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Secret Committee Picks Susan B. Anthony over Local Names for New SF School

The Sioux Falls School Board has chosen a new name for the consolidated Longellow and Mark Twain elementary schools, and it's not any of the names that were making the short list—or, as far as I can tell, the long list—in public conversation on the topic this summer. Two falls from now, kids in central Sioux Falls will go to Susan B. Anthony Elementary.

The nineteenth-century suffragist Anthony beat all of the South Dakota suggestions Senator Thune's advisor Jon Lauck made, from South Dakota's longest-serving and most Red-baiting Senator Karl E. Mundt to leading regional literary lights Frederick Manfred and Ole Rølvaag. The school board is not releasing numbers on how those names or the 200-some other suggestions fared against the chosen name in the public.

Sioux Falls columnist and Mark Twain dad Jonathan Ellis seems was pre-displeased with the decision of his school district's "secret, hand-picked committee":

...it’s not going to be called Mark Twain, even though it’s going to be built at the site of the current Mark Twain. It’s the belief of our school officials that naming the new school Mark Twain would be injurious to the psyches of students from Longfellow Elementary, who will be attending the new school.

We must defer to these school officials because many of them possess advanced academic degrees in education. They’ve learned, apparently, what does or doesn’t harm the psyche of an elementary student.

Besides, the district has a policy regarding new schools and names. And by God, we’ve got to stick to the policies, even if it is a new school on the site of an existing school. Policies are policies. Don’t ever forget that [Jonathan Ellis, "Let's Rename All Schools in Response to the Times," that Sioux Falls paper, 2013.10.26].

But come on, Jonathan! The new name is all about diversity, and Susan B. Anthony, safely enshrined on a coin and far removed from current memory, is the safest choice for a gesture in that direction:

School Board member Kent Alberty, who served on the naming committee, said the name change fits in with the increasing diversity in the district.

“In the research I had done on Susan B. Anthony, I found out she was one of the first people to fight for equal education, public education for everyone, former slaves, everybody, and to have that legacy to live on in our community,” Alberty said [Beth Wischmeyer, "Goodbye Mark Twain, Hello Susan. B. Anthony," that Sioux Falls paper, 2013.10.29].

Yes, "Susan B. Anthony" accurately captures the "increasing diversity" of the school district, because so many more white women are moving to Sioux Falls compared to the old days.

Meanwhile, the list of Sioux Falls elementary school names includes just one African American (Rosa Parks). Everyone else so honored is a white American. No school besides Parks has been named for any of the growing "diverse" populations. No Sioux Falls school bears the name of Crazy Horse, Black Elk, or any of the Lakota leaders who lived and fought and died on the prairie.*

But did you know (said Sue McAdaragh, elementary curriculum coordinator, at last night's school board meeting) that Susan B. Anthony spent almost six months in South Dakota? She participated in a suffrage campaign that failed in part because of her disagreements with local suffrage leaders.

But Susan B. Anthony said "Failure is impossible" (shortly before dying) so there you go. Congratulations on your new school, Sioux Falls.

*Update 14:17 CDT: A teacher notes below that I was mistaken! Oscar Howe Elementary is named for the renowned Yanktonai Dakota artist.

9 Comments

  1. Donald Pay 2013.10.29

    I'm a proud Mark Twain alum. I went there back when Milt Simons was principal. Mr. Simons had a way of twisting your ear as he led you down to his office for a lecture about not acting goofy and stuff. Other than the ear twisting, he was pretty nice.

    The old Mark Twain school had some underground passageways that were dark and scary. We'd try to navigate those from time to time, and get caught every now and then. I suppose with a school named "Mark Twain" you should expect some of the boys would take after the rambunctious boys of Twain's novels.

    With the new name, I supposed the girls will rule. Times change, I guess.

    I don't care what they call the school.

  2. Cranky Old Dude 2013.10.29

    For all I care, they could have named it after Desmond TuTu and Mark Twain-you know, "TuTu/Twain."

  3. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.10.29

    Oooo... you had to work for that one.

  4. south dakota teacher 2013.10.29

    Oscar Howe was not a white American.

  5. caheidelberger Post author | 2013.10.29

    Oh! I missed him! Thanks, Teach!

    Now Sioux Falls has clearly fulfilled its diversity quota. Next up: William Janklow Elementary!

  6. Deb Geelsdottir 2013.10.29

    How about Badger Clark? He was once SD's poet laureate (1950s, 60s?) and a very colorful character. He lived in a small cabin in Custer State Park. It was called The Badger Hole.

    Or Mari Sandoz. She lived in western Nebraska near the SD border. She wrote several volumes about pioneer life and her family's experiences with the Oglala and Rosebud people.

    Then of course there are excellent choices Cory has mentioned. And more contemporarily, Zona Fills the Pipe, a highly respected Lakota elder who passed away in the 1990s, or Pinky Plume. She lives/d (?) in the village of Wounded Knee, operating a convenience store that was actually a one woman care center for Oglala elders.

    In fact, Pinky and her mother, Shirley Plume, both ought to be celebrated. They singlehandedly made life better for people in the Wounded Knee area, providing food, housing upkeep, clothing, and every other kind of support needed. I could write a book on the great work the Plumes have done. It was all under the radar too. They developed a nationwide system of support and masterfully managed it. (I got to shadow and assist Pinky for 2 weeks in the mid 90s. It's incredible what she and a few willing and capable local folks do. They deserve some type of huge humanitarian award. But that's not why they do it. Seriously.)

    How about Gene Thin Elk? He's a prof at USD. At least he was last I knew. He does a masterful job of melding a modern education with traditional Lakota values and customs. Or Doris Leader Charge? She's chiefly responsible for maintaining the Lakota language. In addition, she played Graham Greene's wife in Dances With Wolves.

    Lots of very good American Indian and South Dakota connected options for school names. Beats Anthony or Twain or any president.

  7. mike 2013.10.30

    I prefer schools to be named after local people or people who had an influence on this state.

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