Sarah Rector made her fortune as a child but later lived in Kansas City as an adult.
Sarah Rector House on Facebook and file photo
The Kansas City Council recently designated a block of Euclid Avenue as “Sarah Rector Way,” just in time for the release of a major motion picture about Rector — one the city’s most famous residents of the early 20th century.
Rector, often called “the first Black female millionaire in the United States” and “the richest Black girl in America,” made her fortune in Oklahoma as a child before living most of her adult life in Kansas City.
Councilwoman Melissa Patterson Hazley sponsored an ordinance to designate the block of Euclid Avenue between 11th and 12th streets as “Sarah Rector Way.” New street signs have been erected, with a historic marker at her former home at 2000 E. 12th St. (12th and Euclid) in the works.
Patterson Hazley called Rector “a bold figure in American history whose story deserves to be told and remembered.” The movie “Sarah’s Oil” will do just that.
Sarah Rector, who became known as “the richest Black girl in America,” lived in Kansas City for decades. File photo
Billed as “inspired” by Rector’s story, it focuses on her childhood, when the federal government granted her 160 acres unsuitable for farming. Born in 1902 to Black descendants of the Muscogee Nation, she got the land as a result of the Dawes Allotment Act.
Her property proved to be an oil-producing bonanza, making her a millionaire by the age of 12 but also a target for greedy oil barons.
“Sarah’s Oil” is set in Oklahoma and was mostly filmed there. It is based on the 2014 book “Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America” by Tonya Bolden. Produced by the Kingdom Story Company and directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh (“Infidel,” “The Young Messiah”), “Sarah’s Oil” is rated PG and stars Haitian-American actress Naya Desir-Johnson.
Its official release date is Nov. 7, but it will show at several Kansas City area theaters beginning Nov. 6. There was also a private premiere Oct. 29 at Union Station.
The official release date for “Sarah’s Oil” is Nov. 7, but the movie will open at several Kansas City area theaters Nov. 6.
The movie’s timeline ends before Rector and her family relocated to what became known as the Rector Mansion in Kansas City. She married and had three sons, and the family became local celebrities, entertaining the likes of Duke Ellington and Count Basie at the mansion.
The family was forced to move after Rector lost most of her wealth during the Depression, and she died at the age of 65 in 1967. She still has descendants in the area.
“Through the honorary street designation and forthcoming historic marker at her former home, we are ensuring that her achievements and her connection to Kansas City are permanently recognized,” Patterson Hazley said in a statement. “I’m proud that Kansas City is honoring her place in history and shining a light on her enduring impact.”
With the help of grants, work has begun to restore the vacant Rector Mansion, which has run through several owners since Rector’s death. The neighboring EarlystART (2008 E. 12th St.), formerly known as United Inner City Services, now owns the property and hopes to expand its operation into the renovated structure.
This large stone house at 2000 E. 12th Street (12th and Euclid) was the home of Sarah Rector for many years and became known as the Rector Mansion. It now is undergoing renovations. facebook.com/SarahRectorKC/?locale2=pt_BR
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Dan Kelly
The Kansas City Star
Dan Kelly has been covering entertainment and arts news at The Star since 2009. He previously worked at the Columbia Daily Tribune, The Miami Herald and The Louisville Courier-Journal. He also was on the University of Missouri School of Journalism faculty for six years, and he has written two books, most recently “The Girl with the Agate Eyes: The Untold Story of Mattie Howard, Kansas City’s Queen of the Underworld.”
