The Library’s local history archive, Missouri Valley Special Collections, continues a 15-year partnership with the Black Archives of Mid-America and Local Investment Commission (LINC) to celebrate Black History Month. The collaboration’s mission is to provide a way to learn about Kansas City’s African American community through the contributions of those who left an indelible mark.

The Kansas City Black History website launched in 2021 and features more than 80 biographies, as well as essays and research, about notable African Americans who broke barriers, blazed trails, and shaped Kansas City history.

“When I think of Black History Month, I think of storytelling,” shared Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, who represents Missouri’s fifth district, on the site, “where traditions and history are preserved to reflect self-love, the overcoming of great obstacles, and appreciation for those who blazed a trail for us today.”

Cleaver added, “Without telling their stories, we in turn erase our own. We risk critical misunderstandings of American history, along with the context of Black strength and perseverance.”

Dive into the Black History program archive with dozens of interviews, lectures and panel discussions focused on civil rights and activism, politics and community leadership, and life and culture.

A special Kansas City Black History compendium was first released in 2021 to mark the bicentennial of Missouri’s statehood and continues as an annual publication. The 2025 edition is an eight-page booklet highlighting six Black Kansas Citians, including a baseball player and manager, an English teacher, a civil rights activist, a painter, a community leader, and a musician.

This year’s Kansas City Black History Month booklet (PDF download), calendar (PDF download), and posters (PDF download) are available for digital download. A limited number of copies of the 2025 booklet can be picked up at Library branches and the Black Archives throughout February. For larger requests for the booklet and printed copies, please reach out to LINC.

Throughout Black History Month, Library locations will offer a range of activities, including Black Cinema Week at the Lucile H. Bluford Branch and Motown Bingo at the Southeast Branch. Editor and historian Sydney Norton and historian Donna Rae Pearson will be featured speakers at the Central Library.

Also at the Central Library, look for a new temporary installation on the fifth floor called "Detoured: The Making of Bruce R. Watkins Drive." Work started on Bruce R. Watkins Drive in 1987, and the 10.2-mile roadway fully opened to traffic as a highway/parkway hybrid in 2001, but its history reaches back decades. More than 35 years since construction began, this exhibition reflects on the road’s winding legacy.