On a recent trip to Kansas City, Marceline Pendergast was doing research for an article on her great-grandfather.
"It's interesting to understand what people know and what people don't know," said Marceline, Tom Pendergast's great-granddaughter. "One of the things I was really interested in was what his legacy looks like now in Kansas City from people who were born long after he died."
Marceline is well aware of Tom's past. Tom Pendergast was a political boss who ran KC in the 1920s and 1930s.
President Harry S. Truman speaking with Tom Pendergast.
Pendergast started the political career of President Harry S. Truman, who ran the democratic party and dictated which projects got the green light and which ones did not.
Tom also had dealings with the mob.
It was cement from Tom's company that paved brush creek and helped construction building in Kansas City.
Marceline is not looking to rewrite history, instead she is trying to learn more about the side of Tom that many people don't talk about.
"Part of the (political) machine was helping people," she explains. "Part of the (political) machine was getting people medical attention. People had jobs when in most of the country people were without jobs. When I come home and when I talk to people here, I still hear stories of people who got a job because of my great-grandfather."
Marceline never knew her great-grandfather personally, because Tom died years before she was born. But by looking into Kansas City's past, she hopes to find a little more of her own.
"It is interesting contrasting the family man with the myth," Marceline said.
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Richard Sharp can be reached at richard.sharp@kshb.com.
