Crittenden Residence

On May 21, 1952, an ignited bomb was hurled through a window of the home of Mr. & Mrs. Charles Crittenden. Marlene Johnson, a guest in the home, saw the bomb, picked it up, and threw it back out the window. Moments later the bomb exploded, shattering windows in the Crittenden’s home as well as in the homes of neighbors.  This was the third incident the Crittendens were subjected to after moving into the home. The Crittendens were the first African Americans to move into the Troost Lake Neighborhood.

As early as May 2, 1952 the newly created Human Relations Commission of Kansas City, Mo., received its first housing discrimination case involving Charles Crittenden. Mr. Crittenden was in the process of purchasing property in an all-white neighborhood, but before he and his wife moved in, the Human Relations Commission polled the neighborhood’s residents to determine their receptiveness to African American neighbors. The commission stated that their “findings indicated peaceable acceptance.”

Not long after the bombing, real estate agents flooded the neighborhood, taking advantage of the fears of other residents buying their houses for pennies on the dollar. According to the Human Relations Commission 1st made attempts to combat real estate blockbusting efforts through door-to-door campaigns and appealing to the Troost Park Homes Association, but there were no legal means of stopping the “panic selling.” In their First Annual Report (1953), the Human Relations Commission stated, “Despite (door-to-door campaigns and appeals to the Troost Park Homes Association) and other efforts by the Commission and the Association to reduce the hysteria and panic of the white residents, for sale signs began to appear on (Crittenden’s) block in large numbers.”

 content provided by: