Wide-Open Town: Kansas City in the Jazz Age and Great Depression

Wide-Open Town explores Kansas City’s "Golden Age" in the 1920s and 1930s. A notorious political machine, vice and organized crime, and racial segregation often overshadowed business leaders’ economic and civic triumphs. Yet, this same "wide-open" attitude allowed diverse Kansas Citians to carve out autonomous spaces, challenge conventional social and political boundaries, and create a flourishing arts and cultural scene. The workshop features sites related to this story, including: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Thomas Hart Benton Home, National World War I Museum and Memorial, Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, American Jazz Museum, and the Guadalupe Centers.