A new play at UMKC was inspired by the Kansas City, Kansas town of Quindaro. The community was a stop on the Underground Railroad 150 years ago. By Laura Ziegler and Alex Smith
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KANSAS CITY, KS – The community of Quindaro in Kansas City, Kansas has a unique history. Up a hill, on a street known as "Hope Court," in the heart of the community, a man named Jesse Hope lives in the house he grew up in. Jesse Hope is the great-grandson of a man who escaped slavery, who's now buried in a cemetery just up a hill from Hope's home in Quindaro. This place was an important station on the Underground Railroad 150 years ago. Slaves escaped across the Missouri river, from the active slave-trading posts in Parkville, Liberty, and elsewhere, to Kansas, where people were trying to win the state over as a free state. They all founded the town of Quindaro, and Jesse Hope is among the descendents trying to preserve the archeological remains of that town.
KCUR's Laura Ziegler sits down with Jesse Hope to talk about how his town came to be. And Alex Smith spoke to the director of the play Quindaro UMKC visiting professor Ricardo Khan, and playwright Kathleen McGee-Anderson.
(24 min 10 sec)
For more information:
- UMKC Theatre
- History of Quindaro
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