Loyal Women of the Old South Memorial, Kansas City

Loyal Women of the Old South Memorial, Kansas City

In August 2017, the Kansas City Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy requested to relocate their “Loyal Women of the Old South Memorial” to an undisclosed location due to vandalism by local protestors, including a red hammer and sickle being painted on the side of it. The Kansas City Parks and Recreation Board agreed with urgency and sent a team of monument removers and Parks and Rec. staff to oversee the removal and relocation. While the formal removal request came from the local U.D.C. chapter, an article published by Kansas City Star captured other written requests to remove the monument from park grounds, permanently. In a now viral YouTube video published by Peter Gogol, a local resident of Kansas City, Gogol read aloud a letter he sent to the Parks Board pleading for the removal of the “memorial” for several reasons including his statement that, “I think in 2017 Kansas City shouldn’t be revering people who worked to try to maintain slavery,” and “Remembering the past is important, but there’s a difference between remembering and revering.” The memorial was one of hundreds of Confederate monuments that came under fire during local protests and upheaval regarding the removal of racist and offensive monuments. In fact, the memorial is inscribed with the following words, “TIS TATTERED BROKEN IS ITS STAFF AND SHATTERED AND THE VALIANT HOSTS ARE SCATTERED OVER WHOM IT FLOATED HIGH.” While not an obviously offensive banner, these words are part of a Confederate War Song dedicated to the “Women of the Old South.” These words are meant to capture the suffering of southern women who lost a loved one during the Civil War as a result of the ending of slavery. The memorial was originally erected at the Country Club Plaza on September 9, 1934 and relocated to the Ward Parkway in 1958, it was then removed in 2017 following vandalism and protests. The monument was created by Richard N. Wakefield and was donated to the city by the 119th chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Creator/Artist: Richard N. Wakefield
Donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy

• Fox News Article: https://fox4kc.com/news/confederate-memorial-monument-on-ward-parkway-will-be-removed/
• Kansas City Star Article: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article167604417.html
• NPR Kansas City Article:
https://www.kcur.org/community/2017-08-25/confederate-monument-in-kansas-city-dismantled-for-removal-to-secure-location
• The Charlotte Observer Article:
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article167648507.html
• "Monumental Crossroads" Director Tim Van den Hoff https://fullerton.kanopy.com/product/monumental-crossroads

Catherine Wheeler. "Of Monumental Importance." Flatland, August 21,2017, https://www.flatlandkc.org/people-places/unknown-monuments-kansas-city/

Creation Date: Unknown.
Donation Date: September 9, 1934.
Relocation Year: 1958.
Removal Date: August 2017.

Melinda Alvizo, Andrea Rios, Sebastian Ebbert

English

Monument

HIST 402A FALL 2020
HIST 402A FALL 2021

Kansas City, Missouri