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Uh, Thank you, Sonny for coming in, and I wanna thank you on many, uh, behalf of many people. We're gonna start with you, uh, telling us some personal, uh, information about yourself, uh, where you lived in Kansas City when you came and your parents. When I

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moved, when I first moved to Kansas City, it was 1969, 1970, the summer of 1970 actually, and I lived in Westport, um, on Washington, directly across the street from Saint Luke's Hospital. A girlfriend and I were roommates. We had a house there. Uh, the young lady's

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name was Wendy. And I moved here from Joplin, Missouri, which is my hometown. I'm not from Kansas City, and I wasn't from Westport. However, I lived there during a time when there were a lot of things that were going on for young people in that vicinity.

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Uh, my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Thompson, lived in Joplin, raised their children there, and had relatives here in Kansas City at the time and still do. So I was able to come here and live in the Westport area with my girlfriend Wendy, my roommate. Now

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you mentioned Saint Luke's being in the across the street from your home. Uh, what do you know about, uh, uh, people living in Westport and working at Saint Luke's? There were quite a few people that I knew in the Westport area that worked at Saint Luke's.

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Um, Hattie Williams was one. Mr. Williams was another. Um, Daddy Kay, uh, that was his nickname. I didn't know him as anything else other than Daddy Kay and Aliska, um, and Westport was the, the, the hospital, Saint Luke's Hospital was right in Westport, right across the

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street from where I lived, which was right on Forty-third and Washington. What's there now is the parking lot. What was there were homes, um, on both sides of that block, and we had a smaller house in that vicinity next to Mr. and Mrs. Williams, Mr. and

00:02:16.500 - 00:02:34.539

Mrs. Robert Williams that we lived in. So what, what I know about the area, Mrs. Mrs. Williams worked there, she retired from Saint Luke's, um, and she worked in the maintenance area. Um, and when she retired, I, I, I would have to say in the 80s.

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Um, I've not kept up. I've not seen her recently, uh, but I do know that she worked there for many years, many, many years. Now as a young person at that time, who were some of the uh people in Westport that uh you were friends with

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and maybe where y'all used to uh hang out? Was that such a word back then? Yeah, we did hang out we hung out a lot. um, Wendy Granger, she was my best friend and she grew up in Westport, went to Westport High School and lived in

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the area. She, uh, uh, hung out with her, um. Big D, Wanda, there were a group of us, Leonard, Leonard Locke, Robert Locke, um, Wow, uh, Leon, President, there, there were a group of us, and, and we partied together, ate together, spent time together, um, had

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a real good time. We had a really good time and there were a lot of things for young people to do in the, even in the Westport area as it pretty much is today is how it was then. Um, so we, and we were of age,

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we were in our tween we were all in our, in our twenties. Um, I was the youngest one of the group. So we, we did quite a few things. We had a good time. Who were some of the pillars of the community uh that you might

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recall, uh, Doctor Cameron or Doctor Cameron definitely was, definitely was, uh, within the African American community there. uh, Mr. Williams, Robert Williams was as well, and, uh. Uh, these two men I looked up to greatly. Um, they set a precedence on the way that you would

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conduct yourself in and outside of the area. There was a lot of pride in the community in Westport, um, African American and, and Caucasian as well. Um, they, they set the precedents for how you would conduct yourself and, and behave. And what about some of the

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great ladies of the neighborhood? Mm, well, I, I would, Lisa and Mrs. Williams, I have great respect for. Um, they raised their families there and they didn't tolerate any misbehavior or mis or, or any mischievousness, if you will, or what have you. We had to, to

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conduct ourselves respectfully. Um, these women particularly left, uh, an indelible mark on me as a young person and, and as an adult today. On the way that they conducted themselves within in and outside of the community of Westport, uh, we have information in the picture where

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Charlie Parker went to Penn School, um, who else, uh, of fame, uh, maybe back in the early, uh, movie days that, uh, had some relatives live in Westport. Um, I do know that, uh, Richard Rowntree, as Bill Shelby and I talked about, um, he was in

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and out of the vicinity. His father was there. Um, I saw Richard come in and out of the area. We never really had an opportunity of exchanging, but we knew his presence was there. We did know that. Um, had heard stories about Mr. Parker, but Richard

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Rowntree during that time, he was in and out of the vicinity as well. Mhm. Now, uh, there were two churches in the community. Uh, what do you recall about the churches? Saint James I knew because I would attend services with my girlfriend Wendy from time to

