University of Missouri at Kansas City - Kangaroo Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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of Commerce committee, headed by James E. Nugent, started some of the first tangiiole Work on the problem. A few yearsiater plans for 'Lincoln and Lee Universityf' an institution to be maintained by the Methodist Church, made definite progress. At approxi- mately the same time proponents of time proposal to have a non-political, non-sectarian university became active. E. H. Newcomb, who had been execu- tive secretary of the Lincoln and Lee movement and later of the original University of Kansas City, Missouri project, ioecame executive secretary for a united university plan, combining time efforts and assets of both groups. The first Board of Trustees of tile Uni- versity of Kansas City, headed by Ernest E. Howard as ctrairman, con- sisted of: H. T. Abernathy Jesse Andrews I Charles L. Brokaw J. A. Harzfeld Albert R. Jones L. L. Marcell George Melcher A. VV. Peet Sigmund Stern H. P. Treadway George R. Collett VV. T. Grant Lester VV. Hall Vviiiiam B. Henderson Arthur Niag Waiter S. iWcLucas Frank C. Niles J. Swift Mr. Howard Even after the merging of the two groups, the university backers pro- ceeded cautiously. A definite amount in financial assets was set up as a goal to be reached before the institu- tion was to open. Yet the University still was only a iiope to most people of Kansas City. Too many times had First Convocalion October I, 1033 Page 15

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cc By HARRY J. KAUFMANN, JR. HAT is the caption a headline writer lor a local newspaper gave the story of the dedication ol the Uni- versity of Kansas City nearly three years ago. It was a singularly appro- priate description ol the occasion. The University, as it toolc shape in the prophecies ol the speakers at the open- ing convocation, October 1, 1955, was indeed a newusun rising to help dis- perse the fog that had long enshrouded the city,s cultural life. There never had been a university in Kansas City in all its near-century of history. For higher learning native youth was forced to turn to out-ol-town institutions. Par- ticularly those unable to go outside the city suffered from the laclc of a university. Even though the University ol Kansas City was offering only the first two years ol college worli as it opened, a four-year college of liberal arts was only two years away, and further develop- ment ol schools which malqe up a true university was a del- inite goal. It was an event to be looked upon as the realiza- tion of the ,dreams of many civic-minded persons, the fruit ol many years, preparationg r but also as just the first step in a new and infinitely longer taslc. Kansas City again was on the pfoneer trail. That the university movement tooli hold in the city at the same time the other cultural ventures were suddenly materializing indicated Kansas City was awakening to a side of its life never before emphasized so strongly. An art gallery comparable to some ol the worlds greatest in size and endow- ment was the gilt of William Roclchill Nelson and others. It was dedicated only three months after the University ol Kansas City opened its doors. A philharmonic orchestra with a conduc- tor ol international status emerged simultaneously. ln the same year, Kan- sas City began to progress in art, in music, and in education, despite the fact that the nation was in the depths of the depression. Why the University of Kansas City should appear on the scene at this time is a story that spans many years ol struggle by men ol vision against discouraging obstacles. For a long time a university had been a euphemistic Hprojectn in Kan- sas City. Somehow it never came out of the realm of discussion until the post-war decade. ln 1922 a Chamber Page 14

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