Source: Win McNamee / Getty
Virginia State University is righting its wrongs. The historically Black college renamed four buildings on their campus after Black women after removing the names of white men with Jim Crow and Confederacy ties.
“As an Historically Black University, VSU has always set the tone of celebrating those who came before us to create the legacy that we have today,” VSU President Makola M. Abdullah said in a statement. “Unveiling names that celebrate and honor amazing Black women, especially those who have contributed to our VSU history in such an impactful way, shows that we proudly make space for and celebrate those up-and-coming trailblazers who have in the past, and will in the future, make Virginia State University their home.”
The buildings were named after Black women who had an impact at VSU or in the state of Virginia. Byrd Hall, which was named after Virginia governor and U.S. Sen. Harry F. Byrd Sr. who was a segragationist who fought against Brown vs. Board, is now called Otelia Howard Hall. Howard was an associate English professor for 24 years before she died in 1945.
She also helped found their school newspaper the Virginia Statesmen Vawter Hall was named after a Confederate captain but has now been renamed Lula Johnson Hall. Johnson was the first woman to graduate from Virginia State in the 1890s. When Johnson graduated, she became the first woman to do so from a Virginia public college.
Johnella Jackson was a musician who wrote the music for VSU and is now the namesake of the former Trinkle Hall, named after governor Elbert Lee Trinkle who signed a law that prohibited interracial marriage.
Eggleston Hall, named after Joseph Eggleston, a board of visitors member in the early 20th century and state schools superintendent, has been renamed for Lucretia Campbell, the university’s first Black female faculty member.
