When thinking of Manhattan, one’s first thought might be to think of The Big Apple — Manhattan, N.Y. While New York is rich in history and culture, The Little Apple is rich with its own.
This includes the historic block of Yuma Street in Manhattan, home of the Douglass School, the Douglass Community Center and now the Yuma Street Cultural Festival.
“This isn’t just a festival — it’s sacred ground,” festival Director Sheila Ellis-Glasper said. “From Jackie Robinson’s time here while stationed at Fort Riley, to Lena Horne’s unforgettable performance, to Dr. King’s speech at Shepard Chapel, Yuma Street is living history. This is our moment to uplift that legacy and build a space worthy of its memory.”
To highlight the rich history of Yuma Street, Ellis-Glasper and her team organized a festival to highlight this area of Manhattan history, with the goal of raising money to restore the area.
Sunday, Aug. 31 marked the inaugural Yuma Street Cultural Festival: A day of music, local businesses, dancing, historical tours and more. The festival started at 1 p.m. and lasted until 9 p.m.
“I truly do believe the importance of this is to show everyone in the community what we’re about, what Black excellence is about,” Kansas State alumna Jazmin Graham said. “It’s a great way to come together and to see people uplift each other.”
The event also provided an opportunity to reflect on personal ties to the Black community in the surrounding area.
“I’m on the track and field team, and I’m very enrooted in that as well as our organization [Zeta Phi Beta], but I learned a lot — things about Dave Baker and him being the first Black baseball coach,” Monique Hardy, Masters of Business Administration student, said. “I’ve lived here for four, five years, so I’ve really been able to dive into the Black community here. Not only with my sorority but with Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills, all of the Divine Nine, as well as organizations in Junction City and Manhattan. It’s just a whole different community, and it brings the whole of Junction City and Manhattan together.”
The festival offered an array of activities for families, but one of the highlights was a walking tour, guided by Dave Baker, the only Black man to serve as head baseball coach in Big 6, Big 7, Big 8 and Big 12 history.
“This was my foundation,” Baker said during the Douglass School portion of the tour. “If I hadn’t gone here from kindergarten to sixth grade, I would not be here today.”
The tour offered insight into the Douglass School and the Douglass Community Center, which originally served as a USO building for Black soldiers stationed at Fort Riley.
“Jackie Robinson spent time here when he was stationed at Fort Riley, Joe Louis, the greatest heavyweight boxer before Muhammad Ali, too,” Baker said. “In fact, there’s a famous picture of the two of them together during their time at Fort Riley.”
Yuma Street has long served as a home for the Black community of Manhattan, even landing a place on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Ellis-Glasper and her team plan to host a yearly Yuma Street Cultural Festival to help bring attention to one of Manhattan’s most historic places.
