Lincoln Building

This building was constructed in 1921 for J.H. Huppe, owner of the Lincoln Furniture Company. In addition to housing the Lincoln Furniture Company, space was leased to other commercial concerns and to doctors, lawyers, and dentists. In 1925 the 3rd floor was occupied by the Lincoln Dance Hall, while the May Flower Club occupied another section of the building. The Monarch Social Club occupied the 3rd floor in 1945. Thurgood Marshall, Marshall, then chief attorney for the NAACP, held offices in the Lincoln Building while he was arguing the case for the desegregation of the Swope Park Swimming Pool in 1952.

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The Lincoln Building was purchased and restored in 1979 by the Black Economics Union, a group that helps black businesses. The Historic Lincoln Building has quite a story to the building with being a key component in African American’s influence in Kansas City, Missouri and it was built in 1921, and this three-story building served multiple purposes.

The first floor originally contained the Lincoln Furniture Co., Matlaw’s Men’s Furnishing, and Hiram’s cafe. The second floor consisted of offices for many of the city’s most respected black dentists, doctors, and lawyers. The third floor held two large dance halls, where some of the earliest jazz performances were held.

In 1940 the building also housed the Kansas City Monarchs office. It specifically catered to black businesses during the time of segregation when white-owned businesses refused to do business with or serve black citizens.

Located in the 18th and Vine District, the Lincoln Building served as a space where a thriving jazz scene flourished. The Lincoln Building can be looked at as a metaphor of still standing and be a symbol of all the change and progress made for African American’s in Kansas City because they survived during times of segregation and hardships to still prosper in the current day. The Kansas City Call, a black owned and operated newspaper pronounced the building “the hub of our business wheel.”

The Lincoln Building still houses an important influence on the community as it houses the Kansas City chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) serving a purpose of ensuring political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.

Sources

Vertical File, “Kansas City Business Journal--Building Kansas City 1985: A Chronicle of Construction and Development” 1985. 18th and Vine District #1, f977.8411 K1696b. Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Missouri

Vertical File, “Kansas City Business Journal--Building Kansas City 1985: A Chronicle of Construction and Development” 1985. 18th and Vine District #1, f977.8411 K1696b.

Vertical File, “Kansas City Business Journal--Building Kansas City 1985: A Chronicle of Construction and Development” 1985. 18th and Vine District #1, f977.8411 K1696b.

“What Is the Mission of the NAACP?” NAACP. Accessed November 21, 2019. https://www.naacp.org/about-us/.

Additional Content Provided by

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