Velma Woodson, tireless advocate and longtime NAACP activist, dies at 95 Bill Lukitsch, The Kansas City Star
Apr. 4 During a frigid December in 1958, as Kansas Citians rallied together seeking an end to the racial discrimination prohibiting Black people from shopping in department stores and eating at lunch counters, Velma Woodson stood as a leader in the fight for equal rights.
Under the direction of the Community Committee for Social Action a group formed largely by a social club of local Black women Woodson participated in the demonstrations and boycotts that led to businesses downtown fully opening their doors to people of color. The victory, which came after a seven-week boycott of the stores, was a turning point in the struggle for civil rights in Kansas City.