“Someone Had to Do It!”
That was how Rose and Saul Stolowy felt when they moved to Leawood in 1957. Rose recently recalled, “It was touchy at first. Everyone told us we would have problems and we received letters from people saying that we would have problems.” Despite these warnings, the Stolowy’s were welcomed to the neighborhood and participated in its social activities.
Jewish families who moved to Johnson County during the 1940s and 1950s often encounted discrimination. Many homes association’s bylaws forbid the sale of property to Jews and “Negroes.” The J.C. Nichols Company discouraged Stan and Shirley Rose from moving to Prairie Village in the 1940s; Kroh Brothers, developers of Leawood, continued to exclude Jews and other minorities throughout the 1950s. Reinhardt Estates “unofficially” excluded Jewish families during the early 1950s. Gradually, these restrictions — official and unofficial — ceased as more families moved into once exclusive neighborhoods.
Housing was not the only area from which the Jewish community was excluded. Country clubs on both sides of the state line did not accept Jewish members. Oakwood Country Club, the only Jewish club in the area, limited the size of its membership. Post-war prosperity and relocation to the suburbs created a need for a centrally-located country club. In 1953 a group of Jewish businessmen led by Paul Berman, organized the Meadowbrook Country Club. The club attracted members from Kansas City, Missouri as well as Johnson County. (In the early 1970s, Meadowbrook adopted an open membership policy. Although social acceptance remains elusive, new business opportunities and communities with quality schools have brought many Jewish families to Johnson County from across the United States and within the metropolitan area. Here, they are able to define their place within a community that supports programs and institutions for nearly every denomination.
--ALBUM vol. 9, no. 2 (spring 1996)