by Asia Jones
When you celebrate Kansas City, you also celebrate the trailblazing women who have shaped the city and left their mark! Below are a few stories of triumph, compassion, and innovation from Kansas City changemakers.
Leannah “Annie” Chambers – From Brothel to Christian Missions Work
Leannah Loveall, later known by her assumed name Annie Chambers, was a prostitute from Kentucky who moved to Kansas City in the 1870s after the loss of her spouse and children. Once in the city, she opened a small brothel that thrived and grew tremendously with little to no interruption from the police force thanks to bribes and other workarounds for 50+ years. After closing her doors in 1923, she ascribed to the Christian faith and spent the last decade of her life using her former brothel as a boarding home. Following her death in 1935, at the age of 93 years old, her close friends turned her boarding house into a wing of the City Union Mission located next door before the building was razed in 1946.
Read more about Annie’s life and impact here.
Lena Rivers Smith – The First to Do It
During her 20-year career in journalism, Lena Rivers Smith was the first Black reporter in Kansas City and the first female on-air reporter. The journalist and civil rights activist used her platform to speak out about racism and segregation and how they impacted her life.
Lena Rivers was born to Ivan and Evadene Smith in Kansas City, Missouri on March 15, 1922. One of seven children, she attended segregated schools before graduating from Lincoln University in 1943 and one year of graduate studies at Northwestern University.
She worked for The Call for 15 years before breaking into the news television field as part of the WDAF-TV news team and just two years after that, she had taken on the role of on-air reporter and later as weekend anchorwoman. During her career, she was respected for her ability to add a human element to her storytelling and for telling the truth about controversial issues while remaining fair. In addition, Lena Rivers served on the Panel of American Women and was a member of the NAACP. She died unexpectedly of a heart attack on November 18, 1968, but was fondly remembered throughout the Black community including a scholarship created for future journalists and a library named in her memory.
You can learn more about Lena here.
Elizabeth Bruce Crogman – A Home of Their Own
Elizabeth Bruce Corgman was born in Pennsylvania on May 4.1894. When she moved to Kansas City in the 1920s, she founded the Florence Home for Colored Girls in 1925 to help unwed Black mothers with shelter, food, and other services. The previously established Florence Crittenton Home for unwed mothers did not provide these services to Black women. What started as four-bedroom housing providing moral and educational guidance grew thanks to increased funding from philanthropist William Volker and a land donation by Mrs. William N. Marty.
The new location at 24th and Campbell Avenue provided residents with a four-story building where approximately 30 women and children received medical care, education, counseling, and more access to necessary resources. Though Elizabeth retired in 1945, the home continued its mission of serving Black women until becoming racially integrated in the 1970s and merging with the Crittenton Home. She died on January 23, 1992, at the age of 97. She was remembered for her generosity and commitment to bettering the lives of mothers and children in need.
Read more about Elizabeth here.
