Month: March 2016

Ku Klux Klan influenced Wyandotte County government

Tim Rives
Tim Rives

by Murrel Bland

About 135 public officials from Wyandotte County were members of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s.

That was what Tim Rives reported when he spoke at a quarterly meeting Sunday of the Wyandotte County Historical Society at the Wyandotte County Museum, Bonner Springs.

Rives, who is a supervisory archivist at the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, Kan., has written extensively about the Klan and its influence in Kansas and Wyandotte County.

Rives first learned of the Klan’s activities when he was doing research for his master’s thesis in history at Emporia State University. He discovered that the Klan had paid for renting space in the Methodist Church in the tiny town of Redding near Emporia.

As he did more research on the influence of the Klan, it led him to Wyandotte County where there were several Klan chapters. The largest of these chapters was Wyandotte Klan No. 5. Other chapters were in other communities including Rosedale, Argentine, Armourdale and Bonner Springs.

Klan members had to be white, Protestant and American-born. They were opposed to Roman Catholics, Jews and blacks. The leadership was typically white middle-class men who owned small independent businesses.

When grocery stores owned by Jews moved into Kansas City, Kan., the Klan encouraged public officials to enforce “blue” laws that prohibited them from being open on Sundays.

The most prominent public official who was a Klan member was Don McCombs, the Kansas City, Kan., mayor from 1927 until 1947. This is when the Klan reached its pinnacle of local power, according to Rives.

The Klan’s housecleaning of City Hall in 1927 coincided with a civic improvement program that the Chamber of Commerce launched. Many of the 135 elected officials who were Klan members also were Republican precinct committeemen.

Rives said many of the Klan members also were members of mainline Protestant churches, including Methodists and Baptists, and fraternal lodges including the Masons.

There were disputes among Klan members as several dropped out after the 1920s; those leaving the organization protested some of the more radical discrimatory practices.

One of the Klan No. 5 members was Thomas Younger Baird, who owned bowling alleys and billiard halls. Rives said it was ironic that Baird also was one of the owners of the Kansas City Monarchs black baseball team.

The Klan put pressure on M.E. Pearson, the superintendent of the Kansas City, Kan., School District, to cancel plans that called for black and white students to march in a parade in 1922.

The Eastern Kansas Register, at that time the name of the official newspaper of the Kansas City in Kansas Roman Catholic Diocese, crusaded against the Klan.

Rives said it is uncertain how many members the Klan had in Wyandotte County. He said his best estimate was about 4,000. However, many more than that showed up at Klan rallies, drawing on several other Kansas chapters. After 1920, Klan membership dropped as certain members dropped out because of more radical discriminatory practices.

The Historical Society on Sunday presented its annual awards for volunteer service. The Garland M. Smith Award went to Hal Walker, a former society president and chief counsel for the Unified Government. Walker now serves as a Unified Government commissioner. He was recognized for his support of the museum and society programs. He lives in Kansas City, Kan.

Chris Haynes was recognized as the Volunteer of the Year. She is a volunteer who works in the Museum gift shop. She lives in Shawnee.

Gene Chavez received the Historian of the Year Award. He is an adjunct professor at Webster University—Kansas City. He was recognized for his work in preserving the history of Hispanic culture. He lives in Shawnee.

The American Legion Post 213 in the Argentine community received the Margaret Landis Award. Mexican-Americans established this post when they were denied membership in all-white posts.

The V.J. Lane Award went to the 1951 Flood Reunion Committee. This organization remembers those who experienced the flood and meets regularly. Most of its members are from the Armourdale and Argentine communities.

Two Meritorious Service Awards went to two persons posthumously. Those recognized were Suzanne Thompson Knowles and Madelyn Eismann Fotovich. Knowles was recognized for her efforts in preserving black history, particularly with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Fotovich was a longtime society volunteer who served on the calling committee.

Dorothy Hart Kroh received the Virginia Smith Glandon Award which recognizes outstanding contributions to history by a woman. Kroh was recognized for her efforts in the signage of historic trails and a project that preserved comments from persons across Kansas who wrote about a day in their lives in October 2001. She lives in Merriam.

Daniel Serda received the Ethnic History Award. Serda, an urban planner, is the director of the Kansas City Design Center. He was recognized for his historic preservation efforts, particularly in the Argentine community. He lives in Kansas City, Kan.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is a member of the board of directors of the Wyandotte County Historical Society.

BPU expands refrigerator replacement program

The Kansas City, Kan., Board of Public Utilities has expanded a rebate program that encourages customers to replace their older, less efficient refrigerators with an Energy Star qualified appliance that uses less electricity.

While the program was previously only available to residential customers, it is now available for commercial customers as well. Moreover, the amount of rebate provided to residential customers who utilize this program has been increased to $1,000, and commercial customers can now get up to $3,500 (up to 70 percent of the purchase price of a new refrigerator).

Refrigerators operate 24 hours a day, using more electricity annually than any other appliance in the home. If made before 2001, investing in a newer model can save energy immediately and cut customer’s utility costs significantly over time. BPU’s rebate program, with revisions, is intended to reduce energy consumption and further protect the environment.

To receive a BPU Refrigerator Replacement Rebate, customers should do the following:

• Remove and replace older refrigerators with a new Energy-Star qualified refrigerator from a retailer. Make sure the appliance has the Energy-Star label when making the purchase.

