History and Context

Quindaro was founded in 1857 on the Kansas side of the Missouri river, now a part of Kansas City. In order to protect runaway slaves who would cross the sometimes treacherous waters in their desperate search for a better life, Quindaro was formed with land provided by Wyandot tribespeople along with the economic resources of local white abolitionists, and became an important stop on the underground railroad.

A few of Quindaro's founding families— white, black and Native American— still live in the area today, proud of their roots and the contributions made by their ancestors to the cause of freedom.

For through these people, working together across racial lines, a very special town was created in the true spirit of the American Dream. It only lasted, thrived in fact, for five short years, but their co-operative spirit, their civic pride, courage and determination, proved that it could be done. And it remains today as an important marker in time, a shining chapter in American history that we should never allow to be forgotten.