As has been the case for the last several years, 2021 saw Northern Virginia localities rename a number of roads, schools, and other public places with Confederates and segregationist ties. This year, though, marked a bit of a sea change with jurisdictions beginning to institute more formalized processes for renaming such landmarks.
Between locality-run reports and inventories, task forces, and asking for public input, these decisions are now becoming part of public policy. Even the Department of Defense started a process to look at renaming military forts and bases, including Fort Belvoir in Alexandria.
Here’s how several Northern Virginia jurisdictions handled renaming public places with Confederate and segregationist ties in 2021.
Arlington County
In 2020, Arlington County made the decision to begin the process of changing the county’s logo. The logo, ensignia, and flag prominently featured the one-time house of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that’s located at Arlington National Cemetery.
The county allowed the public to vote on the new designs, but with this input came some stops and starts, with the county board asking for more designs to be considered. In September of this year, a conclusion was finally reached when the county board unanimously approved a simplistic design intended to show Arlington’s historic and economic ties to neighboring jurisdictions.
Despite the logo change, it remains likely that the county will continue to be called “Arlington” in at least the near future, according to officials.
This past summer, another nearly-year-long process wrapped up with the county board voting for its portion of “Lee Highway” to have its name changed to “Langston Blvd.” John M. Langston was the first Black congressman in Virginia. Initially, the road was to be called “Loving Avenue” in honor of the Virginia couple whose fight to get married went all the way to the Supreme Court. However, the family objected.
All the signs were finally replaced in the fall.
City of Alexandria
In the spring of this year, completing a process that began 2020, T.C. Williams High School officially became Alexandria City High School. Williams was an avid segregationist who, according to Alexandria City Public Schools’ website, “did everything possible to slow down the process of integration.” The logo and signage were all changed this summer.
Matthew Maury Elementary School also became Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School this spring. Maury was an oceanographer turned Confederate Navy officer while Brooks was a former Alexandria teacher and student who fought segregation in the city.
In August, the city also launched a pilot program to allow residents to formally ask for roadways with Confederate ties to be renamed. The program was started due to residents’ constant requests to rename Lee Street.
This also came on the heels of the city updating its “inventory of Confederate street names,” which found that more than 30 had ties to Confederate history. Citizens are using the new process with a slew of street names now being considered for change.
Fairfax County
Late last year, the county’s history commission released a 539-page report detailing the history and context for all 157 roads, streets, parks, monuments, subdivisions, and public places in Fairfax County named after a Confederate. This came just as the county was also removing several monuments and markers about the Confederacy from outside its judicial complex.
As a result of that report, Virginia’s largest and most populated county convened a task force in July 2021 specifically charged with making recommendations about renaming the county’s portion of Lee Highway and Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway.
Then, earlier this month, the task force did exactly that – recommending changing the names of both roads. Proposed alternative names included, simply, Route or Highway 29, Fairfax Blvd., Little River Turnpike, and Unity Highway.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will vote on the exact names early next year.
Loudoun County
After completing in July 2021 a similar review and inventory as other Northern Virginia localities, Loudoun County came to the conclusion that the names of two roads and a public boat landing needed to be changed. This includes Jeb Stuart Road, Fort Johnston Road, and Kephart Bridge Landing.
This was in addition to the renaming of Harry Byrd Highway and John Mosby Highway. That process essentially completed earlier this month when the county board of supervisors voted to rename Byrd Highway to Leesburg Pike and Mosby Highway to Little River Turnpike. These were the original names of the roads prior to being renamed about a century ago.
Also this fall, the county board of supervisors voted to change naming standards to ban the use of Confederate and segregationists names on future county roads as well as make it simpler to pursue changing the names of existing roads in violation.
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