baptist Seminary in Houston. In his early career, he preached at several churches throughout Texas, meeting his wife Marena during this time. In 1944, Reverend Williams and his wife moved to Kansas City, where he became the third pastor of St. Stephen Baptist Church.In addition to being responsible for numerous improvements to the church itself, such as remodeling and other expansions to the building, Reverend Williams was highly active in the pursuit of community betterment. During his tenure at St. Stephen, he served as part of many committees, councils, and other groups advancing various causes in Kansas City and the world at large. Beginning in 1961, Reverend Williams founded and became President of the Greater Kansas City Baptist and Community Hospital Association, Inc., which was responsible for the creation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Hospital. In 1970, Reverend Williams was appointed to the White House Conference on Children and Youth and served a two-year term on the President's Advisory Council of Economic Opportunity. He also served in leadership roles in numerous Baptist organizations on a local, national, and international level. Through it all, Reverend Williams continued to serve as a leader for St. Stephen Baptist Church until he left the role in 1983, passing away on April 22, 1988. In 1991, a statue of Reverend Williams was erected in front of St. Stephen, on the traffic island in the middle of The Paseo. The plaque on the base commemorates Williams as a leader in his faith, his community, and his nation.The congregation has hosted numerous civil rights leaders throughout its history, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s first visit to Kansas City on April 11, 1957. King had just been featured on the cover of Time magazine for his leadership role in the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott that began when Claudette Colvin and later Rosa Parks were arrested for challenging segregation. King utilized his sudden rise to national attention by traveling to over fifty cities in the spring and summer of that year. King visited Kansas City again in the spring of 1958, speaking at Sumner High School. Inspired by visits by national civil rights leaders, as well as the actions of Montgomery and other communities, African Americans in Kansas City began challenging segregation in small groups. In Wichita, African Americans led a successful sit-in protest against racial discrimination at the Dockhum drugstore lunch counter in the summer of 1958. This success inspired African Americans in Kansas City to organize a formal and sustained boycott of five downtown department stores that also drew the color line. By the following spring, each of the five Kansas City department stores agreed to serve all patrons at their restaurants. King would visit Kansas City four more times, including a short speech at the downtown airport between flights just months before he was assassinated.

Currently located in a building on the northwest corner of Truman Road and The Paseo, St. Stephen Baptist Church has long been a fixture of the Black community in Kansas City. Founded in 1903, St. Stephen Baptist Church was created by Reverend James Wesley Hurst on a street corner in the neighborhood of Belvidere Hollow. Since its inception, the congregation has weathered fires, changes in leadership, and multiple changes of venue before arriving at its current location. After a 1938 fire consumed the previous location, the congregation purchased and remodeled a dance hall on the northwest corner of The Paseo and Truman Road, where they have remained since 1945. In 1957, Martin Luther King Jr. made the first of his six visits to Kansas City by addressing a crowd of around 750 people at this church. Across the street from the building, on an island in the middle of The Paseo, there is a statue of notable Baptist and civil rights leader Reverend John Wesley Williams, who served as pastor of St. Stephen from 1944 to 1983. Though the church has continued to experience ups and downs in recent years, the efforts of Reverend Williams and others throughout the history of the church have made sure that St. Stephen will remain a landmark of the 18th and Vine Area.