• Request and submit the BPU Rebate Application by calling 913-573-9997.
o Include a copy of dated sales receipt – invoice showing manufacturer, model number, and purchase price of the new appliance.
o Include copy of the signed document of disposal of previously owned refrigerator.

• Once completed, customers will receive a mailed check from BPU within six to eight weeks.

The Refrigerator Replacement Rebate program is available for a limited time and for BPU residential and commercial customers living in the BPU service area, and applies to 70 percent of the purchase price of residential or commercial refrigerators with new Energy Star certifications. Residential customers can get up to a $1,000 rebate, while commercial refrigerators can get up to $2,500 for a one or two-door refrigerator, and up to $3,500 for three-plus door refrigerators

The rebate is valid for purchases made between Jan. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2016, with purchase receipt, removal document, and application postmarked no later than Dec. 31, 2016.

One rebate is available per household-address per customer, and the $1,000 rebate amount may not exceed the purchase price of the refrigerator. Customers must have an active electric account that is in good standing.

– Information from David Mehlhaff, BPU chief communications officer

Come-from-behind wins let Blue Devils sweep Coffeyville in baseball action

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

A word to the wise: Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up on this year’s Kansas City Kansas Community College baseball team.

A week ago Saturday, the Blue Devils trailed No. 4 ranked Cowley 7-0 and won 14-10. On Tuesday, they trailed Longview 10-2 in an 18-15 win.

Down 4-0 against Coffeyville Thursday, the Blue Devils came from behind for a 10-4 win and then on Saturday, KCKCC completed a four-game sweep of the Red Ravens by rallying from an 8-1 deficit for a 10-8 win.

The sweep boosted KCKCC (8-4) to third place in the Jayhawk Conference behind Neosho (10-2) and Cowley (9-3) and 20-6 overall heading into a single 9-inning home game with Des Moines Area Community College Tuesday at 2 p.m. The Blue Devils then return to Jayhawk action, playing at Independence Thursday and then hosting the Pirates Saturday at 1 p.m.

“It’s special to come back from the deficits we’ve faced,” said KCKCC coach Matt Goldbeck. “It was especially good to see the bullpen pitch so well and the offense never giving up and never being out of it.”

The Blue Devils scored in each of the first six innings in a 12-3 opening win at Coffeyville on Saturday. Chase Redick doubled and singled twice and Eli Lovell had a pair of singles in a 12-hit attack. Jake Purl worked for the first 4.1 innings, allowing six hits and three runs while fanning four. Avery Fliger gave up one hit in 1.2 innings of relief before Chad Cox finished with one hitless inning.

KCKCC bunched singles by Redick, Lovell, Ryan Fisher and Zach Mahoney for three runs in the first and added another run in the second on hits by Drew Holtgrieve, Conor Behrens and Travis Stroup. Redick’s double led to another run in the fourth and then his single triggered a 5-run sixth inning as the Blue Devils took advantage of three walks, two hit batsman and Albert Woodard’s two-run single.

Coffeyville bolted to an 8-1 lead in the nightcap before KCKCC rallied with a 17-hit barrage led by Redick, Behrens and Holtgrieve, each with three hits, and Stroup, Fisher and Woodard two apiece. The Blue Devils started their comeback with three runs in the third on a walk and hits by Lovell, Fisher, Holtgrieve and Woodard and then trimmed their deficit to 8-7 with three more in the fourth on singles by Redick and Behrens, a two-run double by Stroup and Fisher’s single.

The winning runs came in the fifth. After one out, KCKCC tied the game on a walk, singles by Daulton Smith and Redick and a ground ball by Behrens and then went ahead on Stroup’s two-out single. KCKCC wasted a Behren’s triple in the seventh but Holtgrieve tripled in the ninth and scored on Woodard’s double for the 10-8 lead. Fliger, who allowed one run and two hits in 2.3 innings, got the win while Tanner Vestal worked four scoreless innings and Cox got the save despite giving up two hits in the ninth.

Cameron Bednar worked four innings of scoreless relief and Fliger pitched a perfect seventh as KCKCC overcame a 4-0 deficit for a 10-4 opening game win over Coffeyville Thursday. Lovell had three singles and Fisher two while Stroup and Holtgrieve each tripled. The Blue Devils tied the game with four runs in the second on singles by Lovell, Mahoney and Fisher and then went ahead to stay on a triple by Stroup and singles by Lovell and Behrens. Singles by Malone Smith, Fisher and Redick highlighted a 3-run fifth and a double by Lovell and pinch triple by Holtgrieve closed out the scoring in the sixth.

Brandon Reid pitched eight scoreless innings, scattering three hits and striking out six as KCKCC completed Thursday’s home sweep with a 9-2 win over the Ravens. Stroup paced a 15-hit attack with three singles and a double, Behrens tripled and singled twice, Easton Fortuna doubled and singled and Holtgrieve had a pair of singles.

KCKCC took advantage of two Coffeyville errors and a Stroup double to take a 3-0 lead in the first, added two more in the second on singles by Fortuna, Behrens and Stroup and two more in the third on hits by Holtgrieve, Woodard and Redick. Fortuna doubled in a run in the fourth and Behrens’ triple and Stroup’s single closed out the KCKCC scoring in the fifth.