An unassuming stream that runs through parts of Overland Park and Leawood should keep the name Negro Creek to better educate the public about the area’s uncomfortable history concerning slavery, a local advisory committee has decided.
The decision comes with a strong recommendation that historical markers be placed along the stream — with runs for 6.5 miles south of 151st Street, largely between Mission Road and Nall Avenue — telling the story of an enslaved man who chose to end his life at the creekside rather than be recaptured.
An informal committee of members of the NAACP, the Advocacy and Awareness Group of Johnson County and other community leaders came to that consensus last week after more than two years of study.
Although there were, at times, differing opinions about whether to keep the name, the committee decided the most important thing was not to forget the history, said Jay Holbert, president of the Johnson County NAACP.
“The state that we are in now, we have people trying to erase our history – not only ours but indigenous people’s. They’re trying to wipe out history and make another race look predominantly happy like they didn’t do any wrong. That’s not right,” Holbert said.
“History should be history. You can’t learn if you don’t know the truth.”
Creek runs unmarked through Johnson County
The name Negro Creek appears on a few maps, but goes primarily without signage as it passes through a Ironhorse Golf Course and near a streamway trail and park.
Few people knew of the name until the police killing of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests brought racism to the center of public dialogue in 2020, including marches in Johnson County.
About that time, some people began noticing the name of the creek and decided to look into it.
The committee began its work in 2021, exploring several theories about the creek name’s origin — suggestions it had been named for Black settlers or because it was an escape route for freedom seekers, for instance.
Ultimately, the committee was unable to verify any of those claims.
It then asked for a study by Dr. Diane Mutti Burke, chair of the University of Missouri-Kansas City history department.
Burke found that, based on records of who lived in the area, the most plausible story came from an 1879 story in the Western Progress, a Spring Hill newspaper.
According to that account, a man fearing capture by pursuers slit his own throat rather than be returned to enslavement.
The Western Progress writer noted that although the proper name was “negro,” the creek was commonly referred to as a racial slur.
After learning of that, committee members decided to seek more information before making a decision about the name.
Residents submitted 63 alternative names
The newspaper account appeared about 20 years after the first known map reference to the name, and members wanted to see if other sources could be found to back that up, said County Commissioner Becky Fast, another of the group’s leaders.
In particular, the group wanted to find out the name of the freedom-seeking man who had reportedly killed himself. That would make it possible to give the creek his name, Fast said.
But efforts were temporarily derailed because many research libraries were shut down during the pandemic.
Once they reopened, there wasn’t much more to find because of a dearth of records on escape routes, she said.
In the meantime, Johnson County-published magazine “The Best Times” asked for suggestions for a new name and received 63 submissions with a wide variety of viewpoints.
Committee members didn’t always agree on the name, Holbert said.
“The older ones felt if we kept the name it would raise more awareness. The younger ones felt it was more offensive to keep the name than to change it,” he said. According to that account, a man fearing capture by pursuers slit his own throat rather than be returned to enslavement.
The Western Progress writer noted that although the proper name was “negro,” the creek was commonly referred to as a racial slur.
After learning of that, committee members decided to seek more information before making a decision about the name.
What happens next
Leaving the name intact means that won’t have to happen, but Fast said it still comes with risks.
The federal government could always end up ordering a change anyway. There are several hundred place names with the word “negro” across the country, and at least six in Kansas.
Deb Haaland, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, declared “squaw” a derogatory term and set up procedures in 2021 for its replacement in geographic names.
That could happen with “negro” as well. But if it does, the educational markers would still be in place, Fast said.
It may still be a while before any markers go up.
The next step is for Leawood, Overland Park and county leaders to work out the design of the markers, where they should go and what should be on them.
“We want to word it so it’s informative, not offensive,” Holbert said.
Getting to this point was one thing, he said: “It just feels like there’s a lot of work to be done.”
This story was originally published on the Shawnee Mission Post.
