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KC's 'Father of Barbecue' gets smokin' |
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KC's 'Father of Barbecue' gets smokin'
Printed originally in the
The Westporter, The Westport Historical Society Newsletter. Henry Perry (1875 - 1940), a Tennessee native, moved to Kansas City in 1907 after years of work as a chef on steamboats along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. An insatiable passion for the beauty of quality food and the strong pre-existing legacy of southern culinary trends led him into his trade. One hundred years ago, in 1908, after having settled in Kansas City, Perry began serving smoked meats to workers in the Garment District downtown from an alley stand. In the following years he relocated to the 18th and Vine District where local fervor grew for his increasingly popular selection of meats and his "harsh and peppery" sauce recipe. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, as Kansas City Jazz developed its reputation, Perry worked out of an old trolley barn at 17th and Lydia. Locals paid 25 cents for hot meats, which included beef, possum, woodchuck and raccoon smoked over hickory and oak then wrapped in newsprint. At Perry's death, Charlie Bryant took over the business; he, in turn, sold it to his brother Arthur, who made the sauce a little sweeter when he relocated the restaurant, Arthur Bryant's, to 1727 Brooklyn in the same neighborhood. As if he hadn't established enough of a legacy, Arthur Pinkard, who had worked for Perry many years, helped George Gates found Gates and Sons Bar-B-Q. Thus a local wonder that began 100 years ago remains a distinct source of local pride to this day. |
Riley Powell
was born and raised in Johnson County, Kansas. He has been passionate
about history since he began reading Homer and Plato at the age of 14. He
is double-majoring in History and French at UMKC. Prior to attending UMKC
he studied history for a year and a half at Kansas State University.
Riley plans on continuing his education with graduate school, possibly
working towards a Doctorate in Medieval/Early Modern European History.
Riley is also a musician having began playing at the age of 10.
He now plays eight instruments and is active in sound production.