Starr Women’s Hall of Fame Highlights Community Leaders
March 22, 2023
This week, STA students, administration and faculty had an opportunity to attend the 2023 Starr Women’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which honors women from Kansas City who have made the community a better place to live. The event was held at the Kauffman Center and highlighted the accomplishments of six women from the area.* The Hall of Fame, located on UMKC’s campus in the Miller Nichols Library, preserves the history of women’s accomplishments to encourage and inspire women everywhere.
Among this year’s inductees was Margaret J. May, who is a familiar face to many. In addition to her dedicated work to making Kansas City a better place, she is also the aunt of STA President Dr. Siabhan May-Washington. May is a community activist and a leader for the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council in Kansas City. She served as the executive director of the Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council from October 2001 to December 2017. During her tenure, the council became a community development corporation that developed new housing and rehabilitated existing homes. The Downtown Council of Kansas City recognized May in their first class of Urban Hero Awards in 2005. She has served on the City of Kansas City Plan Commission and the Kansas City, Missouri, Community Development Entity, which is now known as Alt Cap.
Read more about May’s involvement in the community.
*2023 Starr Women’s Hall of Fame inductees: Karen L. Daniel, community leader and business executive; Anita B. Gorman, conservation advocate; Lea Hopkins, LGBTQIA advocate; Alice Kitchen, advocate for women and children; Margaret J. May, community activist and leader; Sen. Claire McCaskill, first female U.S. senator from Missouri; Barbara Pendleton, women’s advocate and business executive; and Freda Mendez Smith, champion for the Latino community
About the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame
The Starr Women’s Hall of Fame bears the name of the late Martha Jane Phillips Starr, a Kansas City philanthropist and champion of women’s rights. Starr was one of the first women to become a member of the UMKC Board of Trustees. She also helped start the UMKC Women’s Council and their Graduate Assistance Fund, which provides financial assistance to female students. She died in 2011.
The Starr Women’s Hall of Fame is made possible through the Starr Education Committee, Martha Jane Starr’s family and the Martha Jane Phillips Starr Field of Interest Fund, which was established upon her death through the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. The idea for the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame stemmed from Starr Education Committee members.
Twenty-six civic organizations that advocate on behalf of women and family issues have signed on in support of the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame.