Why KC Should Continue Celebrating Henry Perry
When we were growing up in Kansas City, we can’t remember learning about Henry Perry, the “father of Kansas City barbecue.” While our families ate at and appreciated great Kansas City joints, it took until we started writing about barbecue that we really learned Perry’s story and how his smoked meats put KC on the map.
Perry, a Memphis native, is widely considered to be the father of Kansas City's barbecue tradition. In 1907, he arrived in the city after having worked on the steamboats on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Perry was employed as a porter but sold his ribs and smoked meats — including beef, pork, possum, woodchuck, and raccoon — on the side in a back alley in downtown KC. Perry's business found success and he made barbecue his full-time occupation.
Henry Perry, the father of Kansas City barbecue, featured in an old newspaper advertisement.
Perry's influence on the Kansas City barbecue tradition is secured by the fact that he opened the very first barbecue joint in town. His barbecue would help fuel jam sessions for famed jazz musicians in the heart of Kansas City's historic African-American cultural district at 18th and Vine. Perry's barbecue defied social and economic conventions at the time, with wealthy clientele rubbing shoulders with the poor and an equal share of Black and White customers.
He would eventually open three restaurants and mentor Charlie and Arthur Bryant, who would go on to have their own restaurant called Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque. He also trained Arthur Pinkard, who went on to work with George and Arzelia Gates, founders of the popular Gates Bar-B-Q chain.
Perry was deservingly inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2014. Thankfully, he is having an even bigger moment in 2020. About a month ago, both the city of Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri issued formal proclamations officially naming July 3 as Henry Perry Day. “Kansas City is known for our barbecue today because of Henry Perry’s passion for the craft a century ago,” Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas told The Pitch.
Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr. and KCBS CEO Emily Detwiler hold up the proclamation for Henry Perry Day. (Photo via KCBS)
July 3 was selected as Henry Perry Day because on July 3, 1920, Perry fed 1,000 elderly and needy Kansas Citians for free on the lawn next to his restaurant. The cost of Perry’s feast was reported as $500, which is roughly $6,500 in today’s dollars. “God has been so good to me,” Perry told the Kansas City Sun newspaper when asked why he was hosting the feast.
On top of Kansas City proclaiming July 3 as Henry Perry Day, several Kansas City organizations and restaurants celebrated the day by assembling and donating 1,000 meals to charity. The Kansas City Barbeque Society assembled meals that comprised donations from Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, Jones Bar-B-Q, Zarda Bar-B-Que, Smithfield Foods, and others.
“We’re committed to raising awareness about the origins of barbecue and believe Henry Perry’s name should be known by everyone who enjoys Kansas City-style barbecue here and around the world,” KCBS CEO Emily Detwiler said.
Kansas City barbecue institutions like Arthur Bryant’s are famous today in part because of Henry Perry. (Photo by Ryan Cooper)
Nearly every major media outlet in the Kansas City area covered Henry Perry Day a month ago. KCBS hopes to celebrate this memorable day every year with an event of some kind.
“We definitely have an idea to create something like this each year, not only to honor Henry Perry but also to potentially to take it to a bigger barbecue idea moving forward, so it is something we would like to continue to do in the future," Detwiler told KSHB.
Here’s hoping the next generation of Kansas Citians will grow up learning and celebrating Henry Perry for making Kansas City one of the best places to eat barbecue in the country.
Sean Ludwig (NYC BBQ) and Ryan Cooper (BBQ Tourist)
Co-Founders, The Smoke Sheet
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ese delicious pork belly burnt ends are a perfect appetizer or even a meal.—
Pork Belly Burnt Ends
by Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que
For this week’s Recipe of the Week, we chose the pork belly burnt ends, as made by Jeff Stehney of Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que. In this video, Jeff took the stage at the Q in the Lou BBQ Festival to show how he makes this mouth-watering dish.
—Many of the largest barbecue events of 2020 have been canceled or postponed.—
In light of the constantly changing coronavirus crisis, we are leaving our events section blank for some time. Many events in 2020 have been canceled or postponed thus far. We’ll be updating our events section on our website with the most up-to-date information as we have it.
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