We’ll meet INSIDE the Broadway Diner for the 7 p.m. Dec. 19 meeting where owner Dave Johnson will fill us in on the ironic history of this local eatery at 22 S. Fourth St.

We’ll provide free holiday treats. The meeting is free and open to the public. Typically open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily, Dave will open the Diner at 7 p.m. for us. You can participate in the holiday spirit by bringing a donation for the Diner’s outreach efforts and donate socks/hats or items for its Little Library or free food pantry.

Don’t forget — CoMo Preservation’s membership drive is underway. Join by Dec. 31, 2023, and you’ll be acknowledged as a Founding Member. Note, in 2024, our meetings will start at 6 p.m. On Jan. 23, we’ll be back at the Columbia Public Library for Chris Cady’s presentation on Orr Street history.

DINER HISTORY

Dave Johnson’s family bought the diner decades ago and for years his father Ed Johnson ran it. When his father became ill, Dave came on board, and in 2001, the Broadway Diner moved to its present location at 22 S. Fourth St., to make room for the Walgreens on the southwest corner of Broadway and Providence. The diner offers a sense of community and good food, writes Kerri Linder in her book Iconic Restaurants of Columbia, Missouri.

For example, during the pandemic, Dave Johnson provided free breakfasts and lunches to kids from March 19, 2020, through September 2020. In a Sept. 21, 2020 Vox magazine article, Dave said a lot of kids rely on school lunches for nutrition and when the schools closed down due to the pandemic, he knew he had to step in.

The building itself is historic. Manufactured by Valentine Manufacturing of Wichita, Kansas, which is now out of business. The diner is the only Valentine building still in use west of the Mississippi, Linder writes.

Today, the diner offers a welcoming atmosphere, but in 1960, the building housed Minute Inn, and barred Black patrons, even though six years earlier U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation unconstititional, according to a Nov. 18, 2018, Vox magazine article on Columbia’s integration struggles. Hubert Blakemore owned the Minute Inn and Black customers were forced to order their food through glass service window, separate from white patrons. 

One April 1960 night, five Black and four White people walked into the restaurant to protest its lack of integration. The Vox article recounts Jim Nunnelly’s experience. He was one of the Black customers who went inside the Minute Inn diner.  After a few minutes of sitting inside the diner, Blakemore arrived and threw Nunnelly and one of the white students out onto the steps into the diner. The experience led Nunnelly to dedicate his life a helping others.

Come and enjoy the hospitality and history of the Broadway Diner. Preserving such historic buildings is important because they provide a sense of our shared history and social history that can never be replicated. CoMo Preservation is devoted to helping homeowners, landlords, and institutions preserve historic architecture. Historic preservation of historic places and spaces provides Columbia’s residents, students, and visitors a sense of place and contributes to our city’s continued economic success.

You can get involved with CoMo Preservation by becoming a member, signing up for our mailing list, attending an event, or volunteering.

Questions? Suggestions for speakers or events? Email CoMoPreservation@gmail.com.