Kansas City Garment District Museum facts for kids
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Entrance
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| Location | 801 Broadway St. Poindexter Building Kansas City, Missouri |
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| Owner | KC Parks Department |
The Kansas City Garment District Museum is a special place located in the Garment District (Kansas City, Missouri) in Kansas City, Missouri. You can find it in the lobby of the Poindexter Building. This museum is part of the larger Kansas City Museum. It helps tell the story of how Kansas City became a big center for making clothes.
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Discovering Kansas City's Fashion History
The Kansas City Garment District Museum was started by Ann Brownfield and Harvey Fried. It first opened its doors in 2002.
In 2015, Ann and Harvey retired from running the museum every day. They gave over 300 Kansas City-made clothes and accessories to the Kansas City Museum. This added to the museum's already huge collection. The Kansas City Museum now has more than 20,000 historical clothing items, fabrics, and costumes!
The Garment District Park
Right across Broadway from the museum is the Garment District Place Park. This park was opened in 2010 by the Parks and Recreation department.
The park has a cool fountain. It also features a tall, 22-foot "Needle" sculpture. This sculpture is a tribute to the area's history of making clothes.
Kansas City's Clothing Industry
Many of the buildings near the Historic Garment District Museum are very old. They were built in the 1870s. These buildings are even listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Making coats, suits, dresses, hats, and children's clothes began in these buildings. This started on the upper floors of wholesale dry goods stores in the early 1920s.
After World War I and through the 1940s, the clothing industry here grew a lot. More than 4,000 people worked in this area. Kansas City was proud to say that one out of every seven women in the United States bought a garment made right here! Making clothes was the second largest job provider in Kansas City, Missouri.
Images for kids
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Dress from the 2012 Holiday Collection
