Description
"Down Memory's Lane by Dr. Donald D. Parker" - - “The Colored Community of Parkville” (excerpted from longer article) - - When the Civil War was over there was a decided shifting of the Negro population of the Parkville vicinity. A rumor was afloat that the government was intending to give every Negro in Kansas 40 acres and a mule, this induced many to migrate across the river and many went to Leavenworth, thus becoming the nucleus of that city’s large colored population. Free to move about at will, many Negroes of the Parkville vicinity moved into town where they resided here and there throughout the village, scattered among the white population. This condition was to prevail throughout the remainder of the century. They earned a livelihood at many different tasks. When the college located in Parkville in 1875 many colored men were employed in the work of grading the campus, caring for the orchards, cutting trees, tending the nursery, hauling coal, and in a multitude of other tasks. Gradually the necessity of such kinds of work was lessened and this resulted in a marked decline in the Negro population of Parkville. The number of colored persons in the town in 1938 was perhaps 75, but the census of May 1, 1906 gave Parkville 204 colored persons, 95 of whom were over 21 years of age. Spencer Cave states that in the 1890’s and preceding decades there were at least 250 Negroes in Parkville. Kansas City, Leavenworth, Chicago, and the Northern States have drawn many away from the town, the exodus beginning about 1900.Date(s) of Creation
12/31/1943