Credit: Atchison Co Historical Society
(KAIR)--A once all-but-forgotten aspect of Atchison history will be on display this coming weekend with the opening of the Black Business District Museum one part of the overall local celebration of Juneteenth.
Preserving the history of the once thriving northside district has long been a goal, with the Atchison County Historical Society and its volunteers working to make it a reality, with the City of Atchison, in 2024, signing over related properties for the project.
Atchison artist and genealogist Patty Boldridge has been instrumental in the project, focused on the preservation of the history of the once thriving 100 Black-owned businesses in the district. "It was a wonderful discovery," Boldridge said during a visit to 93.7 FM's Co-Host Monday. "It wasn't until they were going to demolish the buildings. My cousin Angela called me and she said you've got to be at the city commission meeting tonight. That's when we found out that they were going to possibly demolish the buildings and that they were the last of those businesses to be standing because so many had already been torn down. My sister, Sonia Boldridge, and I, we are genealogists."
It was after that Commission meeting, Boldridge says, that research began on the history of the black businesses. "We started digging into just those buildings, and in the process was able to find out that there were all these different black-owned businesses in Atchison. And we have uncovered over 100 black-owned businesses starting in, I believe, the earliest was 1876. I won't say the ending of black-owned businesses, but in its heyday, it would have been in the late sixties. After segregation, that's when things started to change.”
The opening of the Black Business District Museum will happen Saturday afternoon at 2:00, followed by Black History Trolley Tours from 2:30 to 4:00 and 4 to 5:30.
The opening of the museum is one part of the three day Juneteenth celebration which begins Friday, with the bulk of the 20th annual Atchison event taking place at the city's LFM Park.
The museum, which the historical society says is housed in a 1920 structure, is located in the 1100 block of North 7th Street near the park.