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time, and the pastor's name I do not recall, but what I do know was that it was stellar in the community. Um, it had a lot of, um, it did participate greatly within the community and the people that, that attended services there. They were able to

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walk. To church if they so chose to, or those that didn't live in the vicinity, um, would, would drive their cars, of course, and, and come to services there, but I liked the way that it kept the community together. I like that very much. And a

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great, had great respect for that. Now, uh, we have the 60s and we have the 70s. Were there any, uh, sort of, uh, segregation, uh, issues, uh, at that time, or racial boundaries, uh, during the time, uh Early when you were uh living close to the

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plaza. Now, understand that when I got to Westport, uh, it was, it was the late 60s, early 70s. I've been coming in and out of Kansas City with my parents during the 50s and the 60s and what have you, but um for me to say that

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there were any racial discrepancies during that time, I cannot. What I can say is that it was a commu it was an integrated community when I lived there. And the people. Forged Friendship boundaries. They were capable of bridging a lot of gaps that had evidently taken

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place throughout the city. This is a community in Westport, um, and the Steptoe area is a community in Kansas City where I felt safe. I felt very comfortable living in that community, um, because of the respect that the people within the community had towards one another.

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So I didn't experience the racial discrepancies that some folk have spoken of that took place during the, the earlier years in, in the settling of the area and within that area. I didn't experience that at all. No, now you mentioned the word step toe. What significance

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steps does it have to Steptoe. When the very first time I arrived in, in that area, in that neighborhood on the corner of Pennsylvania were the letters that spelled out Steptoe, and they were blue and white. And I thought it was just so wonderful because that

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was a marker for me. If I got lost or something like that, I knew to look down and to look for the name Steptoe in the concrete on the sidewalk, and I knew that I was in a, in a safe place. Um, I liked. The way

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that different areas here in Kansas City named their, their boroughs, if you will. And so I considered that, you know, just um a wonderful thing. I really did. Now, um, your own, uh, uh, you, you, uh, went to high school where in Joplin, Missouri. I graduated

00:09:14.109 - 00:09:34.440

from Memorial High School in Joplin, yeah, and, uh, uh, made friends in Kansas City, and then your career started and took off with here in Kansas City. It took off here. It started here and it took off here. Um, Yeah, mhm. And tell me something about,

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uh, the steps of your career. You know, I am a, a fabric artist, and, and designer and a writer, and a lot of the stories that I, that I tell with my, my work are stories from my life's experiences and the things that I've experienced living

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in and out of different cities. Kansas City, of all the cities that I've had the opportunity of living in, has placed an indelible mark on my heart. Because of the way that the people have lived their lives and been so gracious to share their lives and

00:10:11.659 - 00:10:30.520

their experiences with me. Um, that gives me a lot of, um, information, if you will, to share with the community at large, with my artwork and in telling the stories of, of the different communities that are here. The Steptoe area so impressed me when I first

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moved to Kansas City. One, because it was an integrated area, 2, because of the support. that people within the community showed towards one another in and outside of the community and because it was very safe and it was close to the plaza. And I happened to

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work on the plaza at the time, um, when I moved to the area, so it, and, and they embraced me without question, without equivocation. I was embraced and I like that. Um, so much that after my husband and I got married, we moved back to the

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Westport area, um, to a house next door to the house that my girlfriend and I lived in, right on the corner of Forty-third and Washington. Um, it was a safe place for us to be, and everyone in the, in the neighborhood knew one another. And we,

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we felt comfortable. It was, um, it's, it's an area of comfort. And I think within Kansas City, one of the, the only areas that didn't have um uh a lot of, of racial discrepancies, you know. So with that said, working on the, your position, your career,

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I managed, um, um, a shoe store for, uh, at that time, um, Robinson's Shoes. They had a store there called The Footage in Seville Square, and I was the manager of that store, um, and I was there for, I want to say, uh, 4 years and

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then came out of that and, um. Went into management for Chasnoff's clothing store company, still doing my art, um, and what have you. But it was, it was, yeah, I could walk to work sometimes. If I didn't want to drive, I could just walk right down

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the hill, right down Washington, and, and be at work in less than 10 minutes. It was just, it was a comfortable, comfortable place for me to be. Now, as an artist and a consultant and a professional career woman, Have you uh had any association with the

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Kansas City, Missouri School District? Yes, I have. I had an opportunity of of working in a program, after-school program for children, um, At the request of um Ann Fredericks, who was the director of the program, after-school program for children, and worked with young ladies in, in

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the arts. Um, and that was just wealthy, it was rich for me. I learned a lot. I learned an awful lot, it was great. Yeah. Now, you mentioned working with children. Um. Um-hum, do you have children? Yes, I do. I have a 21 year old daughter.

