Fairyland Amusement Park - Kansas City, Missouri 1923-1977

Fairyland Park: Kansas City’s Million Dollar Playground, Jazz Stage, and Civil Rights Battleground

Megan and Mindy dig into the complicated history of Fairyland Park at 75th and Prospect in Kansas City, a long-gone amusement park that was once a major summer destination and a significant jazz venue. The story spans thrills, music, segregation, activism, and the eventual decline of the park as Kansas City changed around it.They also trace how Fairyland fit into a larger local tradition of amusement parks, why its music mattered, and how Black Kansas Citians fought to end its discriminatory admission policies.

Archival Collections & Primary Documents

• Kansas City Public Library (Missouri Valley Special Collections): Houses the extensive Mrs. Sam Ray Postcard Collection featuring vintage, aerial, and entrance views of the park. It also holds critical civil rights artifacts, including the SC63 Fairyland Park collection which archives a 1961 single-page protest flyer distributed by the NAACP Youth Council.
• The 1940 Tax Assessment Photograph Collection: Accessible via KC-1940, this rare collection includes 10 surviving property appraisal folders containing precise structural photographs of the main entrance hall, the early Sky Rocket roller coaster, and individual park attractions located between 75th and 77th Street.
• LaBudde Special Collections (UMKC): Holds the rare, original 1927 sheet music for the park's official promotional anthem, "Fairyland Park and You," written by William R. Clay and Ned Underhill.
• American Jazz Museum: Preserves historic photographs of seminal Black jazz ensembles—including the Bennie Moten Orchestra (1931) and Thamon Hayes' Kansas City Rockets (1932)—who performed at the park's pavilion despite the era's segregation laws.

📰 Media, Audio, & Investigative Reports

• KCUR (NPR Kansas City): Features detailed historical audio packages and investigative articles. Notable reports include Laura Ziegler’s “Years Ago, Summer Meant (Almost) Everyone Headed To Fairyland Park” and the deep-dive uncovering the origins of the park's forgotten 1920s theme song.
• Flatland KC (curiousKC): Offers an in-depth investigative piece, “Winning Access to Fairyland Park,” detailing the 1960s boycotts spearheaded by student Gloria Newton, CORE, and the NAACP, which ultimately led to the city's 1964 public accommodations ordinance. [