An Episcopal school in Richmond, Virginia will no longer call its two literary societies the Lees and the Jacksons.
A 95-year tradition at the heart of St. Christopher’s School is changing because of its association with two Confederate generals from Virginia.
The private Episcopal school in Richmond is changing the names of its elementary literary societies from the Lees and Jacksons to the Chamberlayne Reds and Chamberlayne Grays in honor of school founder Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne. The school’s colors are red and gray.…
Recent graduate Turner Blake created a Facebook page, which had about 475 members as of last night, to support keeping the Lee and Jackson names. “I feel like they’re bowing to a very small group of people who don’t really think the traditions of the school are very important,” Blake said.
Read the rest of the Richmond Times Dispatch article here.
The headmaster writes:
Our Literary Societies are among our treasured traditions, emphasizing essential skills in the areas of public speaking, competition, creativity, collaboration, and self-esteem. The Societies were established in 1915 as the Debating Society, an Upper School oratorical competition between two teams, and continue today in our Lower School for boys in kindergarten through fifth grade. Nearly 100 years ago, Dr. Chamberlayne named the teams for two outstanding Virginians, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. He chose those names because of the personal traits that those men represented to the families who would send their boys to St. Christopher’s. Those men embodied the honor, courage, loyalty, leadership, and perseverance in the face of adversity that Dr. Chamberlayne hoped to instill in all the boys, traits we continue to promote today.
Unfortunately, in more recent years, history has attached a stigma of prejudice and intolerance to some individuals and symbols connected with the Confederacy, making some in our internal and external community feel uncomfortable and marginalized. These feelings too often cloud the important and impressive traits that men such as Lee and Jackson represent. Given our steadfast commitment to provide an inclusive, positive environment where all families feel welcome and comfortable, we feel that the launching of the school’s second century is an appropriate time to develop a new name for the Literary Societies.