St. Stephen Baptist Church and Reverend John Wesley Williams Statue 

According to information published by the African-American History Trail of Kansas City and the official St. Monica website, the institution that is now known as Saint Monica Catholic Church was founded in 1910. A year prior, Bishop John J. Hogan and Father Cyprian Sauer sought to establish a Catholic mission to serve the African-American community in Kansas City. After being appointed pastor, Father Sauer gathered thirty-five African-American Catholics to form the first congregation. However, the congregation had no brick-and-mortar gathering place, and the poverty of the area prompted Father Sauer to seek funding help from elsewhere. According to a Black Catholic Centennial Celebration Souvenir Booklet held by the Black Archives of Mid-America, "[Father Sauer] decided to write to Mother Katherine Drexall (sic) who was known for her generosity to poor Indian and Black Missions. When months passed without hearing from her, Father Cyprian, persevering in prayer, appealed to St. Monica, a Black woman, who was known for her long years of prayer for the conversion of her son, St. Augustine. He promised her, if he would get financial help, the mission would be dedicated in her honor. It would be named St. Monica's. . . . Exactly one week later he heard from Mother Drexall (sic). She came to Kansas City, and with Father Cyprian, picked the site of 17th and Lydia for the location of the church and school. She presented him with a check for $8000 for the purchase of the property which consisted of two cottages."Three years later, however, the buildings became too worn to continue housing the congregation, prompting a temporary move to Saint Joseph Sanctuary at 19th and Harrison. Through fundraising efforts by Father Cyprian, the Catholic Club, and a $3000 donation from Mother Drexel, a two-story building was constructed on the site, with the congregation moving in on October 26, 1913. The top floor of the building housed the church, with the first floor and basement serving as the school. The new construction also included a convent in the back of the building and a separate cottage for priests. Around the same time, the Society of St. Benedict the Moor was founded to help disadvantaged families with the cost of sending their children to the school. In 1927, the St. Monica Institute for Girls opened, with later expansions including boys, though it closed ten years later due to availability of better facilities elsewhere.Due to an expanding congregation, the church moved buildings on January 27th, 1940, taking up residence in what had been St. Joseph Church at 19th and Harrison. This prompted the church to be renamed to St. Joseph's, though the school element remained St. Monica's. The school was expanded to include a high school, with an initial graduation held in 1944. In 1949, thanks to the work of Father Alvin Deem, all of the high schools in the diocese were successfully desegregated, prompting the closure of the smaller high school at St. Monica. In 1959, the elementary school was renamed to St. Joseph's, coinciding with a remodeling effort. Two years after this, St. Joseph's moved into new facilities at the current location between E 16th and E17th St on The Paseo, next to what was at the time De La Salle High School Military Academy. When De La Salle closed, St. Joseph purchased the property as an expansion for the Catholic school in 1971.According to the African-American History Trail of Kansas City, the church currently known as St. Monica's is the result of "...not just one church, but several inner-city parishes. Holy Spirit opened in 1945 and merged with Holy Name in 1956. Holy Name and St. Vincent parishes closed in 1975 when the congregations consolidated with Annunciation parish and changed their name to The Church of the Risen Christ. Blessed Sacrament and St. Augustine closed in 1991. The merger of Risen Christ and St. Joseph Parishes on October 22, 1995 serve as the foundation for today's St. Monica parish." Today, St. Monica's offers numerous religious and social ministries to the surrounding area, including a food pantry, the Africa-Rising Club, a chapter of the Knights of Peter Claver, a chapter of the Legion of Mary, and numerous other services.

Situated in a building off the west side of The Paseo, Saint Monica Catholic Church has been serving Catholics in the 18th and Vine area since its founding in 1910. A year earlier, Bishop John J. Hogan and Fr. Cyprian Sauer had come to the conclusion that the Black community in Kansas City, MO was criminally underserved, and sought to open a mission in the area. A year later, the St. Monica Mission for Colored Catholics was opened, with financial support from Bernard Corrigan and St. Katherine Drexel. St. Monica became the first Catholic church in Kansas City to cater specifically to the African-American population, including educational facilities for children. Unfortunately, according to the African-American History Trail of Kansas City, the buildings quickly became dilapidated, though fundraising led by Dr. Thomas E. Purcell allowed the church to be rededicated in 1913. The expanded campus included a convent, housing for priests, and additional school facilities in the basement and the first floor. Throughout the decades, the facilities and services have waxed and waned in tune with the needs of the community. In 1940, the church was renamed to St. Joseph Parish, operating under that name until a 1995 merger with the Church of the Risen Christ saw the congregation renamed to Saint Monica Catholic Church. Today, Saint Monica Catholic Church continues to provide ministry and services to its congregation and the community at large.

