Confederate Building Name Changed At Naval Academy To Honor Former President, Alumnus

ANNAPOLIS, MD — The United States Naval Academy on Friday changed the name of a building that had honored a Confederate loyalist.

The academic building, Maury Hall, is now called Carter Hall in honor of former President Jimmy Carter.

Carter is the only Naval Academy graduate to ever serve as the nation's president. He entered in the Class of 1947, but his class was commissioned a year early to support the fleet after World War II. Carter spent seven years as a submarine officer.

Now 98, Carter was the 39th president from 1977 to 1981.

Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Sean Buck called Carter one of the "institution's most distinguished graduates."

"By naming this building in his honor, we not only recognize his great contributions, but ensure that his legacy will forever inspire our nation’s future leaders," Buck said Friday in a Navy press release. "For generations to come, when midshipmen walk the corridors of Carter Hall, I have no doubt that they will be reminded of President Carter’s example and his legacy of lifelong service, and reinvigorated with the call to serve we all answered when we took our first oath."

Military dignitaries, Naval Academy leaders and midshipmen attended Friday's renaming ceremony.

The Associated Press said Carter was not on hand, as he is currently in hospice care. Some of his relatives were at the ceremony, however.

"It would be impossible to overstate what this Academy and the Navy has meant to my grandfather, and by extension to my family," said Josh Carter, grandson of Jimmy Carter. "It was life on the farm that gave my grandfather his work ethic and his ability to enjoy getting up at 5:30 every morning. But it was this school that taught him discipline, the value of expertise, and the importance of service. It is my hope that every student that comes through this great hall will learn the same foundational values that my grandfather learned here and through his career in the Navy."

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced the name change after a congressionally mandated commission examined the potential Confederate ties of all Department of Defense assets.

The commission recommended in August 2022 that the Naval Academy rename Maury Hall, Buchanan House and Buchanan Road.

Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd accepted all the commission's recommendations last September. He gave each service until the end of 2023 to rename their assets.

The Naval Academy has not yet announced the new name of Buchanan House and Buchanan Road, the Associated Press reported.

"When Secretary Austin directed us to implement the recommendations of the Naming Commission, he instructed us to give proud new names. Names that echo with honor, patriotism, and history. Names that will inspire generations of service members to defend our democracy and our Constitution," Del Toro said in the release. "Today, on the Friday before Presidents Day weekend, that is exactly what we are doing. I can think of no one more worthy of this renaming than President Jimmy Carter."

Maury Hall

Maury Hall opened in 1907. It was named in 1915 after Matthew Fontaine Maury.

Maury was an early oceanographer and a director of the Naval Observatory. He served in the U.S. Navy for more than 30 years before the Civil War.

"Despite these contributions, he viewed African Americans as unworthy of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness," the renaming commission's report said of Maury. "Maury envisioned a series of vast American territories in Central and South America, where enslaved humans would produce commodity crops like cotton, rubber, and sugar."

Maury resigned his commission in the Union Navy to serve in the Confederate Navy.

Maury was a political lobbyist in Europe during the Civil War. He urged foreign nations to recognize the Confederacy, and he bought ships for the Confederate Navy.

Carter Hall is currently home to the Naval Academy’s Systems and Weapons Engineering Department.

The Navy estimated that it would cost $12,000 to rename the building.

Buchanan House, Buchanan Road

Buchanan House, built in 1906, is the home of the Naval Academy's superintendent. Buchanan Road is the 510-foot-long street that leads to the residence.

Buchanan Road got its name in 1915. The superintendent's home was officially dubbed Buchanan House in 1976 to match the street approaching it.

Both sites got their name from Franklin Buchanan, the first superintendent of the Naval Academy. Over his 45-year career, Buchanan also served as an officer in the Mexican-American War and a steamboat commander in Commodore Matthew C. Perry ’s expedition to Japan.

"Shortly after the start of the Civil War, Buchanan joined the Confederacy, quickly rose to the rank of admiral and commanded the CSS Virginia," the commission said. "Under his command in several naval battles, his efforts killed hundreds of U.S. Navy sailors."

The Navy estimated that it would cost $12,000 to rename Buchanan House and $3,000 to rename Buchanan Road.

Memorial Hall

Memorial Hall has a column with a list of Naval Academy graduates who died during naval
operations. The roll call only states United States or Confederate service after each name.

The commission said there are limited facts to back up each listing, so the group thinks the roll call can remain as is.

Renaming Process

Congress established the naming commission in the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. This law established the U.S. Department of Defense's budget for that fiscal year.

As part of the budget, Congress ordered officials to create a commission to examine all the assets of the Department of Defense that commemorate the Confederacy.

The team held its first meeting in March 2021 and submitted its findings last summer and fall.

The group met with defense and local leaders, visited the military academy campuses and spoke with community stakeholders while researching Annapolis and West Point. The public comment period was open from Sept. 4, 2021 to Dec. 1, 2021, garnering more than 34,000 submissions.

The commission said all of its recommendations met the renaming criteria set by the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.

The commission, therefore, recommended that the secretary of defense authorize the secretaries of the Navy and the Army to start the removal and renaming processes. The Naval Academy and the Military Academy both have long-standing procedures for memorialization, so the commission said the institutions should follow those existing policies.

The full report is posted here.

Related: Confederate Names At Naval Academy Should Be Changed, Commission Recommends