The Top 10 most American things about Kansas City
By CJ Janovy in Janovy
Wed., Jul. 1 2009 @ 8:33AM
In honor of the upcoming patriotic holiday, here's our list of local people and places that, for better or worse, constitute hallmarks of quintessential Americanness.
10. George Brett. A hall-of-famer in the great American pastime, hero to many a baseball-loving kid, turns out to be insufferable in real life.
9. Kris Kobach. This UMKC law professor, former head of the Kansas Republican Party and current candidate for Kansas Secretary of State, made a name for himself in the classic American tradition of opposing a certain kind of immigrant.
8. Honeywell's Kansas City Plant. The plant makes "non-nuclear components for nuclear weapons" (as if that "non-nuclear" specification makes our city somehow less a part of the arms race); it's slated for a $673 million upgrade.
7. Stroud's. Classic American food (and classic American overindulgence every time we eat there).
6. General Motors' Fairfax assembly plant. We're just crossing our fingers that what's good for General Motors is still good for America.
5. The Steamboat Arabia Museum. Here's just one load of everything it took to build this country, in a context that shows how damn hard it must have been.
4. The Quindaro Ruins. A long-lost port town on the Kansas City, Kansas, side of the Missouri River was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
3. Haskell Indian Nations University. What once was essentially a concentration camp where Indian children who had been removed from their families were taught the white man's way of life is now a university where their descendants can re-learn some of what was lost.
2. The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial. The trench-immersion experience is only one of the ways in which this museum pummels visitors with the tragedy of all wars; to visit this museum is to truly understand the price we paid for whatever ways WWI preserved America's freedoms.
1. The Mutual Musicians Foundation. Designated a National Historic Landmark, this one-time black musicians' union hall at 18th and Vine is a still-jamming monument to the one truly American art form.
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9. Kris Kobach. This UMKC law professor, former head of the Kansas Republican Party and current candidate for Kansas Secretary of State, made a name for himself in the classic American tradition of opposing a certain kind of immigrant.
8. Honeywell's Kansas City Plant. The plant makes "non-nuclear components for nuclear weapons" (as if that "non-nuclear" specification makes our city somehow less a part of the arms race); it's slated for a $673 million upgrade.
7. Stroud's. Classic American food (and classic American overindulgence every time we eat there).
6. General Motors' Fairfax assembly plant. We're just crossing our fingers that what's good for General Motors is still good for America.
5. The Steamboat Arabia Museum. Here's just one load of everything it took to build this country, in a context that shows how damn hard it must have been.
4. The Quindaro Ruins. A long-lost port town on the Kansas City, Kansas, side of the Missouri River was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
3. Haskell Indian Nations University. What once was essentially a concentration camp where Indian children who had been removed from their families were taught the white man's way of life is now a university where their descendants can re-learn some of what was lost.
2. The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial. The trench-immersion experience is only one of the ways in which this museum pummels visitors with the tragedy of all wars; to visit this museum is to truly understand the price we paid for whatever ways WWI preserved America's freedoms.
1. The Mutual Musicians Foundation. Designated a National Historic Landmark, this one-time black musicians' union hall at 18th and Vine is a still-jamming monument to the one truly American art form.
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