Chester Owens Jr. collection

Chester Owens Jr. was born in Ashdown, Arkansas on April 9, 1933, the second child of Chester Cole Owens and Martha Francis Hughes Owens. The family later moved to Kansas City, Kansas where Chester attended Sumner High School, the city mandated segregated school for African Americans. Owens graduated from Sumner High School in 1949 and at the age of 16, was already attending Sumner Junior College, which was based at Sumner High School.

Owens served with the United States Air Force for four years, two of which were in Japan, and was discharged as a decorated staff sergeant. Upon returning in 1955, he married Sumner graduate Lillie Anne Yates and they had three daughters: Cynthia, Karen, and Carla. Lillie was an office manager at Crusader Life Insurance Company.

Owens was a member of the First A.M.E. church and Sunday school assistant to H.W. Sewing, successful businessman and community leader. Sewing told Owens that if he furthered his education, he would hire him. Owens therefore went to Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS and received his bachelor’s in business administration. Thereafter, Sewing hired Owens, who remained with H.W. Sewing and Company for the rest of his career, eventually taking over ownership and selling the company upon retirement in 1998.

Chester Owens Jr. was an active community member in a variety of ways, including memberships in the NAACP, the Northeast Business Association, the Economic Opportunity Foundation, and the Sumner High School Alumni Association. Owens broke the color barrier more than once. In 1952 he put on his Korean War uniform and insisted on being served at the Kresge white only soda fountain. He later worked with the NAACP to desegregate the businesses on Minnesota Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. In 1961 he took a leave of absence from H.W. Sewing and company to be the first African American salaried employee at the General Motors Fairfax Plant in Kansas City, later fighting to keep the plant open. In 1965 Chester and Lillie Ownens along with James and Dorothy McField co-founded The Hub Bookstore, a center for Black literature, history, and culture. In 1983 Owens was elected the first African American to serve on the Kansas City, Kansas city council in the 20th century, serving two terms.

Chester Owens Jr. taught Sunday school at First A.M.E. for over 30 years. He collaborated with the Strugglers Hill/Roots Neighborhood Association and was on the advisory board of the Juniper Gardens Children’s project. Owens served on numerous boards and associations and was a member of the Sigma Pi Phi and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternities. In 2011 the Kansas City, Kansas YouthBuild Training Center was named “The Chester Owens, Jr. Construction Skills Training Center” in his honor.

Owens has also actively collected and donated materials to history organizations regarding the history of the African American communities in KCK and the surrounding region, including regarding Sumner High School and Bishop John Gregg. He lived in a home where Bishop Gregg once lived, and he served as local historian and archivist for the Sumner High School Alumni association and for the Kansas City, Kansas African American community.

Owens has received a variety of awards for his service to his community, including the NAACP Civil Rights Award, United Way Volunteer of the Year, and Friends of Yates Black Man of Distinction. Preceded in death by his wife, Chester Owens Jr. passed away in August 2024.

[Information retrieved from the collection, KCUR Kansas City public radio articles, and Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, "Chester Owens: 2012 Reasons to Believe Alumni Honor Roll,"]