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I do, who's a college student and um uh she's she's a great person. She's an incredible person. I'm grateful for her and her career is, is, um, early childhood development. She is working on her degree towards um um early childhood development and education. She works as

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a Montessori teacher at Union Hill Day School here in Kansas City. She's a great supporter of Kansas City. She likes it here. She's flourished, um, in this city, and she's a volunteer at, um, the American Jazz Museum, uh, when they have their events. She's a, she's

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a special person. She really is. Now back to the, uh, educational achievements of your parents and other members of your family, um, what are they? My father attended Lincoln University, received his degree in electrical engineering. Uh, my mother graduated from Pittsburgh State College in Um, Pittsburgh,

00:14:09.320 - 00:14:32.510

Kansas. Sorry about that. Can we stop? You can just give it to Cheryl. Just turn it off. I'm sorry. I apo can you cut this out, Rodney? OK. It's in the bottom. I apologize. I, I failed to turn it off. Rodney, I don't want the wrinkles

00:14:32.510 - 00:14:52.159

in my face to show. I'm kidding. I know, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. wrinkles. I know. I have this right here. All right, take this. OK, um, we were talking about education. My father, um, graduated from Lincoln University in electrical engineering. My mom graduated from Pittsburgh State

00:14:52.159 - 00:15:09.900

Teachers College in Pittsburgh, Kansas. She was an educator. And I'm one of 8 children. I have 5 brothers and 2 sisters, and we all grew up in Joplin, and, um, we had great parents. Uh, you're asking about my sister, she's working on her PhD in education

00:15:11.070 - 00:15:30.969

at UCLA at the present time. Now you've become known um Uh, in this part of the country as a Uh, one black person said the quilt lady, uh, tell us something about, uh, uh, what inspired you to get into that, uh, profession, the career, uh, it's

00:15:30.969 - 00:15:52.760

something that you would encourage others to seek, um. Mhm. I'm a, I'm a fabric artist as an artist. And a fabric designer. I would encourage, yes, I would encourage young people to delve into it. It gives me an opportunity of sharing the African American community. With

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those that normally would not have an opportunity to or sit down and take the time to read about our community or learn about our community, um, it gives me an opportunity to share it. With fabric, fiber, and story process and designing fabrics that are from not

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only the African-American community but the African commu African community as well. So yes, I would absolutely, sure. Now, uh, tell me a little bit about New York and your book. My book is called The Soulful Art of African-American Quilts, and it's a compilation with um a

00:16:36.599 - 00:16:55.969

gentleman that is a collector of quilts. Um, what I was able to do with that book was redesign quilts from the early 1800s to the late 1960s and in redesigning quilts that were made by African-American women. Um, so that they could be made by the populace

00:16:55.969 - 00:17:13.689

today. New York is where, uh, my fabric collection has been created by Andover Fabrics. I'm one of their designers, and the, uh, line, I have two collections, one is called My African Village and the second one is called Drums of Africa. Drums of Africa is in

00:17:13.689 - 00:17:30.369

this first book, and the design is in that as well, and that is the name of the fabric collection that's coming out also. Uh, do you look forward to, uh, uh, do an exhibit at the new Saint Luke's Hospital? That would be a great opportunity. Um,

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if, if invited to do so, I'd be more than happy to. Um, And again, we're talking about uh Saint Louis and the whole Westport area. What are some of the, uh, stories that you may have heard about, uh, people, things, places, um, maybe, uh, Relating to

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just some of the uh uh jobs that people uh used to have uh that may have moved in stores. A lot of the African Americans that lived in that vicinity, some of them were porters, some of them were chauffeurs. Uh, Mr. Williams was a chauffeur for

00:18:12.510 - 00:18:35.229

Mr. Hall, who owned Hallmark cards. He was his driver. Um, some of them, like Ralph, for instance, works, worked at the post office. These were African-American black professionals. This is what these people did. Um, they were either educators or doctors or, um, like I said, chauffeurs

00:18:35.229 - 00:19:00.560

or porters. They took pride, great pride, and they were incredible positive contributors to the African-American community. Um, from what I gathered, from what I, what I could see, and some were entrepreneurs as well. So and um surrounding this uh little village uh was uh white community.

