KANAS CITY, Mo. — In the 1980s, two women in Kansas City had a vision to create a place where they could feel safe while being themselves.
And that's how Womontown was created.
Sue Moreno, who still lives in the area, kept a smile on her face as she looked through pictures of happy days.
“Oh my gosh, look how young I was,” she said as she flipped through the pictures in the Womontown photo album. The album is kept at the Miller Nichols Library at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
“I couldn't put up a fence now and do that,” said Moreno, as she recalled projects she worked on in the neighborhood.
Sue Moreno saw Womontown being built. She says it was needed.
“It was not cool, nor was it accepted to be gay or lesbian,” Moreno said. “We had to protect each other. We had to look out for each other.”
At a time when women couldn't finance a home, they found a neighborhood to call home.
Andrea Nedelsky and her girlfriend, now her wife, MaryAnn Hopper, started inviting friends to move into the area.
“We made every effort we could to change the place,” Nedelsky said.
They published an ad in a national magazine for lesbians. The ad brought women to Kansas City from all over the country.
“I typed up some language and said, 'Wouldn't it be nice to walk hand in hand in your own neighborhood and create a community?'” Hopper said.
They said it was exciting to see people moving to their community.
“When someone moved in, we all showed up to help unload,” Nedelsky said.
Moreno says that once a person moved in, they received a flag with three tulips, a symbol of a safe house.
They said that at its peak, more than 80 women lived in 12 blocks of the Longfellow neighborhood.
That's where they worked to improve the houses and the community.
Now, a plaque commemorates their history in the neighborhood. It states the group renovated 28 homes and 14 apartment buildings there.
But as society changed, many residents left Womontown.
“You could get a loan, buy a house as a woman, get a credit card, and establish a business," Moreno said. "And little by little, centimeter by centimeter, you saw things changing.”
She says Womontown will never stop existing.
“It was, and still is, Womontown,” Moreno said.
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KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.
