Falmouth Street Loses Racist Scientist's Name

Falmouth MA

30 November, 2020

4:36 PM

Description

FALMOUTH, MA — A Falmouth street named after an influential scientist with a racist past was renamed after a unanimous vote from the select board last week. The vote renamed Agassiz Road in Woods Hole Jewel Cobb Road, after a Black cell biologist who was named an independent investigator at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in 1949 and is known for studying skin cancer. Agassiz Road in Falmouth was named after Louis Agassiz, a 19th century geologist and biologist who taught at Harvard University. Agassiz founded the Anderson School for Natural History at Penikese Island, and his research inspired students at the school to establish the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole in 1888. But Agassiz was also a polygenist, which means he argued that all human races are of different ancestors and do not share a common ancestor. Polygenists, including Agassiz, collected data about human population traits and tried to find the "consequences of racial mixing," according to a 2013 scholarly article by Terence Keel from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Agassiz also ranked races from "most to least superior"; he ranked white people first and Black and Native American races at the bottom. New light on his polygenism prompted more than 600 petitioners to call for changing the street's name. Paula Pace, who organized the petition called the name change a symbolic gesture during a public hearing. She said the change reflects "a community's commitment to acknowledging racism in the past and now." Every member of the select board agreed. Board member Doug Jones said he especially liked the idea of renaming the street after Cobb. "I think it's a great recognition of what she has done, more so than a removal of Agassiz," Jones said. Others like Doug Brown, the vice chair of the board, she he generally opposes removing Confederate statues and "wiping out history," but in the case of Agassiz, said he does not believe he is deserving of a street being named after him. "There is a recognition that we don't want that to be the symbol of who we are today," Jones said. "I really strongly support this initiative to change that street name to someone that we feel is more exemplary of what we should be as people." The name change goes is slated to go into effect in June to give street residents time to file any necessary paperwork.