The Schools That Bear the Names of Segregationists

Schools named in honor of post-Civil War politicians who supported racial segregation are located in eight states throughout the South, Education Week found. These 22 schools bear the names of members of Congress who in 1956 signed what was known as the Southern Manifesto, a document that vociferously opposed the integration of public schools in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that declared racial segregation of public schools unconstitutional. Unlike the schools that memorialize Confederate leaders, those named for segregationists haven’t provoked the same level of scrutiny or prompted as many campaigns to rename them. But in one South Carolina community, black students and residents fought long ago to change the name of Strom Thurmond High School, without success. Named for one of the state’s most influential politicians and one of its foremost supporters of segregation, Strom Thurmond High has a student body that is currently 50 percent African-American.