What's in a Name: Confederate Street Re-naming in Alexandria, Virginia

I know that the re-naming of streets and other public places that honor Confederate leaders is controversial with impassioned views on both sides. My purpose here is to describe what has happened to date in the place I live, Alexandria, Virginia.

To start out transparently, I support re-naming, as you will read below. I live in the West End of the city, where most of this issue is now playing out. Ironically, I live on one of the few streets with a Union-related name—Fort Williams Parkway, because of its proximity to one of the forts built as part of the Civil War defenses of Washington.

The Streets in Question

Alexandria is noted for its 18th century waterfront and for history-making residents that included George Washington and Robert E. Lee. However, as I noted above, most of the streets with clear provenance to Confederate leaders are in the West End.

When the West End was annexed by Alexandria from Fairfax County in 1952, it almost doubled the area of the city, which is still less than 16 square miles. The post-World War II building boom added subdivisions, high-rise and garden apartments, shopping centers, the hospital, and more development to what was a more rural area.

The green boxed area is roughly the current-day “West End,” annexed to the city in 1952.

 In 1953, the Jim Crow-segregated City Council dealt with the large numbers of streets in the jurisdiction with Ordinance 769. The ordinance covered the system of street numbering and the duties of the city manager. It also “relates to naming of streets.” It said, in part:

In the area west of Quaker Lane, an alphabetical progression of names shall be instituted [NOTE: I have never picked up on this so-called alphabetical progression despite living here for 40 years]….

Streets running in a generally east-west direction shall bear names of persons or places prominent in American History; streets running in a generally north-south direction shall, insofar as possible, bear the names of Confederate military leaders.

About 55 street names were explicitly dictated in the ordinance, although not all took on Confederate names. But, Valley Lane became Pickett Street and Pegram Lane at different points; Walter Reed Drive became Beauregard Street, etc.

city rendition of streets Affected. to see it larger, click on the map or go to https://www.alexandriava.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/ConfederateStreets_20230925.pdf

As for the “public comment” forget about it! The Ordinance stated:

As soon as practicable after the passing of this ordinance, the Director of Planning shall notify in writing the owners of all property having frontage on any of street listed in (b) above, of the change, and this notice shall set forth the old name, the new name, and the effective date of the change.

Going forward, the Ordinance continued:

Effective on the passing of this ordinance, the City Planning Commission is hereby empowered to assign names to all newly acquired or dedicated streets in accordance with the provision of (d).          

Who Knew?

Fast forward to now. The city has mostly changed for the good. The statue of a Confederate soldier, back to Washington and face to Richmond, has come down (a whole other story, found https://here).

With the exception of Jefferson Davis Highway (the section of Route 1 that passes through Alexandria, even though not in the West End) and possibly Beauregard Street, most Alexandrians did not/do not know the origins of most of these street names. I did not, especially for smaller streets (Breckinridge Place), more obscure officers (Imboden Street), or those with common names that could have honored any one of many people (Jordan Street, Stevenson Avenue). Most were generals in the army of the Confederate States of America. I did know and shudder about Taney Street, named for Roger Taney, who was the Supreme Court Chief Justice who led the majority in the 1857 Dred Scott decision.

But once you know who the people were and when/why they were honored, it is hard not to know.

Street Naming Process Now

After many years of discussion and procrastination, the city announced a process to change the names in January 2023, three streets a year (not exactly a jackrabbit pace but “to be deliberate and efficient with resources”).

The Historic Alexandria Resources Commission, a volunteer body, was

requested to develop a list, with the support of the Office of Historic Alexandria, of individuals and locations, worthy of honor by the City. The Commission is requested to pay special atenton to inclusion of women and minorites (as well as events and locations significant to women and minorities throughout our history), who have frequently been overlooked through history.

A HARC member asked me to provide background on Julia Wilbur and Harriet Jacobs. Jacobs made it to the list of potential honorees. The final list consisted of individuals, groups, and concepts.

Several surveys and public hearings were held. A three-person City Council subcommittee submitted its recommendation to the full City Council in September 2023 about the first streets to be considered.

Public Hearing: November 30, 2023

At the end of November 2023, the Naming Committee held a public hearing on the first six to be considered, with the idea the proces might guide the future: Breckinridge Place, Frost Street, Early Street, Jordan Street, Jordan Court, and Forrest Street. First, a city employee reported on the public response through social media engagement, surveys, and other interactions. The response was split, but without huge participation (again, a whole other question on the notion of participatory democracy).

Given the tenor of a few letters to the editor in our local weekly papers questioning the worth of changing the names, I decided to testify in support of the re-naming and filled out the necessary online form to do do so.

Most of the opponents lived on one of the targeted streets—Early Street, named after Gen. Jubal Early (described in Michael Shaara’s novel The Killer Angels as “a dark, cold, icy man, bitter, alone”). There are currrently both North Early and South Early streets, although they are separated by several miles. About ten North Early residents spoke against the change. They all said something along the lines of assuming their street was named “early, as in not late.” They spoke of the time, money, and hassle to change addresses on their documents. Several residents spoke of their emotional attachment to the name of the street where they grew up and raised families.

A resident of Jordan Street came with a petition from people on the street to re-name that street for Thomasina Jordan, who fought for the rights of Virginia’s American Indian tribes.

I get their point. Finding other people with the same surname, and publicly explaining who they were, could be a win-win.

I am less sympathetic to those who stated their opposition because the name changes would erase history (isn’t that what happened in the 1950s?) or the city has more important things to do. My testimony, delivered via Zoom, was as follows:

Here is most of the audio (I did not appear on screen):

Honorable City Council Members:

 My name is Paula Whitacre, and I am a long-time resident of the West End. I would like to publicly support the re-naming of streets that currently honor Confederate military leaders.

 As I have learned from research into the history of the city, Alexandria’s white, male adults—the only people who could legally vote at that time—voted on May 23, 1861 to approve the Virginia Ordinance of Secession. Specifically, they voted to—quote-- “repeal the ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America by the State of Virginia”—end quote. Turning your back on the U.S. Constitution does not seem worthy of being honored.

I do not need to take the time to relate the background of those whose names are commemorated or to reiterate how and when these individuals were chosen, as this is readily available online.

But I do question why we continue to celebrate this twisted memory in the 21st century.

I have heard the argument that the city has more important things to deal with. This is true, but the name-changing is not an either/or proposition. Of course, we should be dealing with other issues, including those related to inequality, bias, and the overall well-being of our city. Name-changing is only one part of this larger work. But it is a start.

Thank you.

 Next Steps

The committee will make its recommendation to the City Council in January 2024.