Minnie Lee Crosthwaite

Crosthwaite was one of the first African American social workers in Kansas City and spent decades working to improve health care for the local black community. Though she had already taught public school, raised a family, and owned two businesses, in middle age Crosthwaite began working at Wheatley-Provident Hospital at 18th and Forest Streets, established in 1910 specifically for African Americans. As president of the Hospital Auxiliary, Crosthwaite led an immensely successful annual fashion show that attracted thousands of people and raised money for the hospital.

Content Provided by: LINC

SourceS

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Kansas City Ward 8, Jackson, Missouri; Roll: T624_786; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 0092; FHL microfilm: 1374799

Year: 1930; Census Place: Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri; Page: 17B; Enumeration District: 0028; FHL microfilm: 2340928

Kansas City 1940 Tax Assessment Photographs, Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri