In The Loop: December 11, 2022
Your connection to Downtown Kansas City
Seeking Downtown art, artists, and exhibition spaces
Every week, we feature one work of art either made by a Downtown-based artist, shown in a Downtown-based location — or of a subject matter related to Downtown KC. And, in doing the hunting for new images, it’s not easy to find:
Quality, straight-on images of artworks (so many works are photographed from an angle, or cropped to a detail, or have a camera-flash spot, etc.)
Artists’ names and social media links or websites (and be sure to include where you are based out of — at least the city)
Artworks’ year made, dimensions, and media
So, if you are an artist or curator or fan and have quality images and information relative to Downtown-centric artwork, please shoot us a message at tips@kcdowntownloop.com. We won’t guarantee to use the works you send us, but we will reply to all submissions.
#TheLoopWantsToKnow
Did you see this week’s question? If not, your chance to chime is here. This week, we ask where you would like to travel back in time in Downtown KC.
And now, on to the The Loop….
World’s first overhead electric streetcar tested in Kansas City
This Thursday in 1884, somewhere in Midtown between 39th and Linwood and Broadway and Main (but likely near 39th and Broadway), inventor and Canadian native John C. Henry climbed onto an old, donated mule car to test the world’s first overhead electric trolley on a half mile of donated track. His investors had been invited to join him for the ride, but none were brave enough to take a seat on this maiden voyage, so he went it alone … and ultimately went off the tracks before he was stopped by gravity when barreling up an embankment.
The car was estimated to go as fast as 12 miles per hour that day and, despite the mishap, the test of electric locomotion was considered a success. After repairs, more tinkering, and more testing over the next year or so, Henry opened an electric car line by converting the existing East Fifth Street horse-drawn route.
Henry had called his invention a “troller,” but somehow his workers and passengers morphed the term to “trolley,” so Kansas City can lay claim to the birthplace of that word as well.
In 1885, Henry’s four electric cars carried thousands of passengers daily, and the line was called “a complete success” by the Street Railway Journal. It was considered the first regular service of an overhead trolley system in the world. However, with the onset of winter, passengers of the open-air cars dwindled, business dried up, and the company ended up in receivership. Unable to convince his investors to support a permanent line, Henry moved to California to install his electric car system in San Diego, and later to become a nationally known expert in the field.
Nelly Don and chauffeur abducted
On the evening of this Friday’s date in 1931, Nell Donnelly, founder and head of the Downtown-based Donnelly Garment Co. — the top dress manufacturer in the United States, and later, the world — was kidnapped along with her chauffeur, George Blair, in the driveway of the mansion that the Donnellys leased at 5235 Oak Street. The Donnelly car was abandoned behind the Plaza Theater.
Initially, Nell’s husband Paul Donnelly tried to comply with the kidnappers’ wishes and negotiate without the police. However, when he summoned family friend and neighbor Sen. James A. Reed to return to Kansas City to assist with the situation, Kansas City police apparently heard rumors emanating from the Jefferson City courthouse where Reed had been arguing a case.
Reed, who had connections with the Pendergast machine and the organized crime syndicate headed by Johnny Lazia, was able to convince Lazia to activate his network in search of Nell Donnelly and George Blair. Within two days of the kidnapping, Lazia’s people located and freed the pair, and police later arrested the culprits.
During the trial of the captors, it was discovered that Nell’s husband Paul had been the original target of the kidnapping, but because he was ill and did not leave the home, the kidnappers snapped up Nell and her chauffeur when they appeared outside.
The next year, Nell and Paul divorced, citing “indignities,” which could have referred to Paul’s alcoholism and infidelity, or the circumstance that Nell had secretly given birth to a child while “on vacation in Europe” that was not Paul’s (she actually traveled to Chicago to have the child, and then claimed to have “adopted” the baby while in Europe).
The actual father of Nell’s child? Sen. James A. Reed, with whom she had had an affair before her kidnapping. Nell and Reed married in 1933 and lived at his nearby mansion at 5236 Cherry.
Paul, who married a woman half his age, committed suicide in 1934. Sen. Reed died in 1944. And Nell lived until 1991, when she died at the age of 102.
