Jefferson Davis Highway S
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1 Attachments of Proposal for Removal of Name “Jefferson Davis Highway” to Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names Section A: Definition of Proposed Name We propose the removal of the name “Jefferson Davis Highway” from U.S. Highway 60. The road has two other current names which are appropriate, acceptable and commonly used: U.S. Highway 60 and Superstition Freeway (from Tempe to Apache Junction). U.S. Highway 60 is part of the United States Numbered Highway System and runs east to west. Superstition Freeway refers to Superstition Mountains located north of the freeway. The Jefferson Davis Highway is a little known designation and is not even mentioned in the comprehensive Arizona Transportation History.1 Section B: Brief History of the Feature & Immediate Surroundings The history of the Confederacy in Arizona is very brief. The southern half of present-day Arizona and New Mexico was proclaimed a Confederate Territory by Jefferson Davis on February 14, 1862. The Confederate government was short-lived, however, with Union forces forcing them to flee to exile in Texas within a few months.2 On February 24th, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln officially proclaimed the territory of Arizona, with its modern boundaries.3 There were a handful of skirmishes and battles in Arizona, including engagements of both sides with the Apache.4 In his book Blood and Treasure: Confederate Empire in the Southwest, historian Donald S. Frazier estimates as many as 50 black slaves were brought to the Arizona territory by Confederate officials and troops.5 There were no Civil War battles or army presence in the area of Apache Junction and Gold Canyon. A majority of Civil War action in Arizona was further south and east, especially around the Tucson area. After the Civil War, most Confederate supporters left Arizona or were arrested for treason. After the war, there was little desire to memorialize the Confederacy in Arizona. The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) Arizona chapter was established in 1919, years after similar groups for Union veterans were formed. It was not until the 1950’s that Confederate heritage groups became a significant presence in Arizona, during a state population boom which included an influx of white Southerners. 6 The United Daughters of the Confederacy, originally established in 1894, was best known for their promotion of the racist myth of the “Lost Cause,” which glorified Southern culture and 1 https://www.azdot.gov/docs/media/read-arizona's-transportation-history-in-its-entirety-.pdf?sfvrsn=0 2 https://cwemancipation.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/arizona-confederate-roots/ 3 http://archive.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/20120130arizona-centennial-state-fight.html 4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_of_Arizona_(Confederate_States) 5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Organic_Act 6 http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona-confederate-monuments-state -capitol-greenwood-cemetery-southern-arizona-veterans-cemetery-9392610 2 claimed the Civil War was about states’ rights rather than slavery. This included efforts to change what was taught to public school children, in particular that slaveholders were not cruel or unjust, that Jefferson Davis should not be vilified, Abraham Lincoln should not be honored, and that slaves actually had a good life.7 During the 1950-60s, the UDC supported the KKK and opposed racial integration.8 Over time historians have debunked the UDC narrative and the myth of the Lost Cause; however, as one historian Edward Bonekemper III states, “The Lost Cause is the most successful propaganda campaign in American history.”9 In a recent statement on August 21, 2017, the UDC denounced racial divisiveness, white supremacy and hate groups that use the Confederate flag and symbols.10 According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there were two distinct periods with a significant rise in the dedication of Confederate monuments and symbols. The first was 1900-1920s, when states used Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise African-Americans and the KKK reemerged. The second spike in the 1950-1960s occurred during the Civil Rights Movement.11 This chronology indicates that Confederate monuments from this time were a product of a white supremacist ideology and efforts to promote this ideology in the public sphere, rather than sincere historical commemoration. The Lincoln Highway was dedicated on October 31, 1913 as the first coast-to-coast paved highway.12 The dedication of the highway was celebrated in towns and cities all across America.13 In response, the United Daughters of the Confederacy began planning a parallel southern route, called the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway, from Arlington, Virginia to San Diego, California.14 The intention was clear: to create a false equivalence of the venerated United States President with the former President of the Confederacy. When the federal government began regulating highways in 1926, it denied the UDC request to have a single route designated as the Jefferson Davis Highway. After this, the UDC continued in its efforts to memorialize the Confederacy by dedicating sections of public highways in a piecemeal fashion. By 1956, when the terminus marker in San Diego had gone missing, an article in the May issue of Better Roads stated, “To date the whereabouts of the Jefferson Davis Highway is still in doubt. But perhaps it doesn’t matter. As the man in the information booth in the plaza in San Diego told visitors, U.S. Route 80 will take you to Texas and the east just as well.”15 The road that is currently US 60 was know through time as U.S 80, US 70, US 60/70, and finally as it’s current name. It was built in Arizona in 1932.16 Eleven years later, in October 1943, the 7 http://www.thedailybeast.com/how-dixies-history-got-whitewashed 8 http://jeffreydavidburgess.com/confederate-memorials-az/#.WR8mn_0IChg.twitter 9 https://emergingcivilwar.com/2015/11/20/ed-bonekempers-lost-cause-fact-check-part-one/ 10 http://www.hqudc.org/ 11 https://www.splcenter.org/20160421/whose-heritage-public-symbols-confederacy 12 https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/lincoln.cfm 13 http://www.lincoln-highway-museum.org/Dedicate/Dedicate-Index.html 14 https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/jdavis.cfm 15 https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/us80.cfm 16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_60 3 United Daughters of the