St. Monica Catholic Church

This historic church dates back to 1911 when Sister Kitty Raynor held church and Sunday School services in her home. The group grew quickly and Harrison Williams, who had supported Raynor's work, believed there were enough interested families in the area that they should consult with A.M.E. leaders about starting a new mission. There had been attempts to create a new congregation in this area, but it was not until the effort by Raynor and Williams that there was enough progress. With the support of Bishop H.B. Blanton Parks, the group acquired this property and laid a cornerstone in 1912. Bethel A.M.E. began as a single-story structure but grew quickly as the population of this area increased. Today, the congregation remains a central institution in the community as it enters its second century.In the 1970s, the historic church was located on one of the proposed routes of a planned South-Midtown Freeway which became Highway 71. The project displaced thousands and disproportionately affected predominantly Black neighborhoods, but the extensive project also included numerous compromises such as intersections with stop lights to avoid bisecting neighborhoods with a high-speed freeway. The activism, agency, and political power of community leaders led to a variety of concessions such as including a parkway section with stop lights and building architecturally substantial bridges. And while some historic buildings were lost along with thousands of homes, one cannot but help to notice that the road bends slightly to the west when approaching this historic church from the south.

Construction of this church began in 1912 with a basement structure that provided a home for a congregation that started with just eighteen members the year prior. Bethel A.M.E. became the city's first south of 18th Street, and by 1917, the congregation had grown to 170 members which reflected the growth of the African American population in this part of Kansas City. In 1926, the construction of an auditorium and Sunday School above the basement edifice was complete, providing space for a congregation that had grown to around seven hundred members. The congregation added a parsonage in 1942 and completely led numerous projects to improve and expand the church in the decades that followed culminating in the completion of the upper auditorium in 1976. In the decades that followed, the congregation has supported apprenticeship, employment, and educational programs, food assistance, and housing for senior citizens in the neighborhood.

