the committee charged with renaming New Orleans public schools that honor slave owners, confederate officials or segregation supporters has publicly identified 19 buildings that school officials and community members say are worthy of a new moniker.
The building named after Robert Mills Lusher and the eight school buildings named after John McDonogh are among those up for consideration. The renaming committee, assembled by NOLA Public Schools, will present the list of schools to School Board members during a meeting Tuesday.
Lusher,
a Confederate figure and former Louisiana schools superintendent who said he believed in "the supremacy of the Caucasian race," and McDonogh,
a wealthy slave owner who left money to build dozens of New Orleans schools, were some names that had immediately come under renewed scrutiny as officials took a hard look at New Orleans institutions in recent months, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by a White police officer and protests across the U.S. over institutional racism.
Also on the list are Ben Franklin Elementary School and Ben Franklin High School, named after the inventor, scientist and founding father
who also owned slaves, as well as Audubon School, named after naturalist and painter John James Audubon, a slave owner and was
recorded dismissing the abolitionist movement.