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The magnitude in which the Bonner Springs NAACP has affected the community is undeniable.

From integrating schools, movie theaters and soda fountains to fighting for decent living conditions in what was once the city’s black neighborhood, the NAACP has changed the face of Bonner Springs. But today’s members will tell you there is still so much work to be done when it comes to battling injustice.

“Bonner Springs as a whole has grown in a lot of ways over the years,” said branch president Mary Kimbrough. “The NAACP has been instrumental, I think, in a lot of things that have gotten better for all people. But there’s always room for improvement. I believe nobody is really free until everybody is free. Discrimination against one person or one people is bad for the whole people.”

This year, the national NAACP is celebrating its 100 years of history, and the Bonner Springs branch is taking the opportunity to celebrate its own history.

The Bonner Springs NAACP was established in 1948. The organization is lucky enough to still have one person who remembers the very beginning.

Louisa Fletcher, at 90 years old, was around when the organization was just being established. She has spent most of her life fighting for equal rights and through the NAACP, she and its members have seen many victories during the years.

“It boils down to, whoever you are, you know what is right, and you need to stand for what is right,” Fletcher said.

And that’s exactly what she and other NAACP members did in 1957 when they took the Bonner Springs Board of Education before the state Supreme Court in order to integrate schools.

A class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of 14 black children and their parents who were attending Bonner schools at the time. At the time, a federal law requiring the integration of schools was in place, but Fletcher said Bonner Springs was ignoring that fact.

Eventually the court forced the city to comply, and the all-white elementary school was integrated.

“On thing is I’ve always been a person to try to finish what I start,” Fletcher said. “We just wanted kids to have the opportunity to go to the school they wanted.”

That victory was followed by another in 1958 when several NAACP members challenged their right as residents of the city to be admitted to the skating rink and recreation center as well as sit where they liked in the Bonner Springs Rio Theater.

“It seemed like you had to fight for everything you got,” Fletcher said. “The laws were on our side, they just weren’t abiding by them. They changed their minds real quick after that.”

One of the chapter’s biggest challenges, however, started in 1962 when a campaign was started to bring adequate water supply, sewers and roads to Grandview, an area of Bonner Springs that was once the black neighborhood.

“They didn’t have anything out here,” Fletcher recalled.

At the time, Grandview was not annexed by the city so through the help of an attorney, the area was able to secure a $40,000 federal grant to bring water to the neighborhood. The residents and NAACP also got busy, Fletcher said, cleaning up the area to make it more livable.

After that, the city annexed the area, and they were no longer able to make requests for grant money without the city.

“After that, it was like Grandview was forgotten,” Fletcher said.

Eventually in 1976, the NAACP sued the city for the lack of timely improvement in the Grandview area even though the city had received federal funds to do so.

The long-awaited victory came in 1977, when the city started improvements beginning work on the streets, demolition, rehabilitation, putting up lights and including a grinding type sewer system.

“Just because of the color of their skin, people shouldn’t be different,” Fletcher said. “It’s just the right thing to do. You as a human being should be treated as a human being.”

Over the years, the NAACP has continued its efforts. Kimbrough said the organization was still actively involved in the community with such programs as voter registration in schools, scholarship opportunities and reacting to complaints made by residents who felt they had been discriminated against whether it be through employment or housing.

“Things still can improve,” Kimbrough said. “There’s still injustice, but now it’s not open, it’s underground, but it’s still there. Sometimes you don’t know about it, but it could be in jobs, education, in housing.”

Kimbrough said often people become complacent when they are the ones being affected, but she said the NAACP’s purpose is to remind people that the fight is not over.

“There’s always going to be injustices and things to work on,” she said. “When that’s all done, we’ll all be in heaven.”

Like every year since 1957, the NAACP will be presenting its 52nd Annual Freedom Fund and Scholarship Banquet. This year’s event will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 26, at Clark Middle School.

This year’s theme is “NAACP 100 Years – Bold Dreams–Big Victories.” Banquet tickets are available for individuals or corporations at a donation of $45, which will be to fund various programs such as academic scholarships, youth educational projects and community outreach.

For more information, contact Nina Kimbrough-Smith at (913) 244-1559 or Sheila Davis at (913) 709-8662.

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