En Español tambien. This is a good first stop in understanding the changing neighborhood. Primitivo Garcia and his brother Alfredo were students in Margaret Kindermann’s evening English language class at Westport High School. After class one fall evening in 1967, the brothers ran to the rescue of their 25-year old teacher who was being attacked by several youth outside the school. She was five months pregnant. One of the attackers shot and wounded Primitivo and he died several days later. The brothers’ heroism was recognized locally and nationally. The grade school was named after Primitivo.
En Español tambien. By this time on your tour, you are probably ready for some tasty Mexican food. Los Alamos is a family run authentic Mexican grocery store and sit-down restaurant. It is informal and delicious. It is important to the upper west side of Kansas City, Missouri because it is the only Mexican market and restaurant that has survived the gentrification that has taken place in that part of the city. Be sure to try the menudo if you are there on the weekend. Alternatives to stopping at Los Alamos can be found in the immediate neighborhood or by heading south on Summit Street to Southwest Boulevard where you will find plenty of options from Spanish tapas at La Bodega, to Jalisco style Mexican food at El Taquito La Fonda, to South American delicacies at the Empanada House where you might run into Salvador Pérez and other KC Royals baseball players.
Like Dorothy Gallaher, Mattie Florence Rhodes was a teenager who had a desire to help the less fortunate. She and a group of her friends from church called themselves, the Little Gleaners. Mattie died of typhoid fever at age 19 years. She left the sum of $500 to assist The Little Gleaners to continue their outreach. Her friends honored Mattie’s wish in 1894 by founding the Mattie Rhodes Memorial Society. This was their pledge: “I promise to do all I can to help the needy and suffering by working for them, learning about them, giving for them, and trying to interest others in them.”
This branch of the Kansas City Public Library opened in 2001, but its history as a branch library in this part of the city goes back to 1911 when the Switzer Branch Library opened. The branch is named in honor of Irene H. Ruíz, a leader who supported education and community building in Kansas City, Missouri’s Westside Mexican American community. Irene and her husband, Francisco Ruíz came to Lawrence, Kansas in 1963 to attend the University of Kansas. They eventually moved to Kansas City where Francisco took a position at Penn Valley Community College in the history department. Irene worked for Kansas City Missouri Public Schools as a teacher, and she later became a librarian for the Kansas City library branch which at that time was managed by the school district. Irene and Francisco became active in social justice causes in the community. They also hosted local and national lectures by civil rights leaders including César Chávez. Irene was instrumental in collecting oral histories from Mexican immigrant families of the community. The collection of those stories are archived at the Missouri Valley Room of the Kansas City Central Library. The branch library where she worked under the direction of the public school system came under the management of the Kansas City Public Library in 1986 and moved to this location in 2001.
Tony J. Aguirre was born on February 8,1929. He grew up in the Westside. “Tony”, as he was affectionally called, invested over 60 years in the community he loved. played sports at Redemptorist High School, where he graduated in 1949. From the age of 17 until his death, Tony coached kids in basketball, baseball, softball, and football for the Guadalupe Center.
During the early 1900s an exodus caused by the hardships of the Mexican Revolution, many Mexican nationals began to leave their homeland in pursuit of a better life for both themselves and their families. These Mexican immigrants followed jobs to the north in areas of migrant farming, railroad, and livestock. While many stopped in the already predominant Mexican-American Southwest, others went further north and decided to settle in the Westside Community of Kansas City, Missouri. Upon their arrival, the Mexican immigrants faced yet another hardship. Discrimination. Mexican children were not allowed into certain schools, while their parents were not allowed to shop in many places. The Mexicans were also exploited in the workplace and basic services offered by area hospitals and government agencies were not granted to them. Not knowing where to turn or how to respond, the need for basic services within the Mexican community continued to grow. To answer this growing need, a Catholic women’s club in 1919 decided to establish a volunteer school and clinic for the underprivileged Mexican immigrants who had settled in the Westside. Naming the entity after the patron saint of Mexico, the Guadalupe Center became one of the nation’s first social service agencies for Latinos and has grown to be the heart of the Latino community within Kansas City.
En Español tambien. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico. The story begins in the early morning of December 9th, 1531 just ten years after Hernan Cortez conquered the city of Tenochtitlan, when a 57 year old Indian peasant named Juan Diego was walking along the path of Tepeyac Hill on the outskirts of what is today Mexico City. He encountered a brown skin Madonna and proclaimed to the local bishop that he had seen the Mother of God. Juan Diego was able to convince the bishop way presenting roses and a clock with the Virgin’s image. The Virgin was as adopted by many Mexicans as their patron saint.