00:19:00.729 - 00:19:16.010

It was a white community with Saint Luke's Hospital and the plaza, and then Westport was on the, um, north side. The plaza was on the south side. Saint Luke's Hospital was on the east side, and then, um, on the west side were businesses and other communities

00:19:16.010 - 00:19:32.619

as well. It was a haven. On the hill from the plaza. It was definitely a haven. And um I knew a lot of the, the young ladies that worked in retail on the plaza. Sometimes we would walk to work together and share. Um, a friend of

00:19:32.619 - 00:19:49.170

mine worked at Adler's, Wendy worked at Adler's on the plaza. Um, and sometimes, like I said, we would walk to work and what have you, but these people were professionals. Um, a majority of them were, were black professionals that lived in that vicinity. And they took

00:19:49.170 - 00:20:06.750

great pride in who they were and what they did. I've, I've heard the stories of the color line, and like I said, when I moved into the vicinity, I didn't know anything about that. So I, I immediately was, um, embraced into a community that accepted me

00:20:06.750 - 00:20:22.859

for who and what I was without equivocation. Now some of the, some of your friends that you got a chance to meet and that you've already mentioned, uh, they have been uh may have went to Westport or Wendy, Wendy graduated from Westport High School. Um, Robert

00:20:22.859 - 00:20:43.060

and Leonard Locke graduated from Westport High School as well. Um, Wendy, um, is deceased now, went on to be, um, a professional secretary for, um, I believe it was Lily, I believe it was the name of the company, um. And uh That's pretty much what I

00:20:43.060 - 00:21:04.390

can tell you. So the people of Westport, the families, um, seem to want to make sure that their children, uh, had better lives, better jobs than themselves. Yes, yes, absolutely. Yes, better, better, uh, jobs and, and better lives for themselves and, and they weren't, they weren't

00:21:04.390 - 00:21:21.770

doing too bad themselves know that they were, they were doing very well themselves they wanted their children to excel and to, uh, be participatory in and outside of the community. And be positive, positive contributors to the community that they lived in. So that, believe me, these

00:21:21.770 - 00:21:37.209

people didn't live, did not live badly at all. They lived pretty well. They did. Now you mentioned, uh, a couple of men and a coup and some women who, uh, that you know of that community who inspired you to wanna do some things, uh, uh, a

00:21:37.209 - 00:21:59.130

word about, uh, just what do you think that we. Really want to remember about Saint Luke's Hospital, about uh African-Americans in Westport, uh Steptoe or Kansas City when you maybe go outside the city. What are your stories? I hope that when I go outside of the

00:21:59.130 - 00:22:12.930

city, when I do my lectures and my workshops and things like that, that I'm a positive influence. People ask me questions about Kansas City all the time, and I'm able to share the stories of not only Westport in that area, the Steptoe area, the Plaza, and

00:22:12.930 - 00:22:27.569

what have you, um, but I'm taking with me an entire city. I'm, I'm telling the story of an entire city, and I'm hoping that it's, it's very positive because what's been given to me. And the way that I've been embraced within the city has been extremely

00:22:27.569 - 00:22:44.369

positive. Um, I can't speak on a negative experience. That's a bit unusual and it may sound idealistic, but that's not the case. Saint Luke's was a major employer for the people that lived in that area, as was the plaza and um the Westport area. They were

00:22:44.369 - 00:23:01.170

major employers, and these people carved out a living for themselves. Out of that, within that, within that vicinity, within that area. You can talk with older African-Americans and whenever they left another vicinity of the city and came into Westport, they felt safe. They felt that they

00:23:01.170 - 00:23:18.770

had found a haven within the city, and it truly is. It was for me. Um, the ladies that I speak of were, um, reminded me a lot of my mother. They made sure that I was taken care of. They made sure that I showed incredible, not

00:23:18.770 - 00:23:32.564

only respect for them, but respect for myself, and they, um, they nurtured me. They taught me a lot. A lot and I, and I'm grateful for that because I'm the person that I am. Had it not been for that experience, I really don't think that I

00:23:32.564 - 00:23:48.729

would be where I'm at because they took the time with me and that's important when in developing. I was, I was young when I moved into that vicinity and uh I've not lost, um, I've not lost the lessons that I've learned. In that area. Saint Luke's,

