Press Release

Jets Taken off and Landing on Slave Graves at Kansas City

International
These people and their important historical legacies remain unaccounted for and
invisible to most of us. It does not have to be this way. Kansas City International
Airport (KCI) has announced its desire to build a new, world class air terminal
complex, which can bring much needed economic benefits to our region. While this
kind of economic growth is vital to our region, the airport can play important
educational and cultural roles in our community. Encompassing more than 13,000
acres, KCI contains historical and archaeological resources of great local and
national importance. These resources contain the stories of persons and
communities, black and white, who shaped the tumultuous events of the MissouriKansas Border War and American Civil War.
It was recognition of the importance of these histories which led the U.S. Congress
to establish Freedoms Frontier National Heritage Area (FFNHA) in 2006
(http://www.freedomsfrontier.org/). Comprising 41 counties in Missouri and Kansas,
FFNHA is dedicated to recovering these lost histories and interpreting them to new
generations of Americans. KCI, located at the geographical center of FFNHA, has
unique capacity to interpret this history to the public, including millions of travelers
who pass through the airport. The airport has expressed its willingness, in principle,
to support such a project. We believe that KCI needs to take the next step,
establishing a formal agreement to find and bring back to life these forgotten
people. We hope that you will join with us in urging KCI to do so.
The Civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s brought to life the struggles
and accomplishments of Americas living minority communities. We now have an
opportunity to recognize the struggles and accomplishments of those forgotten and
invisible individuals and communities who shaped our collective history.
We need a KCI history project with two principal objectives. One of these is
respectful recovery of the dead. During the 1800s, small, private cemeteries
dotted farms and other private property. Over the decades, many of these have
gone unmarked and forgotten. This is particularly true of the graves of enslaved
African Americans, many of whom lived and died on lands currently part of the
airport. Reliable, cost-effective means of locating these unmarked human burials
exist today. Studies of this kind are routinely employed across the country today.
These investigations are done in compliance with Federal laws and regulations
which apply to any form of construction on Airport lands. KCI should develop a
master plan for discovery and respectful treatment of unmarked burials and related
archaeological remains on airport land.
A second objective is public education about the persons and communities who
played such an important role in our history. One example, among many, is George
Washington, a slave who ran away from the Miller Plantation, an archaeological site
and cemetery currently located in KCI, to join the Kansas First Colored Infantry. This

was first black unit of the Civil War to go into combat against Confederate forces at
Island Mound, Bates County, Missouri. Their valor and sacrifice is commemorated at
Island Mound State Historical Park, Missouris newest state park. Many other
important histories are linked to historical resources controlled today by KCI. We
have the academic expertise to research and educate the public about these
histories. KCI, once again, is the ideal venue to bring these forgotten and invisible
people back to life for millions of airport visitors. New airport construction is the
ideal opportunity to develop the required public educational exhibits and to advance
tourism.
At this time, we believe the best path forward is not a court challenge. Instead, we
urge the airport to immediately undertake development of a cultural resources
management plan, utilizing a qualified and independent consult to formulate this
plan. This effort should begin with a n internal audit of all previous cultural
resources investigations undertaken by KCI, bringing up to date all available historic
resources information and the status of compliance documentation. The airport can
then move on its own initiative to remedy any gaps or omissions in these records.
The results will be a comprehensive cultural resources management plan that can
guide all future airport development, including resolution of the burial and
educational issues we discussed earlier.
It seems to us that the current pause in seeking public support for a new airport is
the logical time to remedy this long-standing problem. We are confident that the
public will support a new airport, when it comes to understand how it will benefit
the community. When the community is ready to move forward with this project, a
cultural resources management plan will be an asset to tourism and not an
obstacle.
Any questions or comments contact watkinsfoundationkc@gmail.com .

P.O Box 300584 Kansas City, Missouri 64130

Warren R. Watkins Jr. 816547-9905
watkinsfoundationkc@gmail.com
Bruce R. Watkins Jr. 816-349-8339
warrenwatkins@yahoo.com
brucewatkins007@gmail