En Español tambien. Paul “Waxie” Hernández, Sr. loved baseball from the time he was a kid playing for the Guadalupe Grade School team in the early 1930s. He later played for many of the Mexican American baseball and fast pitch softball teams in the metropolitan area on both sides of the Kansas and Missouri state lines. “Waxie” started his baseball career with the Guadalupe Center youth team in 1936, played and coached baseball and fast pitch softball for over 60 years. He was still coaching when he fell ill and died in 1992. Paul Hernández, Sr. passed on his love of baseball to his children and grandchildren. “Paulie” became one of the outstanding fast pitch softball pitchers known throughout the Kansas City region. Paulie’s son “Bubba” Hernández and his daughter, Sidonia have followed in their father’s and grandfather’s footsteps by keeping the games alive. Upon “Waxie” death, the Kansas City Missouri Parks and Recreation Department names ball fields in Penn Valley Park in his honor.
Nine artists including Jose Faus, Virginia Oropeza, Alisha Gambino, and Jesus Ortiz spent 10 months completing this 220-foot mural tracing the history of the Argentine neighborhood in Kansas City, Kansas. This expansive mural, which covers a 20-foot-tall, two-block-long wall, chronicles the histories, hardships and lifestyle of Argentine residents, beginning with depictions of the Osage, Kansa and Wyandot Indigenous groups, the art continues with the rise of industrialization and the middle class and depictions of racism and classism, the influence of the railroad, the impact of the 1951 flood on the region, and the cultural diversity of the people who settled and now live in Argentine including the Mexican community.
En Español tambien. When returning Mexican American veterans were denied membership in the local chapter of the American Legion, they sought and were granted a charter for a new Legion Post. Post 213 initially met in several different buildings throughout the Mexican barrio, until September 1953, when the Post purchased the W. Jones Building from the Methodist City Missionary Society. From its origin, the Argentine Eagle’s Nest served as an important setting for community gatherings and fiestas, and provided Latino veterans a place to call their own. The Eagle’s Nest continues to function as an active American Legion Post, and is comprised both of aging veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, as well as more recent recruits from Argentine who served in the first Gulf War or more recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The property includes a baseball diamond and ball field that were actively used as the site of intramural league play from the foundation of the post through the 1990s. (Source: Kansas Preservation, Volume 33, Number 3, 2011, pp. 8—15).Spanish Translation/Traducción en Español Cuando regresaron de la guerra muchos veteranos méxico-americanas fueron rechazados una membresía a la sucursal local de la Legión Americana. Entonces ellos encontraron y fueron otorgados un permiso para su propia localidad de Legión. Post 213 inicialmente se reunía en varios diferentes edificios a través del barrio mexicano, hasta septiembre del 1953, cuando el Post compró el edificio W. Jones de la Sociedad Misionera Ciudad Metodista. Desde sus inicios, El Nido del Águila continúa funcionando como un Post de la Legión Americana y está compuesta de veteranos ancianos de la segunda guerra mundial, Corea y Vietnam así como de recientes reclutas de Argentine quienes sirvieron en la Guerra del Golfo y más conflictos recientes en Iraq y Afganistán. La propiedad incluye un diamante y campo de béisbol que activamente fueron utilizados como sitio de juegos intramurales desde la fundación del puesto hasta durante la década de los 1990.
En Español tambien. David A. Vega was born in 1927 to José and Esperanza Alvarado Vega. He was raised in Argentine District of Kansas City, Kansas. His father’s family immigrated from Michoacán, Mexico and settled in Argentine in the early years of the Mexican Revolution, 1910—1921. David served in WWII. After the war he prepared himself for work as an auto mechanic at Stevinson Auto & Electrical School while working for the Railways Ice and Service Company loading ice in refrigerator cars. After working in the Quad Cities area as a mechanic he took over the lease of the Texaco Service Station on 26th and Strong Avenue. He became a successful businessman and community activist. On April 4th, 1991, by Resolution 37325, issued by the City of Kansas City, Kansas government, the field that stretches between Metropolitan Avenue and Strong Avenue on 24th Street was named Vega Field in honor of David A Vega, Sr. Vega Field was renovated by Villa Argentina in the year 2000.
En Español tambien. Central Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas has long been an important commercial district since the early 1900s. Like many core city areas, the district fell into decline. But in recent years, recent Mexican immigrants have established vibrant commercial enterprises. One of the largest and most successful businesses is El Torito Supermarket and restaurant at 1409 Central Ave. Kansas City, KS 66102. Spanish Translation/Traducción en Español La Avenida Central de Kansas City, Kansas ha sido un distrito comercial importante por un buen tiempo desde los primeros años del siglo veinte. Como muchos otros lugares céntricos, el distrito cayó en declive. Pero en años recientes, muchos inmigrantes mexicanos han establecido empresas comerciales vibrantes. Uno de los negocios más exitosos es El Torito Supermarket y Restaurante en 1409 Central Ave. Kansas City, KS 66102.
This Tour is a Thematic Tour or Heritage Trail.
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Welcome to Kansas City! In this tour you will find an amazing route to a rich of history of the Latino/Latina community in this wonderful city. Follow the route of the tour to learn more about where and how our community has thrived and continues to do so.
Latinx History