00:23:48.770 - 00:24:05.359

I commend for wanting to take the time to do something of this sort. It's extremely important. Or oral history within the African-American community has been our stellar, if you will, because some of the things we were not able to document. And this gives us an opportunity

00:24:05.359 - 00:24:22.310

to document an area that, uh, long since has not been recognized, and, and I commend them for doing this, and, and I'm grateful for them for doing it, because it's a piece of history that would have been lost had they not done something like that. Uh,

00:24:22.369 - 00:24:37.520

let's see, you got a chance to review some of the questions that I was gonna ask you. I think I've covered many. However, uh, what is one burning question that you haven't. that you may want me to uh ask and I haven't and you would just

00:24:37.520 - 00:24:54.310

like to sound off on right now. I don't really have anything. I think you've pretty much touched it. I do. I really have. I appreciate what you're doing. I think this is a, a great opportunity. I really do. Um, that's pretty much where I'm, where I'm

00:24:54.310 - 00:25:13.339

at right now. But I do commend Saint Luke's. I do appreciate them stepping up to this and, and giving folk an opportunity to discuss their experiences in this area and to recognize the African-American community. In West, in, in Steptoe in Westport and to give, give them

00:25:13.339 - 00:25:30.290

their, their just, their just due because it's long overdue. It really is. These people contributed to this community in and outside of the community in a very positive way, and um I'm very grateful for, for them doing this. So I thank you. Um, and I thank

00:25:30.290 - 00:25:49.550

Cheryl, and, and I do thank the, the staff at Saint Luke's for taking the time and, and wanting to do this. This is very important. It really is. Um, the Westport and, uh, neighborhood is, is historic, uh, in the city. Uh, can you maybe think of

00:25:49.550 - 00:26:07.030

one thing that, uh, the city and, uh, even Saint Luke's could do. Uh, maybe a couple of other things to make sure that this community is, uh, is, um, etched in stone in the memory of, uh, of that area. I think they've done it with doing

00:26:07.030 - 00:26:21.994

this, with doing the oral history. I think they've done that. Um, they've opened their doors and they've opened up their hearts to the community to allow this, this experience to take place, and they've embraced the. Community they've embraced the history of the community and they've recognized

00:26:22.295 - 00:26:37.295

the community with the growth of Saint Luke's now and where it is from where it's come from they have recognized the importance of being within the community and being a part of the community and um I I just think it's marvelous what they're what they're doing.

00:26:38.020 - 00:26:53.130

Uh, you know, there's a new fire station. Yes. You've seen it. Yes, I have. Would you like a piece of your artwork to hang in that fire station? If they would accept it, of course, absolutely, yeah, if they would accept it, I, I would be, be

00:26:53.130 - 00:27:09.060

more than honored to, to have that opportunity to have that to happen. Sure. Could you come up with something special? Are you rolling tape on this? Is somebody gonna, yeah, I could. I could come up with a really wonderful design, um, on the area. Sure, absolutely,

00:27:09.140 - 00:27:27.560

I could. Are they gonna pay me? Or is this going to be a contribution? I figured if this is on tape and I got witnesses, I'm in good shape. So as long as they pay for the artwork, of course. Um, yeah. Sure. Mhm. Well, are we,

00:27:27.640 - 00:27:42.199

are we done now? There is something that I do want to mention, and I don't think anyone has, is I come from a generation where Temple Slug was in Westport and it's one of the oldest stores that's in the, uh, the Steptoe area. Um, this is

00:27:42.199 - 00:28:00.849

a an inclusive community that accomplished quite a bit. And Temple Slug, just from the generation that I come from, they were wonderful. They were a wonderful store to shop at. But, um, in closing, and with all that said, I really do want to thank Saint Luke's

00:28:00.849 - 00:28:22.609

for recognizing um the African American community. In, in step toe and giving everyone an opportunity for doing this, I, I think it's marvelous. I do. Tell me an ounce about. At the Temple Slug, Temple Slug carry at that time, um, different furnishings for your home, a

00:28:22.609 - 00:28:37.180

lot more modern than most, and it was, it was, uh, a cutting edge store, furniture store, um, and a lot of us that lived there thought we were cutting edge as well. And so we were able to shop at that store. They're right on the corner

00:28:37.760 - 00:28:47.050

of Forty-third, yeah. Well, thank you. You're welcome. OK, Rodney, I wanna see this. Make sure my fat's off my cheeks, child.