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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

 
Womontown map

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

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Conversation with Womontown Filmmakers

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Andrea Nedelsky, Jacque Stock, Sandi Hendrix at dumpster renovating flat.
Andrea Nedelsky, Jacque Stock, Sandi Hendrix at dumpster renovating flat.
Two women smiling, one with arm around the other
Sue Moreno and unknown woman hanging out in Womontown.

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Womontown

A group in the 1980s band together to create a community by and for women.

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