Road Named For Confederate Figure To Be Renamed In Vienna

Vienna VA

08 February, 2022

11:16 AM

Description

VIENNA, VA — The name of Wade Hampton Drive will be changed after a vote by Vienna Town Council Monday. The council voted unanimously to rename the road as Liberty Lane. As part of the motion passed by council, the town will prepare a plan for implementation in coordination with residents on the street. The town will reimburse each property owner $500 for out-of-pocket costs associated with the name change. The name change to Liberty Lane will be effective no later than July 4, 2022. Wade Hampton Drive refers to Wade Hampton III, a Confederate general whose cavalry unit of about 600 men and horses came to Vienna in December 1862. The street location of Wade Hampton Drive in southwest Vienna is the approximate location where the calvalry unit arrived. According to History.com, Hampton inherited his family's plantation in South Carolina and had one of the highest numbers of slaves in the South. He went on to join the Confederate army and was critical of Reconstruction after the Civil War. He went on to become governor of South Carolina and a U.S. senator. The gubernatorial campaign was marked with voter suppression against Black residents by "Red Shirts," or Hampton's supporters. Wade Hampton Drive had been named in the 1960s for the 100th anniversary of the Civil War. It was previously known as Lewis Street SW. There are four property owners on Wade Hampton Drive. The name change had first been requested in June 2020 by De Armond "Dee Dee" Carter, a member of the prominent African American Carter family in Vienna. After receiving Carter's request to change the street name, Mayor Linda Colbert formed an ad hoc committee to make a recommendation on changing the street name and proposing a new name. The committee includes two of the four property owners of Wade Hampton Drive and two Historic Vienna Inc. members. The two Historic Vienna Inc. members are Carter and Gloria Runyon, also a descendant of the Carter family. The committee agreed the name should be changed but could not agree on a single replacement name. Different names suggested by members of the committee were Roland Street, Carter Lane/Drive, Mildred Lane/Mildred Drive/Loving Drive, Liberty Lane, and Minor Drive. Carter testified in support of the name change at Monday's public hearing and sought a new street name to recognize the Carter family's contributions to the Vienna community. She noted one of her ancestors served as a Union spy during the Civil War, and other relatives helped Patrick Henry Library become integrated. The family has lived on the same street for 160 years. Carter also supported the name Liberty Lane in recognition of the Liberty Amendments — 13th, 14th, 15th and 19th Amendments, which gave rights to residents who had been excluded. Liberty Amendments Month was first celebrated by Vienna in 2021. Roland Street had been considered as a potential name since the current Wade Hampton Drive connects to the current Roland Street. However, Carter spoke out against the name with concerns about the J.B. Roland, who she says was racist against African Americans. She recalls kids from the Carter family being called the n-word when they would retrieve pets that had wandered onto Roland's property. Colbert said she trusted Carter's word on Roland's interactions with the Carter family. "Hearing that, I know we already have a street named Roland, and I'm not suggesting we change that name," said Colbert. "But to continue that on certainly does not seem right, especially in light of what we're doing here tonight." The other key concern discussed at the public hearing was how changing the name would affect property owners on the street. Some residents of the street testified in support of the name change but discussed the difficulties of changing their addresses. Colbert and other council members expressed support for the town helping with reimbursement of costs. "I do think that we should help the residents on the street. Certainly this is something that they did not choose to do," Colbert said. Wade Hampton Drive was identified in the Fairfax County History Commission's inventory of Confederate names within the county. The History Commission found 157 assets with Confederate-related names in Fairfax County. Another street name change is being considered on a county level. In December, the county's Confederate Names Task Force voted to recommend renaming Lee Highway (Route 29) and Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway. A report from the task force was presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.