Emanuel Cleaver: “While it is widely known that Horace Peterson of Kansas City was the visionary and sole founder of the Black Archives of…”

“While it is widely known that Horace Peterson of Kansas City was the visionary and sole founder of the Black Archives of Mid-America, it is little known who saved the institution from vanishing years later. During the spring of 1998, Ruby Arnold, a diehard board member, began a personal crusade to secure a new home for the organization she held dear. One Monday morning, during a heavy rainstorm, Ruby Arnold appeared at the front desk of the 29th floor of city hall. The security guard asked her if she had an appointment with anyone in particular. ``I don't have an appointment,'' she said, ``but I have come to see Mayor Emanuel Cleaver.'' The assistant to the mayor replied: I'm sorry, but the mayor is not in. A week later, Ruby came by again to see the mayor and waited two hours for an appointment that she did not have to discuss a home for the Black Archives. And then, at a public event the next week, she asked again: Mayor, have you found a place for the Black Archives? Ruby Arnold died before the opening of the new archives in the summer of 2010, but former mayor, Emanuel Cleaver, now the U.S. Representative from the 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. ____________________”