African Americans in Kansas

[3] Nicodemus, Kansas is the oldest surviving town west of the Mississippi River settled solely by African Americans.

Many Black migrants came from the Southern United States as hired laborers while others traveled to Kansas as escaped slaves via the Underground Railroad.

Nicodemus is the oldest remaining town settled entirely by African Americans located west of the Mississippi River.

[citation needed] In 1888, Republican Alfred Fairfax was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives, becoming the first African American in the state legislature.

[citation needed] In 2011, Carl Brewer became the first elected Black mayor of Wichita, the state's largest city.