Oh, and the Donnelly home where the kidnapping occurred? It’s now the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Royals Community Listening Tour session this Tuesday
Love or hate the idea of baseball moving Downtown, you can voice your opinions about what you’d like to see — or not see — with the new ballpark and adjoining development at the first “town hall meeting” with Royals baseball officials this Tuesday night. The event runs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Medallion Theater at Plexpod Westport Commons, 300 E. 39th Street. You can RSVP here:
LINK: Community Listening Tour RSVP
Downtown leads the pack among KC’s best restaurants
Kansas City Magazine put together a list of the 40 best restaurants in our metro area, and the top four are located Downtown (with many other city-center restaurants added elsewhere in the list). Check out the full list here:
LINK: The 40 Best Restaurants In Kansas City Right Now
Proposed Missouri rule threatens choices concerning library
A proposed administrative rule from Missouri's secretary of state threatens to reduce community access to public library books and other resources, restrict the open exchange of ideas, and take choices out of the hands of individuals and families. Have questions about how this rule might impact how you and other community members use the library? The Kansas City Public Library offers this explainer:
LINK: Missouri’s Proposed Rule’s Impact on You and Your Library, Explained
Enzo opens this week in the City Market
Enzo Bistro & Wine Bar will open for dinner service on Dec. 13, with lunch service beginning this Thursday, the 15th. Enzo has taken over the former space of Bo Lings, which will be opening a new, smaller location on Fifth Street, just east of the Enzo’s space. Read more and check out the Enzo menu here:
LINK: Enzo Bistro & Wine Bar website
Becky Brown seeks the 2022 version of her mom’s KC Christmases
If you missed our post earlier this week with Becky’s quarterly humor column, you’ve gotta check it out. It’s sure to make you laugh….
LINK: Loop Humor: Where’s the Petticoat Lane of 2022?
c. 1910
Artful City: One weekly selection with a Downtown connection
Ronan Kyle Peterson, Li’l Teapot, 2022, red earthenware, 6 x 7 x 4 inches, Belger Arts Craneyard Gallery, 2011 Tracy Avenue
Downtown Lens: A single image depicting the urban aesthetic
Who are all these people?
Answering the question “Who are all these people and where are they going?”, The Loop brings you a list of some of the biggest events happening Downtown each week. Please give a friendly Downtown-Kansas City welcome to audiences and attendees of….
TODAY
Jurassic World Live Tour, final performance this morning at T-Mobile Center
Kansas City Symphony presents Handel’s Messiah, final performance today at Kauffman Center
Pretty Woman: The Musical, final performance today at the Music Hall
Kansas City Ballet presents The Nutcracker through Dec. 24 at Kauffman Center
Christmas in Song 2022, through Dec. 24 at Quality Hill Playhouse
Merry Market: Gifts, Giving & Good Cheer, weekends through Christmas at City Market
A Spectacular Christmas, Dec. 8-23 at Music Theater Heritage
TUESDAY the 13th
Rainbow Kitten Surprise at the Midland
THURSDAY the 15th
Kansas City Symphony’s Christmas Festival, Dec. 15-18 at Kauffman Center
FRIDAY the 16th
Sensatia, Cirque Cabaret, through Dec. 30 at the Grand Theater in Crown Center
Ugly Sweater Party (adults only) at LEGOLAND® Discovery Center, Crown Center
SATURDAY the 17th
Martina McBride 12th annual “The Joy of Christmas Tour” at the Midland
Nebraska Cornhuskers v. Kansas State Wildcats men’s basketball at T-Mobile Center
Kelley Hunt & Friends: Winter Soulstice at the Folly
CoComelon LIVE! JJ’s Journey at the Music Hall
ONGOING
Holiday choirs from regional schools and organizations through Dec. 18 at Crown Center
Holiday Reflections through Jan. 1 at Union Station
Winter Magic, nightly through Jan. 1 on Cliff Drive in the Northeast
Maya the Exhibition: The Great Jaguar Rises, most days through Jan. 1, at Union Station
For a more exhaustive list of everything happening Downtown, go to the VisitKC events page and use the “regions” function to search for Downtown, Westside/Southwest Blvd, West Bottoms, River Market, Power & Light, Crown Center, Crossroads, 18th & Vine — or anywhere you want to go in the KC Metro
For live Kansas City Jazz performances, visit LiveJazzKC.com
Got a tip or question about Downtown KC?
Write to: tips@kcdowntownloop.com or contact The Loop via social media
Kevin Worley, Co-Publisher/Editorial
Joe Nichols, Co-Publisher/Business
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