Jefferson Elementary School, located in the state's South Orange-Maplewood School District, will now be known as Delia Bolden Elementary when classes start Sept. 8. Bolden was the first black woman in the area to graduate from high school.
The students had a list of choices to choose from, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg Elementary and New Legacy School. Students started the endeavor to change the name.
"Seeing the work that (the students) did, I think, exceeded the expectations of all of us who participated in that conversation, when that was the final outcome, to really engage our students and make this a real-life civics lesson with really strong connections to governance," Superintendent Ronald Taylor said.
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The South Orange-Maplewood School District is "54.5% white, 25.5% black, 3.7% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander, 8.5% Hispanic/Latino, 0.1% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 0.1% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander," according to U.S. News and World Report. Delia Bolden Elementary is one of its seven elementary schools.
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Jefferson was understood by many to own as many as 600 slaves in his lifetime, freeing two while he was alive and seven more upon his death. The Founding Father was not from New Jersey, but Virginia.
"I want to make that point that Thomas Jefferson owned over 600 slaves," board member Qawi Telesford said at a June meeting on the issue. "He freed two while he was alive and seven after he died, which basically means I have a 1.5% chance of being free in Thomas Jefferson’s world. So, I am not thankful to him. I am thankful to the people who made sure that I could actually be free and be on the board with you today."
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Changing schools' names in honor of historical figures is considered negative or insufficiently moral and has become a popular trend in the United States.
Last year, the Waukegan Board of Education in Chicago proposed renaming Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Daniel Webster Middle School after it was decided the historical figures either owned slaves or supported slavery.
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The San Francisco Board of Education decided to rename 44 of its schools named after famous figures with ties to racism, sexism and slavery.
The students' responses to the endeavor reflected the complexity and depth of the issue. While some fully backed the move and even wondered why it hadn’t happened sooner, they also challenged its intended impact. Several others pondered the logic of evaluating historical figures using today’s criteria, and suggested more effective ways for educating young people about difficult history.
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