Quindaro Kansas Walking Tour

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Created by the Free African Society, the Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is the oldest Black American Church in the Quindaro area and one of the only remaining sites from Quindaro. The Free African Society focused on aiding newly freed enslaved people and teaching them skills to succeed in society with an emphasis on the Quaker faith. The Church was founded in 1863 by Rev. John Loving, Reverend Clark Moore, and Reverend Anderson in a meeting at Straggler’s Camp located on the banks of the Missouri River. After growing out of the Free African Society because of the focus of the Quaker faith, church members embraced an African Methodist congregation, and they developed the church into what is referred to as now, the “Mother of African Methodism” in Kansas City, Kansas. Since its foundation, it has aimed to help Black Americans in the area, most notably through Western University, the first historically Black university west of the Mississippi River which they helped fund. The Church also funded Western’s still-standing 1911 John Brown statue and helped establish the school's nursing program with Fredrick Douglass Hospital.

2. The Old Quindaro Museum

This museum was formed in the aftermath of an attempt create a landfill where the historic ruins of Quindaro are located. The community of Quindaro dates back to the 1850s and was home to a diverse assortment of people including formerly enslaved persons and abolitionists, many of whom also operated businesses. The ruins of two of the community's hotels and a brewery have been preserved, and this museum was created to help preserve artifacts and the history of this largely African American community and its history and the larger history of early Wyandotte County. The museum was founded by Jesse Hope offered exhibits that shared the history of African Americans in the Old Quindaro Township from 1856 to the present. The current state of the museum as indicated by posts on its Facebook page in 2018 indicate that the building has fallen into disrepair.

3. Western University (1865-1943)

Known as the first historically black college established west of the Mississippi River, Western University was established in 1881 and was open for 72 years until it was forced to close in 1943 after being negatively impacted by the Great Depression. The school followed the Booker T. Washington education model and focused on teaching not just academic skills, but also vocational trades. Prior to the university’s establishment, the original building was used for the Freedman’s School, which prioritized teaching previously enslaved residents of Quindaro from 1865 to 1877. Through the efforts of the Allen Chapel AME Church, the school was turned into a university and expanded into multiple buildings. Western developed a nationally recognized music school whose graduates went on to acquire fame and create advancements in music composition. After its closure, its surviving buildings were used by the nearby Fredrick Douglass Hospital until it was also shut down and the buildings demolished.

4. Quindaro Underground Railroad Museum

Kansas City's Vernon School was constructed in 1936 and now houses a community center. The school dates back to 1858 with the opening of what was then known as the Colored School of Quindaro, an institution of education and uplift within a community that earned a reputation for their support of the abolition of slavery. The school began operation in the years leading up to the Civil War when it provided instruction to African Americans, including many former slaves, who had recently arrived in the territory of Kansas. That original school building from the antebellum era was expanded several times before being replaced by the current brick facility in 1936 with funds from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program. The school was later expanded in 1950 and is named in honor of William Tecumseh Vernon, an African American leader from Kansas City who had served as the president of Western University. Vernon also served as Register of the US Treasury and was a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The school operated until 1971, when the school was closed and the remaining students were sent to Quindaro Elementary School as part of the city's integration plan which began in the mid-1950s. After closing, the building became a community center and now houses the Quindaro Underground Railroad Museum.

5. Statue of Abolitionist John Brown (1911)

John Brown was a central figure in the abolitionist movement of the pre-Civil War era, and this statue of him was erected at this site in 1911 thanks to the donations of hundreds of Kansas City residents, most of whom were members of the Black Community. Brown was chosen by leaders of the AME church and Western University who sought to honor his fight against the institution of slavery. Located on the former campus of Western University, the only historically-Black university in Kansas, the John Brown statue is a monument to Brown's efforts to end slavery by any means necessary. Brown believed that the rhetoric and peaceful tactics traditionally used by abolitionists were too weak, and he led armed resistance to protect the Free State communities of Kansas Territory and elsewhere. Brown led several campaigns during the “Bleeding Kansas” border wars between abolitionists and slavery sympathizers. In 1859, he was hanged for his raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, which sought to create a place of refuge and safety for maroon communities who could escape slavery while remaining in the American South instead of joining other communities of free people in Canada.

6. Old Quindaro Ruins & Overlook

Quindaro was founded in the 1850s by settlers who were opposed to the spread of slavery from Missouri to Kansas Territory. Although not all residents were abolitionists, they opposed slavery for a variety of reasons. For many white settlers, they opposed slavery because they did not want the best farmland to be controlled by wealthy slaveholders. For African Americans who lived in Quindaro, opposition to slavery was central to their vision of the West as a land of freedom and opportunity. The small town experienced a population boom starting in 1857, but this only lasted a few years. By the early 1870s, Quiindaro was a ghost town and largely forgotten until a century later when developers proposed a landfill at the site of the former anti-slavery pioneer community. Archaeological excavations at the time revealed the remains of many buildings and artifacts. Today, the future of the site is uncertain, although there are still dedicated supporters working towards its preservation.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Quindaro Kansas Walking Tour

Created by Black Archives of Mid-America on January 2nd 2023, 8:03:00 pm.

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Established by Free State supporters in the era of Bleeding Kansas, Quindaro was home to white and black pioneers who opposed the expansion of slavery. This short walk through the former community of Quindaro explores the legacy of those Free Staters and the lives of Kansas City residents who lived in this community in the century-and-a half that followed. The tour includes the Old Quindaro Museum, the Quindaro Ruins, and the statue of John Brown. The tour also includes two important educational institutions, the Vernon School, and the former site of Western University- the only HBCU in Kansas.

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Quindaro Kansas Walking Tour

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