NJ elementary school renames after first black graduate

A primary school in New Jersey is altering its name to avoid any confusion with the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves.

Instead, to honour the first black woman to graduate from the nearby high school, Delia Bolden Elementary School in South Orange will take the place of Jefferson Elementary School.

After a year-long campaign by students to alter the name, the South Orange Maplewood Board of Education voted in favour of the change.

In 1912, Bolden graduated from Maplewood’s Columbia High School, and a critique of the racial politics of the day was found in one of her essays.

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, four-time Olympian Joetta Clark Diggs, pioneering jurist Amalya Lyle Kearse, and inventor Erna Schneider were all considered as namesakes for her.

The last four, like Bolden, all have local roots and are Columbia High School alums. There was also discussion of the alternative name “New Legacy Elementary School.”

A subcommittee made up of pupils from each fifth grade class at the school came up with all of the names.

The renaming was utilised by teachers and students to teach children about each of the prospective namesakes via a series of lessons they termed “Name Stories.”

At a board meeting, Superintendent of Schools Ronald Taylor said that this was a “real-life civics lesson” for the pupils.

When that was the ultimate result, he stated: “Seeing the work that (the kids) produced, I believe, surpassed the expectations of all of us who engaged in that dialogue to truly engage our children.”

The board of education decided 6-3 to alter the name, with board member Qawi Telesford likely having the strongest opinion against Jefferson.

I want to emphasise that Thomas Jefferson had more than 600 slaves, Telesford stated. I have a 1.5% chance of becoming free in Thomas Jefferson’s universe since he released two people while he was alive and seven after his death. I thus don’t appreciate him. I appreciate everyone who worked to ensure my freedom and my presence on the board with you today.

According to NJ Advance Media, two of the board members who opposed the adjustment thought that the whole student body and the community should have been included in the decision-making process.

Bolden’s life after high school is mostly unknown, although in an article she wrote in 1912, she expressed her frustration with black Americans’ lack of voting rights and other equal rights at the time.

By September 8, the name will be changed on school property and online, according to the school system.