D. A. Holmes School

Originally named the Benton School after Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton, the D.A. Holmes Elementary School opened in September of 1904. The school was built in the fashionable Benton Residential District as a replacement for the old Benton School at 14th Street and Liberty Street. The D.A. Holmes School was designed by Charles Ashley Smith who served as architect on the Kansas City School Board for thirty eight years (1898-1936). Smith designed several other schools in Kansas City; his advancements in ventilation and cleanliness were used across the country. Between 1904 and 1921, the school experienced rapid growth in student population. The west wing of eight new classrooms was built in 1921 in order to serve all 1,300 students.

The D.A. Holmes School was renamed in honor of a prominent Kansas City civil rights leader and Paseo Baptist Church pastor in 1953. Reverend Daniel Arthur Holmes began his career in the Kansas City area in 1914 and served as the pastor for Paseo Baptist Church (25th Street and The Paseo) for 46 years (1921-1967). Holmes was also a champion of racial equality and much of his advocacy work related to education. Holmes notably fought against the Kansas City School Board to ensure that money was set aside to build Lincoln High School, one of the few high schools open to African American students at the time. He also led an effort for racial integration at the University of Missouri in 1939.

The School opened in 1904 as an all-white school and was converted for use by black students in 1953. Despite opposition from parents, the Kansas City, Missouri School District (KCMSD) changed the name of the school to reflect the change in segregated population. Parents requested that the school maintain the Benton name to minimize confusion about which school their children were assigned, but the school board made up of white elites denied their input. From 1955-1975, the KCMSD used Troost Ave as a racial dividing line with black schools to the east and white schools to the west. The racial segregation of schools along Troost Ave played a role in white flight from the east side to the west side of Kansas City.

Notable alumni include Academy Award-winning actress Ginger Rogers, known for her musical motion pictures performances with Fred Astaire, and cartoonist Walt Disney. Ginger Rogers only attended the school for one year of Kindergarten while Disney attended for seven years from 1910-1917. Disney supposedly drew the first version of the famous Mickey Mouse as “Mortimer Mouse” in the margins of his textbooks at the school.

The Holmes School shut its doors in June of 1997. The building has since been converted into the D.A. Holmes Senior Apartments.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Santa Fe Place Historic District on 5/30/1986.

Bibliography

Fox Gotham, Kevin. Race, Real Estate, and Uneven Development: The Kansas City Experience, 1900-2010. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2014.

 Horsley, Lynn. "What's in a name? Kansas City schools offer lessons in history with those they honor." in The Kansas City Star, July 31, 1997: 10. NewsBank: America's News.

 The Landmarks Commission of Kansas City, MO. “Kansas City Public School Survey (Pre 1940): Final Report,” October 1989, https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/survey/JAAS025-R.pdf (accessed December 11, 2019).

 Moran, Peter W. “What’s in a Name: Issues of Race, Gender, Culture, and Power in the Naming of Public School Buildings in Kansas City, Missouri 1940-1995.” Planning and Changing (2004): 129-143.

 Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri

Digital Collections – Biographies

            Charles Ashley Smith: Architect (1867-1948)

            Daniel Arthur Homes: Minister and Community Leader (1876-1972)

Kansas City (MO) School District Records (SC23)

Series V - Scrapbooks

 Robertson, Joe. "Old schools await new lives in KC's urban core” in The Kansas City Star, December 9, 2007: A1. NewsBank: America's News.

Content Provided by

Maria Starns, student at the University of Missouri Kansas City as part of Dr. Sandra Enriquez’s Urban History Class.