Lawrence area named after slave owner to change name

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - Residents of a central Lawrence neighborhood that bears the name of a slave owner have decided to change the name.

The Pinckney Neighborhood Association announced last week that it is taking suggestions for a new name and hopes to vote on the issue this spring.

The neighborhood bears the name of either Charles Pinckney or Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, cousins who had successful political careers in the late 1700s and early 1800s but who also wanted slavery to continue when the U.S. Constitution was ratified, The Lawrence Journal-World reported.

Neighborhood residents recognize Charles Cotesworth Pinckney as the namesake.

The discussion of changing the name began this summer amid protests across the country after the death of a Black man, George Floyd, while he was in the custody of Minneapolis police.

“Locally within the Pinckney Neighborhood, that meant addressing the fact that Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was a person that many residents felt uncomfortable honoring - particularly since the neighborhood is a historically Black neighborhood,” the neighborhood said in its announcement.

Littlejohn said the association had not heard much opposition to the name change.

City officials said renaming a neighborhood is not a city government issue.