Reconstruction, Great Migration and Civil Rights Eras

Reconstruction, Great Migration and Civil Rights Eras. Liberty African American Legacy Memorial. , Prince Hall Masons Lodge , No. 37 F. and A.M. , The origin of the Liberty African American Lodge #37 F. and A.M. began in 1877 with the issue of its charger by the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Missouri, Free and Accepted Masons. The first lodge hall was built on North Main Street near Garrison School and included the Royal Arch Masons and the St. Mathews No. 17 Knights Templar Commandry., In 1922 and 1923, the No. 17 Knights Templar Commandry, composed of 17 men from Liberty, received the state grand prize in the drill contest held in St. Louis. Richard Waller, one of its members, recalled the pride the group felt when they were awarded the grand prize. In a Liberty Tribune article, he said, “The uniforms were very expensive; the hat and the plumes and belts with sabers cost over $100.00 each.” Waller was also a member of the Royal Arch when outstanding community leader Charles Griggsby of Liberty was the Grand High Priest of not only the Liberty Royal Arch chapter, but also the Kansas City Grand Lodge of Missouri. In 1969, Finis Dorsey was the Worshipful Master of Lodge #37. Otis Bird and John Black received the Gold Star award for over 68 years of service in Lodge #37 and were buried in Fairview, as was Charles Griggsby., Benevolent associations including Black Freemasons were second in importance only to the church in building solidarity in the African American community, reaching their zenith between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War II. They were active in the underground railroad, building schools and laying cornerstones for most African American churches. Nearly all African American schools and colleges named after famous African American men of the 20th century were Free Masons. Prince Hall Freemasonry is the oldest and largest predominately African American fraternal organization in the nation., Garrison Wonder Team , The Liberty football sports heroes of the 1930’s were known as the Garrison Wonder Team. Organized in about 1932, the team started with boys between 16 and 20 years of age. At the time, Garrison only offered two years of high school education. Coached by Principal Clarence Gantt and volunteer resident Sam Walls, this talented team of young men made its way to a championship with a total of 169-6 points in its favor in eight games. They won seven and lost one game, K.V.S. of Topeka, defeating Lincoln, Richmond, Lexington and Sumner., Teammate Roger “Sugar Foot” Hines vividly recalled, in an interview with a Jewell professor, the special relationship William Jewell had with these African American athletes and the African American community: “One of the men respected by coaches and players on the Wonder Team was R.E. (“Dad”) Bowels, the head coach at William Jewell. The story was that Dad Bowles called a meeting on the Jewell campus and said, “If you boys are in earnest and want to play football, we will get you the uniforms and equipment from the college athletic department and provide the playing field at Green Stadium.”, Roger said, “Despite this being the era of Jim Crow, there was no segregation in the bleachers. On game days, the Liberty community sat together and cheered the Wonder Team to victory. During halftime the team would go to the powered plant boiler room to keep warm and then return to the field to complete the game.” The Wonder team of 1932 starting lineup players included: Roger “Sugar Foot” Hines, Coy “Steak” McGinnis, Ross “Spider” Pearley, Dave “Gravy” Willis and Carl “Deacon” Hines. Five of the players continued their education at Lincoln University: Bob and Ross Pearley, Ed Willis, Willard Smith and Rothwell Griggsby., Charles Griggsby , (1857-1920) , By the time Charles Griggsby was first mentioned in local papers, he was already an established leader in the Liberty African American community. In 1897, Liberty Mayor Maltby selected Charles to represent Liberty at the first convention in St. Joseph to establish a home for the indigent and elderly who were formerly enslaved. He served on the home’s ways and means committee and advisory board., Charles was a member of the Royal Arch Masons of Missouri, Liberty Lodge, traveling to St. Louis as Grand Junior Warden in 1904, representing the Liberty Lodge. He served as Grand Treasurer for a number of years before being elected Grand High Priest of the Royal Arch Masons., Charles died in his Liberty home on February 7, 1920. Held at the Frist Baptist Church, his funeral was a grand affair, and Masons from all over Missouri came to pay their respects. Kansas City Sun editor and close friend Nelson Crews, as well as the Superintendent of Kansas City’s General Hospital Dr. William Tompkins attended. The local Knights Templar band played music and led the funeral cortege to Fairview Cemetery, the first time and automobile hearse was used in an African American federal in Liberty., Charles’ first wife, Anna Drake Blue, is likely buried at Fairview, as well as his second wife, Mamie Mitchel Dorsey. His son, Charles Harvey Griggsby (1833-1884), has one of the earliest Clay County birth records, as well as one of the earliest burial records for Fairview. All except Mamie are in unmarked graves., Hazel Murray Black , (1900-1987) , Hazel Murray Black, the first African American historian in Clay County, was born in 1900 in the community of White Oak, located between N. Brighton and Antioch Road in North Kansas City, Missouri. Her mother and father, Emma and Fountain Waller Murray, were part of the tight-knit African American community of enslaved people to whom plantation owner Fountain Waller left 65 acres of farmland upon his death in 1855. She received her early education in the White Oak School and later married John Black., Hazel was a member of the Clay County Historical Society and served as a volunteer researcher with local historians Vera Eldridge and Ethel Withers. Using her remarkable knowledge of the history of the African American community, she collected pictures and clippings, as well as stories she remembered hearing., Her oral interview work was recorded in Liberty Tribune newspaper articles, as well as historical essays focusing on the African American experience in Liberty. She and her husband, John Black, were members of the Frist Baptist Church, where they served as deacon and deaconess. In addition, she was Worthy Matron of the Mt. Olive Chapter #8 Order of the Eastern Star of Liberty that met in the lodge hall on N. Main. During the e1940s, Hazel and John owned a grocery store and restaurant in their home on North Gallatin Street where she made and sold Virginia “Beaten Biscuits.”, Clarence Claybrooks Parker , (1894-1923) , Clarence Claybrooks Parker was the son of Reverend William and Mrs. Emma Parker. As a member of Mount Zion First Baptist Church, he was the assistant superintendent and teacher of the Sunday school, along with his father and sister, Marie Parker., He attended Garrison School and at an early age developed a love for piano, going to the home of William and Mary Slaughter, whose children played various instruments. Clarence began learning to play the piano in the Slaughter home at every opportunity until Mrs. Slaughter would have him stop. After finishing Garrison School, he attended school in Topeka, Kansas. In 1910, the Topeka Daily Capitol newspaper, among others, mentioned Clarence Parker as being one of the new students at the University of Kansas in Lawrence where he studies classical piano., After leaving Lawrence, Clarence moved to Chicago and played at various places for people of wealth and influence across the color line. In 1918, Clarence was drafted, and he registered for the military during world war one. He was assigned to Company E, 805th Pioneer Infantry American Expeditionary Forces Regiment, where he was shipped overseas to France on the Saxonia, serving as a private in the Bearcat Unit. After returning to the states, he formed a band and was successful performing at private and public functions., At the height of his musical career, Clarence contracted tuberculosis and returned to Liberty, but he continued playing piano at various functions in the Kansas City area. He was active in the community until his health became too impaired. His last days were spent in his father’s house where he died at the age of twenty-nine.