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{{Short description|American real estate developer (1880–1950)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = J. C. Nichols
| image = Portrait of J.C. Nichols.jpg
|
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1880|08|23}}
|
| death_date = {{death date and age|1950|02|16|1880|08|23}}
| death_place = [[Kansas City, Missouri]], U.S.
| resting place = [[Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery]]<br />Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
|
| parents = ▼
▲|occupation = real estate developer
| spouse = {{marriage|Jessie Miller|1905}}
▲|parents =
|
| alma_mater = [[University of Kansas]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]])<br />[[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]])
}}
'''Jesse Clyde "J. C." Nichols''' (August 23, 1880 - February 16, 1950) was an American developer of commercial and residential [[real estate]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. Born in [[Olathe, Kansas]], and a student at the [[University of Kansas]] and [[Harvard University]], his most notable developments are the [[Country Club District]] and [[Country Club Plaza]] in Kansas City, which influenced suburban developments in other parts of the United States.
==Early life==
Jesse Clyde Nichols was born in 1880, a son of farmers living near Olathe, Kansas. He worked various jobs while attending high school, and worked for a year after graduation selling wholesale meat.<ref name=ford>{{cite web|url=http://www.kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=
While he matriculated at the [[University of Kansas]], he managed the college football team, reported for a newspaper, and served as class president.<ref name=ford/> Graduating at the top of his class with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1902, he accepted a one-year scholarship at [[Harvard University]], and earned a second Bachelor of Arts degree there in 1903. Nichols returned to Kansas City and joined some college friends to establish Reed, Nichols & Company, operating as real estate developers.
==Subdivision development==
Nichols called his method for establishing residential [[Subdivision (land)|subdivisions]] "planning for permanence
Nichols advocated preservation of trees and natural contours, while proscribing [[grid plan|gridiron]] street networks.<ref name="cite crabgrass">{{cite crabgrass}}, p.178.</ref> His Country Club District in Kansas City placed many restrictions on the use of property within the subdivision, which Nichols believed made the lots more valuable to potential homeowners. His advertisements promoted permanence.<ref name="Worley, p.196">Worley, p.196.</ref> All homeowners were required to belong to the Country Club District's homeowners association, which monitored how well homeowners maintained their lawns, but also provided services like garbage collection and street cleaning.
The [[Country Club District]], Nichols's master-planned community in Kansas City, Missouri,
==Innovations and
Nichols
Nichols was a prominent civic booster in Kansas City
Nichols served in leadership positions of local and national real estate and planning organizations. He was a member of the General Committee of the National Conference on City Planning.<ref name=weiss>{{cite book|last=Weiss|first=Marc|year=1987|title=The Rise of the Community Builders|location=New York|publisher=Columbia University Press|page=58|isbn=0-231-06505-1}}</ref>
===Racist restrictions===
J.C. Nichols relied on [[restrictive covenants]] to control the uses of the lands in the neighborhoods he developed.
==
Nichols's real estate policies created a racial and economic divide to split Kansas City in half along [[Troost Avenue]] for the indefinite future. This eventually crashed the home values on the east side where Blacks and Jews were allowed. When nationwide racial integration laws came in the 1960s, this total divide thwarted their adoption by Kansas City's public education system, and ensured that KCPS's racial population will remain mostly non-white.<ref name=Moxley/>
In 1970, members of the [[Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)|Students for a Democratic Society]] (SDS) were charged with pipe bombing the home of his son Miller Nichols, then president of the J.C. Nichols company,<ref>https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/55835076/</ref> among other places in Kansas City. Three SDS members were convicted. See United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Western Division (Kansas City), Criminal Case Files (1879- 1972), Case 23498.▼
In mass resentment of this legacy, intensified in 2020 by the [[George Floyd protests]], Kansas City removed his name from the historic fountain and road in front of [[Country Club Plaza]].<ref name=Moxley/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Fountain in Mill Creek Park - KC Parks and Rec |url=https://kcparks.org/places/fountain-millcreek/ |access-date=2023-08-30 |website=kcparks.org}}</ref>
▲In 1970, members of the [[Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)|Students for a Democratic Society]] (SDS) were charged with pipe bombing places in Kansas City, including the home of his son Miller Nichols, then president of the J.C. Nichols company
==Death==
Nichols died of cancer
==References==
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[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Kansas alumni]]
[[Category:
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