5 Austin Schools Named After Confederacy Figures To Be Re-Named

AUSTIN, TX — Five Austin ISD schools named after figures of the Confederacy will be re-named come August, district officials said.

The schools set to undergo a name change sometime in the future are:

• The Allan facility (former Allan Junior High and Allan Elementary), referencing John T. Allan, an officer in the Confederate Army.

• Eastside Memorial High School at the Johnston campus, after Confederate Gen. Albert S. Johnston.

• Fulmore Middle School, invoking namesake Zachary Taylor Fulmore, a private in the Confederate Army.

• Lanier High School, in honor of Sidney Lanier, a noted poet who fought for the Confederacy.

• Reagan High School, named for John H. Reagan, the Confederacy’s postmaster general.

Trustees were scheduled to discuss the matter in greater detail during their Monday night meeting. The public portion of the work session is scheduled in the Austin ISD headquarters building at 1111 W. 6th St. But discussion on the name changes will come quite a bit after that, with the agenda item scheduled to begin at 9:45 p.m. Given that tonight's gathering is a work session and not a full-fledged board meeting, there won't be a meeting portion to hear residents' views.

Those opting to stay home tonight but still interested in listening to the discussion can tune into Channel 22 on Spectrum, Grande Communications and Google Fiber, or the live stream at aisd.tv, on Roku and on AT&T U-verse in the channel 99 menu.

Austin ISD Board President hasn't shied away from airing her personal view on the matter, suggesting support for the name change via Twitter in August when the issue was first raised in earnest. “Schools named = monuments. The time is now,” she wrote at the time.

>>> Photo via New York Public Library Digital Collections