Bethel A.M.E. Church 

In 1907, the Dominican Fathers purchased the site that would become Holy Name Catholic Church with the intent to build a cathedral-style church that could seat approximately a thousand congregants, as well as a school. Working with architecture firm Wight &amp; Wight (the firm behind City Hall and the original Courthouse), the basement sections of the construction were completed in 1911. At this point, funding for the project dried up, leaving construction to cease for the next 13 years. In 1924, Wichita-based Brinkman &amp; Hagen were brought on to complete the building under a new design. The occupancy was lowered to 750, and the planned transepts at one end of the structure were removed from the plans to save money. The building was completed and dedicated in June of 1928, with a final cost estimated as being $175,000. There were sixteen large stained glass windows and a circular rose window at one end. According to one source, the sacristy of the building was based on that of a cathedral in Rouen, France. (Shields) Joanie Shields writes that numerous organizations and community amenities were facilitated and hosted by the church over the years. These included a Boy Scout troop in 1929 and a credit union in 1941, as well as a bowling alley in the basement that was open from 1949 to 1959. Additionally, the staff of the church collaborated with prominent Black-run radio station KPRS to begin a program called the Radio Rosary in 1953.Originally, the congregation consisted mostly of white working-class people. According to National Register of Historic Places documents, this began to change around 1911, when "several African American families moved into the area around 25th and Montgall." These families were met with a series of death threats and six attempted bombings, but remained in the area, with more African-American families moving to the area after the 1948 Shelly v. Kraemer decision outlawed the restrictive housing covenants that had previously kept Black home-buyers out of the area. In May 1951, the parish was combined with the majority-Black Holy Spirit Parish, citing financial concerns from the Archdiocese, though this move exacerbated both social tension in the area and financial tension on the church. Though the services were integrated, some amenities, such as the bowling alley, remained white-only, though the revenue still supported the church.The most prominent event to take place at Holy Name Catholic Church happened on Tuesday, April 9th, 1968. On that day, many school districts around the nation were closed in observance of the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, who had been shot four days earlier. The districts of Kansas City, MO, however, had chosen to remain open for reasons that have been lost to history. Regardless, crowds of angry demonstrators coalesced around Central and Paseo High Schools, before encountering police around Indiana Avenue and E 34th Street. After police released tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd, the marchers converged on City Hall in downtown, where Mayor Ilus W. Davis addressed the crowd. At this time, the African American Heritage Trail writes, KPRS announced a dance to be held at Holy Name, in the hopes that such an event would help calm the fraying tensions that had built up over the course of the day. After several groups of protesters had left the area around City Hall, rock throwing and additional disturbances resulted in the release of more tear gas, prompting the larger crowd to begin moving east as well.Unfortunately, the details about the event were not communicated to the police, who responded to a call reporting a disturbance at the church. According to the African American Heritage Trail of Kansas City, the first police to arrive on the scene were struck by rocks, prompting them to summon backup to the church. When additional units arrived, they released tear gas into the building, believing that rioters had entered. This drove those attending the dance outside, where the rock-throwing continued to escalate until the crowd dispersed. Unfortunately, news of what happened spread quickly, and Kansas City experienced days of riots, lasting until April 11th, though the state of emergency was not ended until the 18th. While the events at Holy Name were far from the only cause of the riots, the events of April 9th provide an important glimpse into the racial tension that plagued the area.Beyond the events of the riots, the financial straits of the church continued to worsen. National Register of Historic Places documents state that the church was $68,000 in debt as of 1959. As the parish continued to shrink, the decision was made to sell the complex to Church of Christ Bishop Harris E. Moore for $70,000 in 1975. The church was renamed to Barker Temple. The property continued to be carved up, with the rectory being sold in 1977 and the school in 1980. Eventually, the financial burden became too great for Barker Temple. As a result, the building was sold and re-sold several times to various congregations, eventually passing into the ownership of New Day Missionary Baptist Church in 2001, though they had no more luck than any of the previous occupants. A December 18, 2010 Kansas City Star article by Tony Rizzo states that the building remained empty, being owned at the time by attorney Brian J. Gordon. According to Rizzo, Gordon had been working with a group to restore the church since 2007, but the city had ultimately declared the building fit to be demolished. Rizzo goes on to state that Gordon sought to forestall the demolition, in order to find a way to salvage elements of the church's stone for reuse. A December 23, 2010 Star article by Mark Morris stated that Gordon opted to tear the building down on his own terms, rather than pay a fee to the city, with hopes of offsetting the costs by selling elements of the stone as salvage. Finally, an article by the Catholic Key states that the building was eventually torn down "by hand", with St. Peter's Church purchasing several pallets of stone to repair their building, ensuring that some element of this storied church lives on in Kansas City.

Though only an empty lot remains of the once-prominent church, Holy Name Catholic Church was a major fixture of the area for many decades. Founded in January of 1886, the church originally served a mixture of white- and blue-collar white families. In the early 1900s, Black families began to move into the area, creating tension with white residents and changing the demographic of the congregation. In 1948, after the previous restrictive housing covenants were ruled illegal, more African-American families moved into the area as the white residents drained out to the suburbs. By the 1960s, the congregation was mostly African-American. The church played an important role in the development of the April 1968 riots that spread throughout Kansas City following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unfortunately, the building was demolished in 2011, after sitting empty for several years, though elements of the stone were incorporated into to façade of Saint Peter's Parish. Despite its ignominious end, the history of Holy Name Catholic Church offers valuable insight into the history of the area, as well as providing an important dimension of the unrest that shook Kansas City in April of 1968.

