![Womontown logo - word with feminine symbol in background](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kcpt/Local%20Productions/Womontown/45e9fe29af_WomontownLogo_Fina_crop.png)
Womontown
A Revolutionary Community by Women for Women in Kansas City
Producer Sandy Woodson shares the story of a group of women in 1980s and 1990s Kansas City who defied gender norms, transforming 14 city blocks in the Longfellow neighborhood into a revolutionary community by and for women.
The Story of Womontown
In the late 1980s, women regularly found themselves on the outside looking in. Between the gender pay gap, a distinct lack of representation in government and federal leadership, and the inability to secure a home loan without the signature of a husband or parent, obstacles were abundant. For women - and specifically, queer women - this obstruction to homeownership was one more setback to achieving independence in a male-dominated society.
In Kansas City, Drea Nedelsky and her girlfriend, Maryann Hopper, had a vision. They imagined a neighborhood where they could be themselves without fear, a place where women could walk hand-in-hand down the street without the judgments and criticisms normally encountered in the “straight world.”
Within five years, 75 women purchased 28 homes and 14 apartment buildings in a 7x7 block area in midtown with their life savings or loans from family members, renovating the properties and creating a home. Rather than selling and ultimately gentrifying the neighborhood, they put down roots and hoped for something larger. Womontown’s women weren’t after profit, they were after a community.
![Womontown Twitter Conversation with Sandy Woodson and Emily Woodring](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kcpt/Local%20Productions/Womontown/73d78b47ed_2022_KCPBS_Womontown_LunchTimeConversations_1200x1200.jpeg)
Conversation with Womontown Filmmakers
![Andrea Nedelsky, Jacque Stock, Sandi Hendrix at dumpster renovating flat.](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kcpt/Local%20Productions/Womontown/3133570aad_maryann_and_drea_in_front_of_house_3234.jpeg)
![Two women smiling, one with arm around the other](https://image.pbs.org/bento3-prod/kcpt/Local%20Productions/Womontown/6b07fe70e6_sue.who7.jpg)
Watch Now: Womontown Full Documentary
A group in the 1980s band together to create a community by and for women.
STREAM ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
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