TOPEKA – Humanities Kansas recently awarded $13,420 to the Black History Trail of Geary County in Junction City to support “Ninth Street and Its Demise through ‘Urban Renewal,’” a series of presentations and community discussions that explore the impacts of urban renewal on African American communities, with special focus on Ninth Street, a legendary Black business district in Junction City.
The Black History Trail of Geary County (BHT) was formed as an educational 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, with Jim Sands, retired city commissioner, as president, and Melanie Laster as project director. Many historical sites have been celebrated as a walking/driving trail, including churches, neighborhoods, a baseball stadium, and a VFW post.
Our next site to be recognized will be Ninth Street, the former Black business district that was “urban renewed” out of existence. Ninth Street has been the subject of a film and several books, but residents insist that there are many stories of Ninth Street still to be told.
Victor Luckerson, author of Built from the Fire, will be speaking in Junction City at the end of March to discuss the effects of urban renewal in the 60s and 70s. Built from the Fire goes into unparalleled depth on the history of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, marrying intimate family accounts of life in the neighborhood with rigorous academic research on the racist policies that buffeted Greenwood generation after generation. His awards include:
· 2023 Best Book of the Year by the New York Times and the Washington Post · Winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Museum of African American History’s Stone Book Award, and the Lillian Smith Book Award, the top prize for social justice writing in the U.S.
· Winner of the SABEW Best in Business Book Award and Outstanding Book on Oklahoma History from the Oklahoma Historical Society
Anyone with thoughts or memories of Junction City’s Ninth Street or the “urban renewal” that destroyed it is welcome to contact either James Sands, President, or Melanie Laster, Project Director, at the numbers listed above. All are invited to participate as we prepare for this significant community event.
“Humanities Kansas supports programming that brings people together to spark conversations and generate new ideas,” said Julie Mulvihill, Humanities Kansas Executive Director. “This project illuminates the ways Junction City was shaped by national forces through discussions about historical and cultural contexts.”