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The
History and Development of
the Monroe School Neighborhood
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Initial Settlement of Topeka
Jacob Chase, one of the nine founders of Topeka,
first owned the land where BRVB is located.
He purchased one of the original one hundred
shares of land, first apportioned among Topeka’s
nine founding members in December of 1854.
In 1855, Chase sold a 160-acre plot to settlers
John and Mary Ritchie who had recently moved
from Indiana.
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Bird's eye view of the city of Topeka, the
capital of Kansas 1869. Drawn by A. Ruger.United
States. Library of Congress. Ruger map collection,
no. 69.
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Initially, the Ritchies used the plot as
a homestead and farm while also purchasing
other land and developments within Topeka.
During the 1860s Ritchie began selling 75-ft
by 100-ft parcels to free African-Americans
and others migrating to the area. A staunch
supporter of the anti-slavery movement and
the Underground Railroad, John Ritchie helped
scores of African-Americans settle in Kansas
throughout the Civil War period.
The Reconstruction Period: 1865–1877
With the start of the Civil War and continuing
through the Reconstruction Period, African-Americans
began moving into the new state of Kansas
with prospects of acquiring land and establishing
independent livelihoods. Between 1860 and
1865 the African-American population in
Kansas grew from below one percent to nearly
nine percent. Conversely, following the
Civil War, the attitudes about racial equality
and civil rights championed by John Ritchie
and the Abolitionist movement fell by the
wayside. Throughout the Reconstruction Period,
American values changed, placing more restrictions
on African-American freedoms including the
segregation of transportation, education,
housing, and other public areas.
Throughout the south, Reconstruction Period
economics kept African-Americans disenfranchised
and poor. Euro-American land owners charged
tenants exorbitant prices to lease farmland,
sometimes collecting between one-half and
one-third of the total harvest revenue.
These high rent prices caused massive accumulations
of debt and kept African-Americans economically
bound to plantation owners. Freed African-Americans
would not obtain equality until they became
independent land owners controlling their
own destiny. Kansas and the Homestead Act
of 1862 would provide that opportunity for
those willing to leave the southern states.
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The Exodus and Kansas Fever
During the 1860s and 1870s, African-Americans
slowly began migrating out of the former
slave states in search of free lands to
the west. In Topeka, the established white
populace saw no cause for concern with the
early immigration. African-Americans were
able to develop communities and enclaves
within the city, particularly within Ward
II , an affluent, predominately Euro-American
neighborhood. |
This slow influx soon turned into
a torrent of migration into Kansas.
The tide shifted with the 1878 election,
when Louisiana voters elected a Democratic
administration, thereby heralding
the end of Republicanism in the state
and cutting African-American Republicans
out of the political process. Election
results from 1878 were also contested
in Mississippi and South Carolina,
creating a climate of violence and
fear within African-American communities
throughout Louisiana, Mississippi,
Tennessee, and Texas. To many in these
communities, Kansas and the unsettled
western territories seemed a place
to escape the persecution and repression
perpetrated by hostile majorities
in many of the former Confederate
states. |
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"Ho For Kansas!" Copy print
of handbill. Historic American Building
Survey Field Records, HABS FN-6, #KS-49-14
Library of Congress |
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"Negro Exodusters en
route to Kansas, fleeing from
the yellow fever, " Photomural
from engraving. Harpers Weekly,
1870. Historic American Building
Survey Field Records, HABS FN-6,
#KS -49-11 Library of Congress
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The full fledged
exodus out of the southeast began
in March 1879 and continued into
1881, transplanting 25,000 African-Americans
to Kansas. Also called “Exodusters”,
the migrants were ex-slaves seeking
to claim lands and establish homesteads
in the hope that they would gain
freedom from the economic and
social oppression that had always
been a way of life in the south.
The Kansas fever was in full bloom
and migrants sought every opportunity
to claim all or part of the 160-acre
plots as defined in the 1862 Homestead
Act. |
Topeka bore the full brunt of
the Exodus. Between April and
August 1879, 7,000 emigrants
passed through Topeka, which
was the only city in Kansas
with a social welfare and resettlement
program. The flood of people
coming into Topeka aroused concerns
in both the Euroamerican and
established African-American
communities. Although fully
supportive of the Exoduster
cause, Topeka’s African-American
population made it clear that
the emigrants must “remember
that in Kansas everybody must
work or starve”. In addition,
the city and county governments
were for the most part unaccommodating
of the Exodus migration. In
fact, very little help was forthcoming
from nearly all levels of government
including the U.S. government.
Most relief monies for poor
and infirm emigrants came in
the form of private donations
and contributions administered
by the State Central Relief
Committee, which later became
the Kansas Freedman’s
Relief Association. The primary
goal of the Relief Committee
was to give temporary aid to
those who needed it and to assist
the Exodusters in finding employment
and housing. At the beginning
of 1880, the Relief Association
had secured jobs for 10,000
workers in Kansas, Nebraska,
Iowa, and Illinois (Cox 1982:65).
By the end of the Exodus migration
in 1881 nearly 3,000 African-Americans
had relocated to Topeka. This
huge influx of new people caused
a profound shift in the composition
and structure of African-American
society in Topeka.
The Birth of a New
Century
By the 1890s, African-Americans
lived in all five Wards and
held a diverse array of business,
professional, and skilled labor
positions in the Topeka community.
Racial segregation was very
much a part of everyday African-American
life that recognized no status
or class boundaries. Because
of racial segregation, African-Americans
from Topeka, regardless of social
status or wealth, began banding
together to promote the cause
of social progress.
At the beginning of the 20th
century, Kansas was still overwhelmingly
a rural and agricultural state.
However, the City of Topeka
continued to grow and develop
into an urban center, with a
population of 33,600 in 1900
and 50,000 in 1920 (Cox 1982).
By 1900 African-Americans constituted
fourteen percent of the total
population in Topeka (Cox 1982).
Increases in population within
the Monroe School neighborhood
are evident from the historic
maps of the neighborhood, documenting
the construction of numerous
structures on the west side
of Monroe Street. NEXT
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