Holy Name Catholic Church (Demolished) 

Theron B. Watkins was born to John D. and Martha Lyons Watkins on March 24, 1877, near the town of Charlottesville, Indiana. After his father died when he was five, Watkins' mother moved herself and her four children to Carthage, Indiana. After graduating high school in Carthage, Theron Watkins earned a degree from Indiana State University before spending several years working in some capacity for the Pullman Company. He then got a job with Raymond Johnson, a white undertaker, who inspired Theron to go into the funeral business. He graduated from the Cincinnati School of Embalming in 1908 and moved to Kansas City with his brother J.B. in 1909. Several months later, the two opened the Watkins Brothers Funeral Home at 1729 Lydia Avenue. Though J.T. passed away in 1917, the business continued to thrive, putting Theron Watkins in a remarkable spotlight as a successful Black businessman and community member.Outside of the funeral business, Theron B. Watkins was a highly influential figure in local politics. In 1922, Watkins ran a highly influential campaign to become Representative of Kansas City's Eighth Ward, though he was ultimately not elected. Watkins also helped establish the Paseo YMCA the People's Finance Corporation. Furthermore, he sat on many boards and councils, including the board of directors at Wheatley-Provident Hospital, the Kansas City Housing Authority (where he was the only African-American board member), and the local Selective Service Board during World War II. Theron B. Watkins died at the age of 73 on September 4, 1950.Bruce R. Watkins was born in Parkville, MO in 1920. Originally Bruce Riley, he changed his name when his mother married Theron B. Watkins. Bruce served in World War II as a navigator and bombardier with the 99th Pursuit Squadron, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Upon his return, Watkins followed in his father's footsteps and worked at the funeral home for several years. According to Northeast News, the younger Watkins was inspired by his step-father to live a life of community advancement and activism. He is perhaps most well-known for serving as the Co-Chair of the Freedom, Inc. political organization, which registered unprecedented numbers of African-Americans to vote and propelled many candidates into office, including notables such as Emmanuel Cleaver. Watkins was also the first African-American to successfully run for City Council, being elected to his first term in 1963. Three years later, he became the first Black Jackson County Circuit Court Clerk. In 1975, Watkins served a second term on the City Council, before becoming the first Black mayoral candidate in 1978, though his campaign was not successful. Bruce R. Watkins passed away from lung cancer on September 13, 1980, and has been posthumously honored throughout Kansas City. The Spirit of Freedom Fountain at Cleveland and Brush Creek Boulevard is dedicated to his memory, and both a community center at 3700 Blue Parkway and a section of U.S. 71 Highway bear his name.The funeral home that bears the family name is still in operation, and the legacy of the Watkins family stretches far beyond the services they provided their customers. Both father and son lived lives of above-and-beyond service to the African-American community of Kansas City and to the Metro area at large.

Located here for many years, Watkins Brothers Funeral Home has been a longtime staple of the Black community in Kansas City. Founded by Theron B. Watkins and his brother J.T. in 1908, the funeral home served as the launching point for multiple community figures to begin lifetimes of activism. Founder Theron B. Watkins served on various boards, and was know as a powerful public speaker. In 1922, he ran a highly successful and broadly supported campaign for the office of Eighth Ward Representative, though he was ultimately not elected. His stepson, Bruce R. Watkins was also a highly influential member of his community and one of the most powerful voices behind the foundation and early success of the Black political organization known as Freedom, Inc. Working with notables such as Leon Jordan, Bruce Watkins helped to usher in landmark voter registration numbers and supported numerous successful candidates for municipal, state, and federal offices. The younger Watkins also served two terms on the City Council, two terms as a Circuit Clerk in Jackson County, and mounted a mayoral campaign in 1979. This location was home to Watkins Brothers for many years which now operates out of a new building on Emmanuel Cleaver Boulevard while this building is home to Golden Gate Funeral and Cremation Services.

Historic Black Churches of Kansas City Short Driving Tour

Paseo Baptist Church

Introduction

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