On Monday night, the Oklahoma City Public School board approved new names for three schools originally named after Confederate Civil War generals.
- Jackson Elementary, formerly named for Stonewall Jackson, will now be Ross Elementary in honor of Mary Golda Ross, a Native American and Oklahoma mathematician.
- Stand Watie Elementary’s new name is Esperanza Elementary. Esperanza is the Spanish word for hope.
- Lee Elementary, which originally honored Confederate commander Robert E. Lee, will change to Adelaide Lee Elementary, after a local philanthropist from the early 1900s.
Over the past few months, community members submitted name suggestions to the district through an online survey. Students at the three schools then researched the suggested names and voted on their favorite.
The board’s decision to change the names came last fall, after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia turned violent.
