The Major Hudson School was first opened in the Rosedale community of Kansas City on March 14, 1924. Later that year, the local Mexican consul, Benigno Cantu, sent a five-page telegram to Governor Jonathan M. Davis concerning a report of four Mexican boys barred from enrolling in the fifth grade at Major Hudson School because other students threatened to stop attending classes if the Mexican children were allowed to attend. Cantu says a mob of two hundred children and adults shouted abusive language until the principal, Margaret Jones, called the police. The consul asks that the governor investigate the situation.
This incident was only one of several conflicts between the Mexican-American community and Kansas City School District during this period. The following year, the Mexican Consulate again pressured the school board and Governor Benjamin S. Paulen to address the issue when the parents of white students signed a petition to remove four other Mexican students from Argentine High School. Further information about the conflict at Argentine High School can be found on Kansapedia.
View the entire telegram regarding segregation at Major Hudson School on Kansas Memory.