Oakwood Country Club

Oakwood Country Club started as the "summer home" of Progress Club, Kansas City's Jewish gentleman's club, which began in 1893 within the Progress Hill neighborhood downtown. As more and more members of the Progress Club wished to play golf, and with Jewish people across the city facing exclusion from country clubs, Oakwood began in 1912. The once-rural golf course and the country club gave members of the Jewish community a place for socialization and recreation, and has been open to all prospective members since the 1980s.

The Progress Club in Kansas City's Quality Hill neighborhood opened its doors in 1893 in response to the widespread exclusion of Jewish people from social clubs. However, despite its impressive accommodations, the club did not meet all of the Jewish community's needs, as some members expressed an interest in a country club that would include the space required to play the increasingly popular game of golf. Although Kansas City was home to golf courses and country clubs, none admitted Jews as members at that time. These discriminatory practices also served to keep the Jewish community close to one another, according to one longtime club member:

In 1978, an Oakwood member offered the following outlook, “It is questionable whether or not Oakwood would have developed into the country club it is today had it not been for the discriminatory policies of the non-Jewish clubs.” The Jewish community used the discriminatory practices as a force to keep its community close-knit, and Oakwood was a central part of that force.

The leaders purchased land southeast of city limits on what had formerly been the W.A. Rule farm. In 1912, the golf course opened "to instant fanfare" and was named Oakwood after the Oakwood Club in Cleveland. In its early years, Oakwood's full name was "Oakwood, summer home of the Progress Club," but this lengthy name would prove both unwieldy and short-lived.

As more members moved from the Quality Hill area to Johnson County, the downtown Progress Club Building was sold and the organization moved all operations to Oakwood. Over time the club expanded, offering its membership swimming pools, dining areas, tennis courts, and card rooms. The club became a hub of Jewish recreational activity. Oakwood was a Jewish-only club by policy until the mid-1980s. for many years, Oakwood was the only location in Kansas City where Jewish residents could be members and play golf without fear of being turned away, although other country clubs loosened their formal and informal restrictions in the years that followed World War II.

Rosin, Elizabeth. Oakwood Country Club - National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Missouri State Parks. May 19th, 2020. Accessed November 12th, 2022. https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Jackson-County_Oakwood-Country-Club.pdf.

PRELIMINARY INVENTORY K0397 (KA1127) OAKWOOD COUNTRY CLUB RECORDS, 1893-1993, SHSMO. Accessed November 12th, 2022. https://files.shsmo.org/manuscripts/kansas-city/K0397.pdf.