Attucks Hall? Group Pushes For Faneuil Hall Renaming

BOSTON, MA — Odds are if you don't support the Red Sox' push to rename Yawkey Way, you aren't going to love another change being discussed in Boston.

Faneuil Hall, known as the "Cradle of Liberty," is now in the crosshairs of one advocacy group pushing for a new name to be bestowed on one of Boston's most famous locations. Why? Because its namesake owned slaves.

Peter Faneuil built Faneuil Hall as a meeting house in 1742. American colonists, including some rather historic figures, made pioneering pushes there that eventually led to the American Revolution.

New Democracy Coalition founder Keven Peterson says Faneuil Hall should be renamed in honor of Crispus Attucks, a black man believed to be the first American killed in the Revolutionary War.

"It's an embarrassment to this city to remain focusing on this place as a place of celebration and as a place of which we should have some civic pride with this name attached to it," said Peterson last week in front of Faneuil Hall.

The Boston Landmarks Commission said it will discuss Faneuil Hall changes Tuesday - including outdoor seating - but did not say whether those changes would include a naming change.

Faneuil Hall is the most recent Boston spot to be targeted for a change due to its connections to a racist history. The Red Sox are spearheading a push to change Yawkey Way, the section of Jersey Street renamed 40 years ago in honor of former Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey, considered by many a bigoted man.

The only Confederate memorial in Massachusetts is currently boarded up until the state decides what it can do with it.

A nationwide examination of Confederate statues and other memorials tied to a racist past has taken place following the Charlottesville violence.

Photo by Robert Linsdell via Flickr

Materials from The Associated Press were used in this report