Brown Chapel Black Church Built by African American People in Arrow Rock

Brown Chapel in Arrow Rock Showcases African American History and Black Culture

The early settlers in Arrow Rock were southerns who brought their slaves with them when they moved to Arrow Rock. Following emancipation the first public building to serve the African-American population was the Brown’s Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, possibly as early as 1869, but signed 1871. The church also served as the first school for the newly emancipated population with 65 students in attendance. The church was originally located on the north edge of town but was moved in 1884 to its current location. The church is now owned and maintained by the Friends of Arrow Rock. Brown’s Chapel was rededicated September 20, 1998, with 125 people in attendance at the Homecoming Celebration. In honor of Arrow Rock’s African-American heritage Homecoming and Juneteenth events are conducted at the church each year.

Brown’s Chapel and the Black Lodge are the two newest properties of the Friends of Arrow Rock, gifts to us in 1996 from Ted and Virginia Fisher. These are two of the last three public buildings that remain of a once vital African-American Community in Arrow Rock. (The third building is the former school, now a private residence.) Arrow Rock was predominately settled by southern immigrants who brought with them their slaves. Following emancipation, the first community building to be erected was a church probably as early as 1869. We believe this first church building also served as the first black school with 65 students.

Originally built just north of the town limits, Brown’s Chapel Free Will Baptist Church was moved to its present location in 1883 by Zack Bush. Oral tradition tells us they moved it with a team of mules. In the 1920s Brown’s Chapel hosted the annual Association meeting with up to 300 people attending the week long meeting.

Brown’s Chapel was rededicated September 20, 1998, with 125 people in attendance at the Homecoming Celebration. In honor of Arrow Rock’s African-American heritage Homecoming and Juneteenth events will continue; contact the Friends of Arrow Rock Office, 660-837-3231, for the current schedule.

Popularity: 8% [?]

The Blue Room captures the spirit of Kansas City.  Jazz is apart of Kansas City’s history.  But places like the Blue Room help you experience the history and make history at the same time.  The Blue Room is apart of the American Jazz Museum and located on 18th and Vine. 

Although I have lived in Missouri and Kansas most of my life, it wasn’t until moving to Kansas City that I just saw how deep jazz runs through the veins of Kansas City and her citizens.  Jazz is the blood of Kansas City.  I know this because I was attended the annual Black Chamber of Commerce ball held in the Fall of 2006.  The Who’s Who of Black Kansas City was there.  I sat in awe at the hundreds of Black and successful business people.  They didn’t even know how special they were, to me, a child of smaller communities who had never seen a Black judge, Black lawyer, Black gas station owner, Black Marketing firm owner, Black newspaper publisher, etc.

A jazz song played while we were waiting for everyone to be seated.  And everyone’s heads started bobbing and I saw the beautiful women and their men wearing tuxes.  Mentally, it took me back to a time when it was not uncommon for black men and black women to dress this way and attend such events.  I knew right then I was reliving history and I was apart of history at the same time. 

I soon visited the Blue Room for a night out.  I went alone heading down to 18th and Vine.  I parked nearby on a side street and walked towards the Blue Room.  Speakers are outside, so you can hear the piano playing as you approach.  In fact, you could mosey on down the street and window peak into the businesses and still hear the sultry jazz music. 

But I went in and was surprised by the atmosphere.  Classy men and women, black, white, asian, hispanic sat inside.  They looked, I nodded and took my seat at the bar.  This is my kind of place.  Non somking and relaxing.  You can’t go wrong with the Blue Room.

The Blue Room is located at 1600 E. 18th Street, Kansas City, MO. Phone number: 816.474.2929.
Part of the AMerican Jazz Museum by day, the Blue Room transforms into a working jazz club at night. Top local and national musicians take the stage four nights a week in this nonsmoking venue.

Popularity: 9% [?]

 Spirit of Freedom Fountain     
Cleveland Avenue and Brush Creek Boulevard
Date Erected: 1981   
Description: In 1977, City Councilman Bruce R. Watkins organized the Spirit of Freedom Fountain to develop a monument to the contributions of the black people in Kansas City.  Richard Hunt, a black Chicago Sculptor, presented an abstract model to reflect the symbolic nature of the subject. He also noted that it was in keeping with the improvisational aspects of Kansas City Jazz. The fountain was dedicated in 1981 exactly one year after Watkins’ death.

Popularity: 6% [?]

The mission of Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center is to commemorate and interpret the African-American diaspora particularly in the State of Missouri, the City of Kansas City, Mo., and its surrounding areas through fostering educational and cultural programs regarding the past, present and contemporary contributions of African Americans who served to shape the city and state’s history and culture.  A major component of contemporary and future interests involves the conscientious development of the state environmental policies.

