College of William and Mary Renames Buildings That Honored Confederates or Segregationists

The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has renamed three buildings and a department that currently honor supporters of the Confederacy or Jim Crow segregation.

William & Mary will rename Taliaferro Hall, a dormitory on campus. William Booth Taliaferro was rector of the university and a general in the Confederate army. The residence hall will now honor Hulon L. Willis Sr., who was the first Black student to enroll at William & Mary. Willis graduated in 1956.

Morton Hall, an academic building named for a former chair of the history department who defended segregation, will be renamed. Tyler Hall, another academic building honoring John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States who served in the Confederate Congress, will now be called Chancellor’s Hall.

The board also voted to rename the Lyon Gardiner Tyler Department of History. Lyon Tyler, who was a president of William & Mary, was the author of  “A Confederate Catechism,” which defended the South’s position in the Civil War.

A year ago, the College of William & Mary renamed Maury Hall and Trinkle Hall, which were named for a Confederate naval officer and a Virginia governor who signed legislation supporting racial segregation.

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