Confederate Jefferson Davis Hwy in Alexandria: City-Appointed Group Says Change Name

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- A group charged with studying the City's Confederate memorials and street names recommends changing the name of Jefferson Davis Highway, in its report to the Alexandria City Council, the City announced Thursday.

Debate over Confederate symbols rose in the weeks after Dylann Roof allegedly opened fire on a traditionally black Charleston church, killing nine, on June 17. Roof was associated with hate groups and had posted pictures of himself with white supremacist symbols, including the Confederate flag.

Thousands have called for Virginia to remove Davis’ name from the highway. Davis served as president of the Confederacy during the Civil War.The highway also goes by other names; south of Alexandria, it’s called Richmond Highway. Heading north, its name changes to Henry Street and Patrick Street in Old Town Alexandria. It switches to the name Jefferson Davis Highway between First and Vernon streets near Del Ray. It continues with that name up to Crystal City. The roadway is known as either Route 1 or Jefferson Davis Highway plus a lot of other names from the Potomac River down to the North Carolina border.

The Washington Post reports Virginia’s legislature voted to rename highways in Davis’ honor in 1922 at the behest of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Advocates wanted a Southern equivalent to the coast-to-coast Lincoln Highway, according to the Federal Highway Administration, the Associated Press reports.

The Alexandria group, formally the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Confederate Memorials and Street Names, was established by Alexandria City Council last September and has submitted its final report, the City announced Thursday.

The group issued recommendations on the four topics City Council directed it to consider and concluded:

1. The Appomattox statute on South Washington Street should remain in place, with additional efforts made to add context to its story;
2. The name of Jefferson Davis Highway in the City of Alexandria should be changed;
3. Rather than a wholesale renaming of streets in the City named after Confederate figures, individual requests for new names should be considered by City Council if brought under existing processes; and
4. No further action is needed with regard to a specific policy on flying of any flags on property owned or under the control of the City.

The Advisory Group included two at-large members appointed by the City Manager, and one representative from each of the Alexandria Human Rights Commission, the Historic Alexandria Resources Commission, the Alexandria Society for the Preservation of Black Heritage, the Alexandria Planning Commission and the Alexandria Transportation Commission. The Advisory Group received more than 150 comments through its online feedback form and heard more than 60 speakers at its five public meetings.

City Council will receive the Advisory Group's report at its legislative meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 13, and will consider the report as part of its regularly scheduled public hearing meeting on Saturday, Sept. 17, in the Council Chamber in Alexandria City Hall, 301 King St.

The public hearing meeting on Sept. 17 will begin at 9:30 a.m. with public comments regarding items not on the docket, and City Council will then discuss and take public comments on docket items, including the Advisory Group’s report. Once the docket order is finalized several days before the meeting, it will be available at www.alexandriava.gov/Dockets. A form to sign up to speak at the hearing will be linked from the top of the docket.

The Advisory Group’s final report, along with the agendas, minutes, materials provided, written public comments and video record of each meeting, are available at www.alexandriava.gov/Confederate.

See also: Mayor: Alexandria City Council to Review City’s Confederate Symbols
Speaker Boehner Calls for Review of Confederate Symbols at U.S. Capitol
Petition Started to Change Name of Robert E. Lee High School
Petition Asks to Change Name of J.E.B. Stuart High School

PHOTO: A road sign near Del Ray shows the Jefferson Davis Highway name; from Google maps.