The history behind Joplin’s Minnie Hackney Community Service Center
JOPLIN, Mo. — This building — near 1st and Main St. in Joplin — is now known as the Minnie Hackney Community Service Center. But that’s not what it was called when it first opened just after the end of World War II.
“They chartered it and made it and made it into the Negro Service Council,” said Nanda Nunnelly, past president, volunteer, Minnie Hackney Community Service Center.
Nunnelly said the building was initially used to serve officers stationed at Camp Crowder in Neosho, who had served their country but still weren’t allowed to go into the same buildings with whites.
“They would come and have dances — and so after the war was over, the community of Joplin really felt like they wanted to continue to have a place to have social gatherings and meetings and things.”
‘We’re telling their stories’: Friends of Lebanon Cemetery remembers local Black heroes
The history behind Joplin’s Minnie Hackney Community Service Center
Advocates push to pass the CROWN Act in Pennsylvania, US Congress
Finding your past with the Amistad Research Center: The story of Elma Moore Booker
Louisiana Civil Rights Museum showcases monumental pieces of state history
Eventually, she said it went on to serve the entire Black community.
“It was so very important — because it was the hub of of social gatherings, clubs met here, kids would come and watch movies, there was a popcorn machine, they had a concession counter, it was just a place for people to get together outside of church.”
So, who was Minnie Hackney and what did she do to warrant the building eventually being named in her honor? Nunnelly said she devoted her life to it.
“In 2019, the organization got together and decided to name it after someone and several different names were put up — and Minnie Hackney was chosen because of her longtime commitment as the executive director of the Negro Service Center.”
These days — it serves everyone, not just African Americans, especially to the poor.
“Saturday’s every week, we feed members of the houseless community, we at times use this building as a warming center and a cooling station. Just several weeks ago, we had a warming center where we had 25 people and up to ten animals that we kept in crates.”
