Abe Bograd (1901-1993) Oral History Collection (KC267)

Jewish Community Archives (JCA)

Abe Bograd was born in the Russian town of Slavan. His father, Samuel, was a furniture-maker, and his mother, Ruth, raised Abe, his two brothers, and a sister. In 1908, Abe, his mother and his siblings immigrated to the United States in order to join Samuel, who had already settled in Kansas City. They lived in Jewish communities in both Kansas City, Missouri, and in Kansas City, Kansas. Abe attended school until his junior year of high school, when he began to deliver newspapers for the Kansas City Star in 1910. Eventually, he secured a clerk position with the paper and worked his way through the organization to become business manager of the Kansas City Star Company from 1960 until his retirement in 1965. He also served on the company's board of directors from 1960 to 1965. He was a major stockholder in the company before it was sold to Capital Cities Inc. He was a member of Temple B'nai Jehudah and its brotherhood and was an honorary member of the temple's board of trustees. He was a founding member of the board of counselors of Menorah Medical Center. Abe Bograd died Aug. 19, 1993, at the age of 93 years.

The collection consists of five 90-minute cassette tape recordings of a series of interviews made from May through July of 1977 of Abe Bograd by Lillian Kranitz. In addition, there is a carbon-copy transcript of the interviews for tapes one through four. The interviews touch on many aspects of Bograd's life, including recollections of his early years in Russia; his family's immigration; his education; the neighborhoods he lived in; his social life, and the political climate of the city under Pendergast. Bograd talks at length about working for the Kansas City Star, especially the change in ownership of the paper after William Rockhill Nelson's death. 1977

4 folders; 5 audio cassette tapes

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