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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Kansas City Sun (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924

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About The Kansas City Sun (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924

The weekly publication of the Kansas City Sun commenced in 1908, and it soon became one of the most prominent and influential African-American newspapers in the Midwest. Nelson C. Crews purchased the Sun in 1911 and used the paper to promote his activities in the African American community. With the Sun as his vehicle, Crews helped organize a campaign to get a second hospital in Kansas City that would admit African American patients and allow black doctors to practice. Additionally, in 1921, he “launched a crusade for improvement” of schools in the area that served African-American students.

His editorials expressed his opposition to any proposals that increased segregation, and he and Charleton H. Tandy of the St. Louis Palladium were called to testify at a hearing before the Missouri House of Representatives against a bill which would require the separation of the races on public transportation.

His public profile and power gave Crews a great influence in Kansas City, but it also created some vocal opponents. Crews had an ongoing public feud with William T. Washington who was the editor of the Rising Son, another African-American newspaper in Kansas City. Crews had briefly worked for the Rising Son, and Washington accused him of attempting to become a political boss of the African American community due to his many speaking engagements and the power that he wielded through his editorials. This rivalry ended in 1914 after Crews purchased the Rising Son and ousted Washington as editor.

Even after acquiring another newspaper, Crews continued to publish the eight-page Kansas City Sun every Saturday for another decade.  The last issue of the Sun appeared in 1924.

Provided By: State Historical Society of Missouri; Columbia, MO

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Kansas City Sun (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924

Dates of Publication

  • 1908-1924

Created / Published

  • Kansas City, Mo. : N.C. Crews

Headings

  • -  African Americans--Missouri--Newspapers
  • -  Kansas City (Mo.)--Newspapers
  • -  African American newspapers--Missouri
  • -  Jackson County (Mo.)--Newspapers
  • -  African American newspapers
  • -  African Americans
  • -  Missouri
  • -  Missouri--Jackson County
  • -  Missouri--Kansas City
  • -  United States--Missouri--Jackson--Kansas City

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1908? Ceased in 1924?
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 6, no. 20 (Jan. 10, 1914).

Medium

  • v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn90061556

OCLC Number

  • 21244408

ISSN Number

  • 2166-8329

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://aj.sunback.homes/ndnp/listawardees.html.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://aj.sunback.homes/homepage/legal.html

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Kansas City Sun Kansas City, Mo. -1924. (Kansas City, MO), Jan. 1 1908. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn90061556/.

APA citation style:

(1908, January 1) The Kansas City Sun Kansas City, Mo. -1924. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn90061556/.

MLA citation style:

The Kansas City Sun Kansas City, Mo. -1924. (Kansas City, MO) 1 Jan. 1908. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn90061556/.