SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
June 30, 2021
Sullivan’s Salvos 7/6/21
In this edition:
*Mazahir Salih and Shawn Harmsen
*Naming Johnson County
*LuLu Merle Johnson
*Dems Hall of Fame Event
*Did You Know?
*Mazahir Salih and Shawn Harmsen
We had a big announcement recently, as Iowa City Councilor Mazahir Salih announced that she would not be running for reelection. Instead, she threw her support to Shawn Harmsen, who served as her campaign manager and is running for the Council in District B.
Mazahir Salih is the first Sudanese-American elected anywhere in the US. She is IC’s first Muslim Councilor, first black female Councilor, and first Arabic-speaking Councilor. Mazahir is also a strong advocate for economic justice. Her voice will be missed on the Council, but as Executive Director of the Center for Worker Justice, she will undoubtedly still influence local political issues.
Meanwhile, Mazahir strongly endorses Shawn Harmsen, who announced in District B. So do I. Shawn is smart, kind, thoughtful, and committed to economic, racial, environmental, and social justice. Mazahir believes in Shawn, and you should as well!
This completes my ballot. Shawn Harmsen in District B, Bruce Teague and Megan Alter At Large. I am looking forward to voting that ballot!
*Naming Johnson County
(This ran in Salvos in July of 2020. It refers to the first time it ran, 9-12-17.)
This originally ran in Salvos on 9-12-17. I was interested to see a recent Opinion piece in the Press Citizen advocating the same thing. For what it is worth, I was pilloried in the local media for even speaking this 3 years ago. Needless to say, the trolls had a feast. I had a few people I respect oppose it as well; no one really stepped up and said they supported it. Most people seemed to be satisfied staying as far away from the issue as possible!
Have things changed? Who knows. As I told the person who wrote the letter to the Press Citizen, if it comes before the Board, I would vote for it. But he will have to convince others it is worth pursuing. Here is the piece:
I recently finished an interesting book on the Election of 1840 – William Henry Harrison versus Martin Van Buren. Harrison and running mate John Tyler (“Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!”) defeated the incumbent Martin Van Buren and his Vice President, Richard Mentor Johnson.
This election is generally viewed as the first modern Presidential campaign, and gave us several common words and phrases: OK, hell-bent, keep the ball rolling, The Buckeye State, booze, and many more!
There were two really interesting local angles to the book. First, it is remarkable how many of the counties in Iowa are named for the political players of that era. I had never really stopped and thought about it until this book. Secondly, it was interesting to learn more about Richard Mentor Johnson, the man for whom Johnson County is named.
Johnson was born and raised in Kentucky, and became a hero of the War of 1812. Johnson repeatedly led troops into battle despite being shot 5 times himself!
Johnson is known as the “Man who killed Tecumseh.” Tecumseh was a great Native American leader who organized many tribes together to fight the Americans and preserve a Native homeland. He was killed at the Battle of Thames in 1813, and unfortunately, this was the beginning of the end of meaningful Native claims on land in the US. It is said that Johnson personally killed Tecumseh, though historical records vary. Whatever the truth is, Johnson led the US Army in battles that killed tens of thousands of Native people.
This history as a General made Johnson, known as “Old Dick”, very popular. That popularity began to wane, however, when it was discovered that Johnson 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. Johnson’s flouting of the laws against racial mixing made him a huge liability for the Democrats, and he was dropped from the ticket.
It is interesting to consider the naming of Johnson County in light of the recent movement toward eliminating Confederate monuments. Should we consider naming Johnson Country after someone else?
Obviously, changing the name of the County itself would cause millions of problems for thousands of people. But what about honoring a DIFFERENT Johnson?
There is precedence for such a move. King County, Washington – home to Seattle – was named for William Rufus King, Vice President when Washington was founded and later an Alabama Confederate. In 1986, the King County Board of Supervisors kept the name “King County”, but renamed it for MLK.
So – what other Johnsons do we have? I am a huge fan of the domestic policies of LBJ, but his Viet Nam legacy would likely be too upsetting for too many. What about Lady Bird? She was one of the original environmentalists.
Other possibilities include Bluesman Robert Johnson or Civil Rights Leader James Johnson. Maybe a more local Johnson. What do you think? Should we “rename” Johnson County?
Literally 90% of the respondents on social media did not understand the county would NOT be renamed; we would simply be changing the namesake. But clearly, I failed to get that message across.
Perhaps the namesake should remain. Perhaps we have a contest to choose a new namesake. Perhaps we all get voted out of office. Salvos readers, what do you think? The Board will be discussing this topic Wednesday, July 8 at 9AM if you want to weigh in before then.
*LuLu Merle Johnson
When I first wrote about the topic of changing Johnson County’s eponym, 1) I had no idea what an eponym was; 2) I had never heard of Lulu Merle Johnson. My how things have changed!
Now Johnson County is not only the first county in Iowa named for a person of African American descent, it is only the third (or fifth, because of disputes) Iowa county named for a woman. (Bremer and Pocahontas are named for women; Louisa and Ida may be.) We may be only the second County in the US named for an African American!
I am still amazed this happened. A huge thanks to David McCartney with the University of Iowa, who introduced us to Lulu Merle Johnson. She is a great fit!
*Dems Hall of Fame Event
The Johnson County Democratic Party is holding our Annual Hall of Fame Awards on Friday, July 9 at 7pm at Brown Deer in Coralville. 2021 marks the 11th consecutive year that the Johnson County Democratic Party has held a separate Hall of Fame event.
Please join us for coffee, desserts, and plenty of old war stories! A cash bar will be available.
The Hall of Fame inductees for 2021 are: David and Marion Coleman, Dave Leshtz, and the late Mel Stahmer. We hope you can join us in recognizing this remarkable group!
Tickets are available for a $25 suggested donation. People who cannot afford that amount should still feel welcome, but please call 354-7199 so we can get a count. Sponsorships are available at the following levels:
$100 includes two tickets
$250 includes 4 tickets
$500 includes a whole table (8 tickets)
We hope that this will be an in-person event, and we are planning for there to be both in-person and Zoom options for attendance. Obviously, we will continue to monitor the COVID virus as we continue to plan the event.
*DID YOU KNOW? Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Missouri still have counties named for Richard Mentor Johnson.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.
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As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 7:14 PM
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