​Looking Back: The 1960's

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society

Where were you when you learned John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States was assassinated? If you were alive on November 22, 1963, I’m sure you probably recall where you were and what you were doing. In all likelihood, the same can be said for 9/11.

I was in Mr. (Randol) Wiggins chemistry class on the second floor, on the south end of the old (1925) high school building. Our superintendent, Mr. (Moody) Murry came into our class and told us Kennedy had been shot. A bit later, he returned to tell us he was dead.

During the 1960's, I graduated from high school, I graduated from college, I got my first car (a 1966 candy apple red Mustang), and I got my first job. But when someone asks me what happened in the 1960s, Kennedy’s assassination is the first thing that comes to mind.

In Grain Valley - -

• In 1960 the last passenger and mail train stopped in Grain Valley. I road on that train! It  started in St. Louis and went to Kansas City. Local folks got off at the Union Pacific Station on Short Street in Independence. When we got to the location of the old Salsa Station, (near Blue Parkway and 39th Street) Jesse James and his men jumped on the train and robbed us. They were actually members of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Patrol. Mr. Bill Gabriel from Grain Valley played the part of Jesse James!
• In 1962, former President Harry S Truman arrived via helicopter and spoke to a crowd on old runway 18-36 at the opening of the East Kansas City Airport Air Show. It was his first official visit to Grain Valley since October 1932, when he attended the Jackson County Celebration of Roads.
• The 1960's brought about change as well. In 1964, the Eagles played their last basketball game in the tiny 1925 gymnasium with the balcony. In November, the new gym, a separate building behind the high school, was ready for competition.
• In September 1965, the final phase of Interstate 70 across Missouri was completed from Grain Valley to Kansas City.

So, while the Soviets put the first man in space, Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his “I have a dream” speech, Marilyn Monroe died, Mohammad Ali became the World Heavy Weight champ, Walt Disney died, and Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, Grain Valley continued to grow; slowly, very slowly. By 1970 the population was still only 702.

Meanwhile James Meredith walked across the State of Mississippi and was the first African-American to attend the University of Mississippi. He later graduated from Columbia Law School. During the decade of the 1960's Thurgood Marshall became the African-American U. S. Supreme Court Justice. This all came at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.

While some may refer to the 1960's as the era of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, the 1960's also saw significant advancements in technology, including the invention of the laser, the computer mouse, Kevlar, ARPANET (the precursor to the internet), and the dynamic random-access memory (RAM). Other important inventions from the decade include the ATM, compact disc technology, and basic computer language. It kind of sounds like the 60s were the beginning of Modern America!
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