History of African Americans in Kansas facts for kids
There is an African-American community in Kansas, including in Kansas City, Kansas.
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was decided in 1954.
History
Kansas was admitted to the United States as a free state in 1861. Some Black slaves were imported to Kansas. Many Black migrants came from the Southern United States as hired laborers while some Blacks traveled to Kansas as escaped slaves via the Underground Railroad. Some moved from the South during the Kansas Exodus in the 1860s.
In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was decided and desegregated schools nationwide.
Geography
Nicodemus, Kansas was settled by African Americans in the 1870s, commemorated in the Nicodemus National Historic Site. Nicodemus is the oldest remaining town settled entirely by African Americans located west of the Mississippi River. Most of the town’s founders were formerly enslaved. Most Black people in Kansas originally lived in the Eastern portions of the state because the Underground Railroad had stops there. Kansas City also has a significant Black population.
Media
The Call is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri and also is distributed to African-Americans in Kansas City, Kansas.
Politics
The Kansas African American Legislative Caucus is the political caucus of the Kansas Legislature.
Education
Sumner High School was a racially segregated high school in Kansas City, Kansas.
Notable people
- Janelle Monáe, a singer and actress
- Bobby Lashley
