Prairie Village resident Peter Gogol first noticed the memorial a few years ago on a run, and it has rubbed him the wrong way ever since.

Situated in the wide green median of Ward Parkway near the intersection with 55th Street, the limestone United Daughters of the Confederacy monument pays homage to the “loyal women of the Old South.”

“During the Civil War, one side fought to end slavery, and the other fought to preserve it,” Gogol said. “The United Daughters of the Confederacy honors people who supported the wrong side.”

So in light of the events in Virginia this weekend and the response of those who want to reject racial hatred, Gogol this week felt that perhaps it was time to see if Kansas City would consider removing the memorial. He wrote a letter of the Kansas City Parks Board.

“Our nation and community has reached a point in its history where it is critical that our public institutions cease honoring and using tax dollars to commemorate those who sought to preserve the institution of slavery during the Civil War,” Gogol wrote. “This summer the NAACP issued its first ever statewide travel advisory and it was for the State of Missouri. The advisory cited “the series of questionable, race-based incidents occurring statewide recently. Mayor James recently responded to this advisory by emphasizing that all are welcome in the Kansas City. Removal of the UDC Memorial would be a concrete step for Kansas City to officially back up these comments in support of diversity and equality in our community.”

Gogol said he hasn’t heard back directly from the board about his request, but the commission did issue a statement Wednesday saying it would review the request and give it serious consideration.

The monument was dedicated in 1934, and was initially located at 47th Street and J.C. Nichols Parkway, near the entrance to Nichols’ Plaza development. In 1958 it was relocated to its present site.

It’s prominent display in a public space is antithetical to Kansas City’s push for racial integration, Gogol says. He believes there is a place for such historical monuments, but a public thoroughfare isn’t one of them.

“History needs to be remembered and taught, in classrooms and museums especially,” he said. “And war is hell, so it can be appropriate to mourn people who fought in them. But for there to be this kind of public area with a monument that’s celebrating people that wanted to keep slavery in place? In 2017, in Kansas City, I don’t think we should be honor people who were on that side of history.”

Gogol’s full letter to the parks board is embedded below:

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