Felix Payne

Author: 

Politician, gambler, night club owner, newspaper publisher, and bon vivant, Felix Payne was one of the most influential African Americans in Kansas City in the 1920s and 1930s. An associate of machine boss Tom Pendergast, the soft-spoken and charismatic Payne controlled the illegal numbers racket in town. In return, he used his enormous influence to get blacks to vote for Pendergast and his Democratic machine candidates.

Payne was born in Marshall, Missouri, in 1884 and moved to Kansas City by the time he was in his 20s. He worked as a barber, then branched out into a succession of sports and entertainment ventures. In 1906, he operated the Twin City Club, a tavern on the western edge of downtown Kansas City. He was also the co-owner of the Kansas City (Kansas) Giants, an all-black baseball team.

In Kansas City, the 18th & Vine area became the black community's downtown in the days of segregation, and Payne bought real estate in that area. He set up gambling operations, opened nightclubs, and became one of the notable figures in the district. The Sunset Club, which was owned by Payne, managed by Thomas "Big Piney" Brown, and featured Pete Johnson on piano and a singing bartender named Joe Turner, was the favored spot among jazz musicians for after-hours jam sessions.

Payne was very active in politics, particularly in support of the Democratic Party. He was such an electrifying speaker that he even addressed white political rallies. In 1928 he organized 75 black Democratic clubs in Missouri. That same year, Payne and Dr. William J. Thompkins, a prominent physician, started the Kansas City American, a newspaper that became a rival to the Kansas City Call.

The first edition of the Kansas City Call or The Call, was published on May 6, 1919. It was one of 22 newspapers published by Kansas City’s African American community near the beginning of the 20th century, but the only one that survived past 1943. Starting as an inauspicious four-page paper, the paper soon grew to one of the most successful black newspapers in the nation.

, published by Chester Arthur Franklin, a staunch Republican. The paper struggled financially after Thompkins left Kansas City for Washington, D.C., in 1934, and it ceased publication by the late 1930s. Payne remained active in the Democratic Party and other civic causes until his death in 1962.
Acknowledgement: 

A previous version of this article is published on kchistory.org: http://kchistory.org/content/biography-felix-payne-1884-1962-businessman...

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