Events such as lectures, workshops, plays, performing arts, musical concerts, artistic showcases, movie series, etc. can be held at the Bruce R Watkins Cultural Heritage Center.

The center is open to visitors of all ages. The first level includes the Bruce R. Watkins permanent exhibit space, children’s workspace, resource library, auditorium, small gallery and glassed encased exhibit area for small pieces and artifacts. The second level consists of business offices, the main gallery and a temperature-controlled exhibit preparation area.

The Center is named in honor of Bruce R. Watkins, a political and social activist. Watkins was fueled by the need to recognize and preserve the varied contributions African-Americans made to the development of Kansas City. The center opened in December 1989 as the outgrowth of Watkins’ efforts. Construction of the Center was made possible through the work and contributions of the Bruce R. Watkins Fountain Inc., the Kansas City, Mo., Parks and Recreation Department, and the State of Missouri.

African American Exhibits Include:  (exhibits are subject to change.  Please call the center for the current schedule) 

In the auditorium:

“Jazz Greats”
The Spirit of Freedom Foundation collection, “Jazz Greats,” a series of pastel and charcoal portraits of African American jazz musicians, is on loan from the Spirit of Freedom Foundation and sponsored by the Friends of Bruce R. Watkins.

The Gertrude Keith Resource Library: 

“The Life and Times of York”    
Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

York, a slave who accompanied explorers Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition, was the first black man to venture into the wilderness of the Louisiana Purchase. The exhibit chronicles his life and examines the conditions and environment of slavery in the early to mid-1800s. Opened in the spring of 2004, the exhibit will run indefinitely, and was established with the support of state, county and municipal governments.

The legacy of Bruce R. Watkins continues in the Cultural Heritage Center named after his honor.  Located in a busy area of Kansas City off of Paseo Blvd, the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center serves as an icon of Kansas City’s rich Black past and the wonderful contributions of its African American citizens.

Bruce R. Watkins
Cultural Heritage Center and Museum
3700 Blue Parkway
Kansas City, MO 64130
(816) 513-0700

Popularity: 6% [?]

Mt. Moriah is a black church in Otterville, Missouri.  This image was taken by Tracy L. Wilson-Kleecamp on her visit to Missouri in a quest to find out more about her ancestors.

She writes what many do not know or do not talk about:  Missouri was not a “neutral” state but was a slave state.  And the highest concentration of African American/Native American slaves were located in the Missouri River counties such as Buchanan, Jackson, Lafayette, Saline, Callaway, Chariton, Cooper, Howard, Boone, Pike, Marion, St. Louis and many other counties of Missouri.  For more information, you may visit her site at:
www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/topic/afro-amer/indexusg.html

Popularity: 21% [?]

The George Washington Carver National Monument was established by an act of Congress in July of 1943. The National Park Service maintains 210 acres of the original 240 acre Moses Carver Farm.
George Washington Carver’s boyhood home consists of rolling hills, woodlands, and prairies. The 210 acre park has a 3/4 mile nature trail, museum, and an interactive exhibit area for students. The cultural setting includes the 1881 Historic Moses Carver house and the Carver cemetery. The Park is open year round, from 9am - 5pm.The monument is located in Southwest Missouri approximately 2 miles west of Diamond, MO.

George Washington Carver overcame great obstacles to become a world renowned scientist, educator and humanitarian. George was born into slavery and soon became an orphan. He was affected by the violence of the time and by racism all his life. Despite this, he firmly believed that he could achieve whatever he set out to do. He also felt that each of us could achieve whatever goal we set for ourselves and he expressed that belief through a poem he read as part of the commencement address at Selma University in Selma, Alabama on May 27,1942. Here, below the bust of Carver sculpted by Audrey Corwin, you can read the poem as he read it.On this site, George Washington Carver was born into slavery in the early 1860’s during a violent chapter in our history. The low walls may help you visualize the small amount of space that was available in that one-room slave cabin, approximately 14 feet by 14 feet. Moses and Susan Carver, owners of the farm and of Carver’s mother, lived almost as simply in another cabin located adjacent to this site that measured 16 feet by 14 feet. It is said that the Carvers were good to their slaves. Still, it is important to understand that there can be no justification or acceptable measure for owning other human beings and controlling their lives against their wills.

During the Civil War, bushwhackers (an undisciplined band of irregular troops) raided the Carver farm and kidnapped George and his mother, Mary. The raiders planned to sell them in Arkansas, or further south, at inflated wartime prices. Greatly upset, Moses Carver hired a Union scout, John Bentley, to find and to return Mary and George. Bentley did return, but only with George who was very ill. Mary was never seen or heard from again, leaving George an orphan. After George was returned, Moses and Susan Carver raised George and his brother Jim as their own children.

George Washington Carver National Monument
5646 Carver Road
Diamond, MO 64840

Phone Headquarters
(417) 325-4151

Popularity: 23% [?]