The entrance to the UDC sports complex in 2020.
“The father of Black basketball”: UDC is renaming its sports complex after Edwin B. Henderson, a 1904 graduate of Miner Teachers College, a predecessor of the university. “Henderson introduced the game of basketball on a large scale to African Americans in the District, earning him his nickname,” WUSA9 reports. He was also active in the local NAACP.
From civil rights activist to White House adviser: Howard University is naming the library at its law school in Van Ness after Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Soon after Jordan graduated from Howard Law, he was on the team that fought to desegregate the University of Georgia. He went on to serve as president of the National Urban League, the executive director of the United Negro College Fund, and as an adviser to President Bill Clinton. Jordan died last week at age 85.
“Nobody asked the Black people”: The Washington Post reports on the movement to rename Melvin C. Hazen Park. Those joining the call include DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. Hazen was a “city father” who considered the Black community at today’s Reno Park a blight. He called for its removal and eventually, he got his way.
While we wait for the mayor and DCPS chancellor: Woodrow Wilson High School in Portland, Oregon is now Ida B. Wells-Barnett High. Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma, Washington is being named for a local educator and civil rights activist, Dolores Silas. Mayor Muriel Bowser and DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee are due to announce the new name for DC’s Wilson High any day now. Perhaps future grads will reminisce about their time at Edna B. Jackson High.
Deal Middle School turns 90: “Alice Deal died in 1928 at the age of 50. Three years later, the city decided to name its newest junior high, at Nebraska Avenue and Reno Road NW, after the Maryland-born educator.” Read more in the Post about the how the school’s boosters marked the occasion with a virtual gala and trivia night.
The Burger King of legend: After Forest Hills Connection reported last week that the Burger King franchise at Van Ness is threatening to close (again), Washingtonian noted that people have become a touch obsessed with its dated movie decor. The article’s headline even refers to the place as “legendary.”
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