Negro History Week and J.W. “Blind” Boone Community Center

Written By Matt Fetterly

On February 8, 1970, the Columbia Missourian reported that a local observance of national “Negro History Week” would be held at the J.W. “Blind” Boone Community Center. Negro History Week was started in 1926 and scheduled in February to mark the birthdays of Frederick Douglass (February 14) and Abraham Lincoln (February 12). The weeklong celebration of black history grew into what is now celebrated as Black History Month; the first month-long celebration was at Kent State University in 1970, it grew and became nationally recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1976 as part of the United States Bicentennial Celebration. In 1970 Columbia, the Negro History Week observance was as follows:

  • Monday: The community center choir performed at St. Luke United Methodist Church

  • Tuesday: “University speaker” at Russell Chapel C.M.E. Church

  • Wednesday: Hickman High School students at Second Baptist Church

  • Thursday: “University speaker” at St. Paul A.M.E. Church

  • Friday: A one-act drama performed by University of Missouri students at Second Christian Church

All of the observances were in historically African American churches. They are located in what was Columbia’s largest black neighborhood along both sides of Flat Branch Creek on the northwest side of Downtown. At the heart of the neighborhood are Douglass High School and the J.W. Blind Boone Community Center. Both are named after famous black men. Douglass escaped from slavery in 1838 and became a social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He is one of the leading African American intellectuals of the 1800s. J.W. Blind Boone was a blind and black Columbian who became famous and wealthy through his remarkable ability as a piano player and composer. Boone’s wealth and charity, often through Second Baptist Church which stands next to his home, were well-known during his lifetime.

Before “urban renewal” of the 1950s, the black neighborhoods of Columbia were a city unto themselves. There were churches, schools, grocery stores, shops, hotels, and theaters. The commercial district was known as “Sharp End” and located on the northwest side of downtown, near the black residential areas. In 1956, the Columbia Housing Authority was established by the voters of Columbia with the support of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and Columbia City Council. Its stated goals were to take advantage of federal grants to clear and upgrade “substandard housing”. This housing was almost entirely black occupied and often black owned. Many of these houses were in rough shape, and without indoor plumbing or electricity. Outhouses were common and Flat Branch Creek was considered an open sewer. Conversely, many homes were well taken care of and the pride of their residents who intended to continue to occupy them. The vast majority of the homes and businesses along Flat Branch Creek were demolished and the area was rebuilt as public housing or sold to white business owners. Objectively, urban renewal was a complex mixture of different motivations, good intentions and greed, that was enacted by White Columbians, who wielded most of the power and affluence of the city, on Black Columbians. The results were, like most things, both good and bad, but certainly have ramifications to this day. The two mile African American Heritage Trail documents the most important sites through a series of markers.

The J.W. “Blind” Boone Center was constructed as the headquarters of the Columbia Housing Authority. The authority still operates public housing in the City of Columbia in 2023, although it now occupies a new Administration Building nearby its original. The J.W. “Blind” Boone Center operates as a community center today, offering social and cultural programs. For many years it was the home of the Mid-Missouri High Steppers, formerly known as the Blind Boone Steppers, a drumline and dance group. Stepping is a percussive dance where the participant's entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken word, and hand claps. It originated in competitive schoolyard song and dance rituals practiced by African American fraternities and sororities. Below is a photograph of the Blind Boone Center and a video produced by the City Channel in 2018 about housing discrimination and urban renewal in Columbia, Missouri.

The J.W. “Blind” Boone Community Center

Taken by Matt Fetterly on February 8 , 2023

South side of J.W. “Blind” Boone Community Center, mural titled “Moving Ahead”

Taken by Matt Fetterly on February 8, 2023

Inspired by the preservation of the surviving historically Black churches, homes, and a school, our group, CoMo Preservation, hopes to help homeowners, landlords, and institutions prevent the destruction of historic architecture. Original period styles might be replicated, but will forever lack the social history of authentic structures. The preservation of historic bridges is necessary for Columbia’s residents, students, and visitors to achieve a sense of place and, it follows, for our city’s continued economic success. If you want to join us in our mission sign up for our mailing list to receive news and updates.

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Matt Fetterly

Matt was born in Columbia, Missouri and is an 8th generation Boone Countian. He is an alumni of Hickman High School and the University of Missouri. Since 2011 he has worked for Shakespeares Pizza, as a truck driver and distribution manager, visiting and selling locally produced frozen pizza in all 115 Missouri counties, as well as Kansas, Illinois, and Nebraska. He is also a professional percussionist, working at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre since 2012, and has performed with the Maples Repertory Theatre, Central Methodist Theater, University of Missouri Theater, Columbia Entertainment Company, Talking Horse Productions, Maplewood Barn Theater, Columbia Community Band, Columbia Jazz Orchestra, Columbia Civic Orchestra, Columbia Chorale, The Tipper Gores, Columbia Handbell Ensemble, and the 9th Street Philharmonic. A lifelong love of Columbia inspired him to preserve a growing collection of over 170 books about Columbia and Boone County. A related project is preserving and cataloguing books and ephemera manufactured by the E.W. Stephens Publishing Company, once Columbia’s largest business. He specializes in local natural history, black history, indigenous history, lgbtq+ history, and cultural history more generally (particularly architecture, music, art, theater, and cemeteries). When not playing music or writing about local history, he enjoys hiking, caving, camping, and floating, in the forest and prairies of Mid-Missouri.

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