Join us to learn and get involved in celebrating Kansas City’s vanishing African American Steptoe neighborhood at a mural dedication featuring its history and efforts to keep its story alive.

 Although most of the buildings in Midtown Kansas City’s African American Steptoe neighborhood have been demolished, the Westport Presbyterian Church has created a visual reminder to keep its memory alive. The church and several partners will officially dedicate a mural celebrating Steptoe’s Penn School during the Westport Art Fair, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Westport Presbyterian Church, 201 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO.

The dedication of the mural comes as numerous groups and individuals calling themselves “Steptoe Lives” are expressing concerns about Steptoe’s vanishing history on the heels of the demolition of several more of its homes. The Steptoe neighborhood centered around 43^rd Street Terrace and Pennsylvania Avenue just south of Westport. After the Civil War, it became a unique place in Kansas City where former slaves could live and buy property. In June 2022, three more Steptoe buildings were demolished to make way for a surface parking lot and a few days later, another home was razed, creating new concern that the physical reminders of the area are being lost.

Mural celebrates Penn School
The mural was designed and painted by Stan Morgan with assistance from Jasmine Ali in collaboration with the Willow Woods Child Development Center. It depicts the three-room Penn School, which opened in 1868 as the first school for Black students west of the Mississippi.  Children in grades one through seven, including jazz great Charlie Parker, attended the school. It was closed in 1955.

Morgan says after he learned about the history of the school, he wanted to make sure other people could be introduced to its important history. As he conceived of the mural, he incorporated the silhouetted images of children into the artwork.

“We also want young people to be aware of the history that is fading,” Morgan says. “We invited children from the Willow Woods Day Care Center to lay down and we drew their silhouettes. Now you see them in the mural saluting Steptoe and the school.”

Mural Dedication Ceremony Kicks Off Drive for Steptoe Commemoration

On Friday, Sept, 9 at 6:30 p.m., during the Westport Art Fair, Westport Presbyterian Church will officially dedicate the mural. Artists Stan Morgan and Jasmine Ali will be on hand to sign the mural and children from the Willow Woods Day Care Center have been invited. Members of the Steptoe Lives coalition, including representatives of the St. James Missionary Baptist Church, the Plaza Westport neighborhood, the families of former Steptoe residents, and Historic Kansas City will also participate.

Following a brief dedication ceremony, those attending are invited inside to watch the documentary “A Step Above the Plaza: Celebrating One of Kansas City’s Most Historic African American Communities.” The film was created in 2007 by Rodney Thompson with support from St Luke’s Health System. It includes interviews with Steptoe residents who talk about the neighborhood, the St. Luke AME and St. James Missionary Baptist churches, Penn School, and other history.