Steve Pokin|Springfield News-Leader
Springfield Mayor Ken McClure supports having Milly Sawyers honored. But the question, he says, is how best todo that?
“I would be supportive of naming something somewhere for Milly Sawyers," he tells me.
Sawyers was a former slave who, on her third try in court, won her freedom.
She was successful in the 1830s in what would have seemed the most unlikely legal venue, Greene County. Right here in Springfield.
We don't know much about her life, but we do know she was persistent and courageous and on April 1, 1836 — after she had become a free woman — she was dragged from a home at Olive Street and Boonville Avenue and beaten by a mob of white men.
That mob included John Polk Campbell, credited as Springfield's founder. He is the namesake of Campbell Avenue.
On July 5, I wrote a column suggesting that South Avenue (from Grand Street to Park Central Square) and part of Boonville Avenue (from the square to Chestnut Expressway) be renamed Milly Sawyers Avenue.
The section of Boonville would include the location of the house where Milly was taken from and then beaten. It is now a parking lot.
The mayor tells me my suggestion involves too much street and too many homes and businesses.
It's 1.3 miles long and would include the News-Leader at 651 Boonville Ave.
Allison Robertson and several others from the two most recent Leadership Springfield classes support the idea. They also are looking at other ways to honor Sawyers.
Leadership Springfield is a program for leadership development in the Ozarks, designed to inspire anddevelop leaders in Springfield.
They have talked to a few business owners along South Avenue.
"We have gotten a little bit of pushback from the street as far as business owners who say there would bea financial impact," she says.
An address change would entail things like new stationery, new fliers and plugging in a new address for invoices and many other business records.
As a result, Robertson says, her group might seek a grant to assist those businessesif the street name is changed.
She says the group is also supportive of putting a historical marker at Olive Street and Boonville Avenue.
Such a marker could be added to the city's new African American Heritage Trail, a walking path that winds between historic monuments on the city's north side.
Another idea is to addthe story of Sawyers to the manytold at Founders Park, 330 E. Water St. You will find the story of how John Polk Campbell discovered Springfield there.
Historic buildings on South Avenue
Mayor McClure tells me the name "Milly Sawyers" and her story is not commonly known in Springfield. It's not like "Martin Luther King Jr."
He certainly is right.
But I also think there aren't many people who know that Campbell Avenue is named after John Polk Campbell.
Some have suggested renaming Campbell Avenue as Milly Sawyers Avenue.
I don't support that. I like the idea of addition rather than replacement.
Sawyers' story is simple. I wish we knew more about her life, but we don't. She fought for her freedom in a white man's world and won.
We can tell that story and teach some history.
McClure also says South Avenue has links to history, particularly to the Civil War and battles fought on or near South Avenue.
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Another concern, he says, is that there are many historic buildings on the street such as First Baptist Church at 525 South Ave.
I called the Rev. Michael Overton, pastor of the church, built in 1852.
(Who knows? Maybe Sawyers was alive when it was built.)
Overton did not initially know who she was. He read some news stories and we talked the next day.
He said it would be a "minorinconvenience" for the church if the street name were changed.
Across the street from First Baptist is South Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ.)
I'm not sure why it's "South Street Christian Church" and not "South Avenue Christian Church."
The street is South Avenue.
It's because the roadwaywas once called "South Street" until the city made all north-south roadways "avenues," saysthe Rev. Janet Given, pastor of South Street Christian Church. She believes the name changed in the 1920s.
The church was founded in 1886 on South Street.
And if the name were to change again, she says, the church would remain "South Street Christian Church."
"It would be a mild pain" if the street were to change names again, she tells me. "But I think there would be enough support from the church for the cause of justice to maybe offset that."
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I made one other call. This was to William Graham, of Springfield, who owns three rental homes (832, 838 and 848) on South Avenue.
He knew who Sawyers was, and his response surprised me.
He supports the change but thinks "Milly Sawyers Avenue" is too long. He prefers "Sawyers Avenue."
"They don't call it John Polk Campbell Avenue; they call it Campbell Avenue," he says.
I know of two street-name changes in Springfield and neither is that similar to what I'm suggesting.
One was the renaming of part of Brower Street as "Bob Barker Boulevard" in July 2008. It's Bob Barker Boulevard between Jefferson Avenue and Sherman Parkway.
The street was renamed after Barker, a 1947 Drury graduate, donated$1 million to Druryto establish the Bob Barker Endowment Fund for the Study of Animal Rights.
The other was the 2013 renaming of part of Monroe Street to "Bear Boulevard" that goes through the Missouri State campusto Jefferson Avenue. It's a distance of eight-tenths of a mile.
The point man for MSUwas none other than Mayor McClure, who was an MSU administrator at the time.
"It wasn’t terribly controversial, but it did involve some work," he says.
Most of the non-universitybuildings to the west were apartment buildings whose owners, in large part, supported the name change, McClure says.
They felt a "Bear Boulevard" address made their apartment buildings more attractive to prospective student renters.
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I should note that when I drove Bear Boulevard on Friday to check the length, one major apartment building still is called "The Monroe."
The process for changing a street name is simple.
The first step is to contact the city's planning department. To request a name change, you don't need to live on the street affected or own property there.
The request is presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission for a hearing. The commission would contact those who would be impacted prior to the hearing.
To change a name, it certainly would help to have the support of those who live on the street, or own property on the street, or rent space for their business there.
The commission makes a recommendation to the City Council, which has final say.
The time is now; a reckoning for racism
In my view, now is the time to do something for Sawyers.
Right now is a time of reckoning for our nation's long history of racism.
Here in Springfield, we need look no further than our own downtown square.
To do this, we don't need to tear anything down. We need to recognize a Black hero.
If you wanted to, you could raise several reasons not to rename a street for Milly Sawyers.
The city in 2003 found a way not to rename Chestnut Expressway after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The News-Leader reported: "The fall 2003 proposal, however, proved controversial when numerous businesses along the central city route complained about the cost of having to reprint business materials and cards bearing their addresses."
Instead, the Benton Avenue viaduct bridge— which has no neighboring businesses or homes— was named after the slain civil rights leader.
You mightargue we should have named a street — rather than a conference room in City Hall — after former councilman Denny Wayne, who is Black.
Perhaps that's true. But that's not what happened.
In conclusion, let me point this out.
Greene County was created in 1833. The first complete federal census was in 1850.
According to that census, there were 1,230 Black slaves in this county. Thatwas 23 percent of the population.
There were seven free people of color.
Seven.
We don't know what happened to Milly Sawyers after she was beaten by Springfield's founding fathers. Presumably, she might have been one of the seven — if she hadn't moved away by then.
These are the views of News-Leader columnist Steve Pokin, who has been at the paper eight years, and overhis career has coveredeverythingfrom courts and cops to features and fitness. He can be reached at 417836-1253, spokin@gannett.com, on Twitter @stevepokinNL or by mail at 651 Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65806.
