A son of the Deep South who removed icons of the Confederacy from his city was honored as politically courageous Sunday night at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

Former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu was chosen to receive this year’s John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award for spearheading the removal of four Confederate monuments in his city.

The award, established by members of the Kennedy family to honor JFK after his 1963 assassination, recognizes and celebrates “the quality of political courage that he admired most,” according to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.