SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
September 30, 2020
Sullivan’s Salvos 10/6/20
In this edition:
*Early Voting Schedule
*Harvest
*Johnson County Eponym
*Did You Know?
*Early Voting Schedule
Early voting begins Monday, October 5! For the complete schedule, please go to the County website at www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov. There you will find the complete list of early voting opportunities.
*Harvest
Fall in Iowa means the harvesting of crops, and that means large machinery is out in the roadways. Please exercise caution as you navigate our roads!
*Johnson County Eponym
Before I start this discussion, please allow me to explain what an eponym is. A namesake is a thing named after something else. An eponym is the person or thing for which the namesake is named. For example, George Washington is the eponym; Washington, DC is the namesake. (I did not know this word until we began down this path. Thanks to Supervisor Green Douglass for the vocabulary word!)
I had a proud moment on Wednesday, September 23. On that day, the Board decided to accept the recommendation of our Eponym Task Force, and to proceed with changing the eponym of Johnson County from Richard Mentor Johnson to Lulu Merle Johnson.
A bit about her borrowed liberally from the UI publication “Iowa Now”: Lulu Merle Johnson’s Iowa credentials are impeccable. She grew up outside the small town of Gravity in the southwestern part of the state, played 6-on-6 basketball in high school, and earned three degrees in history from Iowa. Her family members include Hawkeye athletic legends Duke Slater and Richard “Bud” Culberson.
Lulu Merle Johnson earned her Ph.D. in history in 1941 from the University of Iowa. She was the first Black woman in the state to earn a doctorate, and was among the first Black women to earn one in the whole US. She was born on a Taylor County farm in 1907, but her parents had been born into slavery. She went on to become a world-renowned scholar and professor. Her work upset the dominant narrative of the time, which claimed that most slaves had been happy and well-treated by their owners. Johnson was also a civil rights pioneer and activist against segregationist policies.
There are still some details to work out. The law seems to be silent in terms of what the Board would need to do to make such a change official. We have asked the Attorney’s Office to research that and report back.
My guess? This is probably not anticipated in Iowa Code. I am also guessing that if Bobby Kaufmann defeats Lonny Pulkrabek in November, he will have a GOP buddy in the Iowa Legislature introduce a measure disallowing this type of thing. Then Bobby can pretend he had nothing to do with it, but still upend the will of the people of Johnson County. Just another reason to vote Pulkrabek!
Either way, I would anticipate the Board holding a series of three public hearings over a three-week period, then adopting a resolution officially changing the eponym. This process could begin as soon as the Attorney’s Office reports back.
I have received a bit of feedback on this topic, but not much. There was a petition with over 1500 signatures, but I did not speak to many of the signers. I have had 3-4 people call me and express concerns over the idea of “erasing history”. I am actually quite sympathetic to this argument. In my opinion, Confederate statues and monuments should never be destroyed. They should be moved from places of prominence, and reinterpreted. The US needs to treat slavery the way the Germans treat WWII. I think that whatever we do, we should tell the whole history. Here is how and why the County came to be named for Richard Mentor Johnson, and here is how and why it was switched to Lulu Merle Johnson. The more info, the better.
Historian Tim Walch of Iowa City, retired Director of the Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, has been tremendously helpful throughout this process. Tim gave us great insights into exactly how Johnson County got named in the first place, and it is enlightening. During the time Johnson served in the US House and as Vice President, the US was expanding at a torrid pace. Counties were being created in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, California, Oregon, and other territories. The process of carving out a county wasn’t that difficult – you just needed Legislative approval. What better way to secure such approval than to name counties after the politicians who would do the voting? So many less-than-stellar politicians of that day remain memorialized in county names.
Richard Mentor Johnson was an interesting character. He was quite popular in the abstract, as a war hero. But according to Tim Walch, once people actually met Johnson, he was almost universally disliked. He became so unpopular, in fact, that he was dropped from the ticket when President Van Buren ran for reelection.
People have focused on the fact that Johnson was a slaveowner, which is true. But his relationship to the institution is muddled. He was a pro-slavery politician, but had a long-term relationship with a slave named Julia Chinn. Chinn and Johnson had two daughters, and he considered her his wife, though they were not allowed to be married. Johnson had a confusing relationship with his daughters/slaves. He insisted that his daughters were his property, but also paid for their education and left them inheritances. After Chinn died, Johnson took up with another slave. When she left him for another man, he had her sold away.
Criticism of Johnson always seems to focus on the slaveholding angle. While that is worth noting, Johnson's political career was built upon the reputation of being the man who had personally killed (murdered) the most Native Americans, including Chief Tecumsah. Not a small thing to consider.
With the benefit of hindsight, a few things become clear. Richard Mentor Johnson was an ill-tempered, unlikeable man in any era. Like many of his era, he owned slaves. Like many of his era, and perhaps moreso than anyone of his era, he hated Native Americans and slaughtered them.
Another point I’d like to make regarding the change of eponym: I spoke to a local person of Native American descent who teaches Native history. I asked her what she thought about the name change, and I found her response haunting: “This place already had a name when white people stole it. If you don’t want to use the name it had, I can’t help you.” That bothers me still. And it bothers me because I know she is right, and I am not going to do anything about it. I feel ashamed, and I should.
So why target Johnson? Other notable Americans (Washington, Jefferson, Madison) owned slaves. The most racist words I have ever read were written by Abe Lincoln. Many notable Americans contributed to the suffering of Native Americans, including Lincoln. So why focus on Richard Mentor Johnson? I think the simplest reason is he had no redeeming qualities. The other notable Americans each did important things for the United States. It is harder to make that claim about Johnson.
I hope we can find a way to explain this story, from one Johnson to another, in some type of memorial or monument. I think it is a great way to learn about our history. I don’t know where it would be or what it would look like, but I want to do something. I will definitely be pushing to put something in our budget this year; I’d love to hear your ideas.
*DID YOU KNOW? King County, Washington (home to Seattle) changed it’s eponym from Alabama Senator Rufus King to MLK. The vote took place in 1986, but because it required State approval, the eponym was not made official until 2005.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 2:14 PM
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