[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 25, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF RUBY ARNOLD

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                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 25, 2017

  Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the 
life of Ruby Arnold. While it is widely known that Horace Peterson was 
the visionary and sole founder of the Black Archives of Mid-America 
(BAMA), it is little known who saved the institution from vanishing, 
years later.
  Years after Peterson's accidental death, the BAMA experienced 
internal tumult that unfortunately played out in the Kansas City media. 
The unflattering press resulted in funding shortfalls and eventually, 
the exodus from Vine Street, sometimes referred to as ``The 
Firehouse.''
  As BAMA began to fade in part because it did not have an adequate 
home, or sufficient funding, nor the extensive collection of artifacts 
and memorabilia, some longtime supporters began to search for funding 
and a new location.
  During the spring of 1998, Ruby Arnold, a BAMA diehard board member, 
began a personal crusade to secure a new home for the organization she 
held dear. One Monday morning, during a heavy spring rain, Ruby Arnold 
appeared at the desk on the 29th floor of City Hall. The security guard 
asked if she had an appointment with anyone in particular. ``I don't 
have an appointment but I have come to see Mayor Emanuel Cleaver,'' she 
said. ``I'm sorry but the Mayor is not in,'' Cheryl Richards, an 
assistant to the Mayor stepped in and stated. She told Ms. Arnold that 
on Monday mornings, the Mayor attended the Mayors Corp of Progress 
meeting, a support group of Kansas City business leaders. ``Thank you, 
I'll wait. It's raining pretty hard, anyway.'' And wait she did. 
Several hours later, the Mayor and his security walked off the 29th 
floor elevators where he was greeted by one Ruby Arnold. ``Mayor 
Cleaver, I need your help to locate a home for the Black Archives. We 
don't have any money but we need a place large enough to grow.'' The 
Mayor said, ``Well, I don't know for sure what I can do. You know that 
the Black Archives was supposed to be in the main museum building on 
18th Street but Horace wanted something different that we could not do 
legally.'' ``All I know is that we need a home for the Archives, and 
you are the Mayor. I don't know anyone else to ask,'' Ms. Arnold 
replied, slowly and sadly.
  A week later, Ruby showed up at the Mayor's office but because she 
didn't have an appointment, she waited for almost two hours to see the 
Mayor. Again, when she was taken to see the Mayor, she made an appeal 
for help. The Mayor had no solution to share with her so he said that 
he would continue to work on it. She looked him straight in the eye and 
said, ``Mayor, I know you can do this.''
  On the following Saturday, the Mayor held an event for city leaders 
from Columbus, Ohio on 18th and Vine in the Gem Theater. Ms. Ruby 
Arnold was there among the elected officials. ``Have you found a place 
for the Black Archives?'' she asked the Mayor as he sat on the stage 
answering questions about the 18th and Vine development. ``Well, not 
yet,'' he replied, ``but I do have an idea. Can we talk later?'' She 
nodded and said ``Mayor, I know you can do this.''
  On Monday morning, as the Mayor expected, Ms. Arnold arrived without 
an appointment. The Mayor had told the staff to show her in if she 
appeared at the front desk. This time, the Mayor was anxious to get her 
into the office to present what he called an intriguing proposal. When 
she took a seat in his office, the Mayor smiled, and said, ``Good news! 
I have been in conversation with Terry Dobson, the director of the 
Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department about the old Parade Park 
maintenance building at 1722 E. 17th Terrace.'' ``Can we get it?'' 
asked Ruby. The Mayor replied, ``I think so, but we've got to make sure 
that the tons of horse manure underground does not present a threat 
since methane gas is a bi-product of manure.'' Ms. Arnold seemed 
pleased and the Mayor was relieved. ``Thank you, thank you. I told you 
that you could do it,'' Ruby said as she moved towards the door. The 
Mayor told her she didn't need to thank him, and with his tongue 
strangely planted in his cheek, the Mayor added, just stop driving him 
crazy.
  Ruby Arnold died before the opening of the new Archives in the summer 
of 2010, but former Mayor Emanuel Cleaver, then U.S. Representative 
from Missouri's Fifth District, said, ``This location for the Black 
Archives was not secured by wishing or hoping, but by the merciful 
harassment I received from one determined Ruby Arnold. May God bless 
her remarkable spirit.''

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