Community activists petition to rename Cameron Avenue, honor civil rights leader

On March 6, the Chapel Hill Town Council heard a request to change the name of Cameron Avenue to honor civil rights leader Pauli Murray. Currently the street is named after Paul Cameron , who was one of the wealthiest slave owners in Southern history.

Change the Names, an organization that aims to change street names that reflect the racist side of Chapel Hill's past, presented the petition. Joyce Sandy, the operations manager for Change the Names, said Cameron partnered with UNC to use his enslaved people to help build the campus.

“It shows that we are putting in the past some of the offensive and insulting aspects of slavery,” she said.

Sandy said Pauli Murray, who was an activist, was chosen for the possible name change through random sampling within the community. UNC faculty who work in Hamilton Hall have also decided to rename the building after her.

This petition for a possible name change follows the Carrboro Town Council’s decision in February to rename Carr Street to Braxton Foushee Street.

Sandy said Change the Names began as a part of a project through Chapel Hill Friends — a Quaker group in Chapel Hill. She said Change the Names later became its own organization in order to expand the project and reach a wider community.

Under Orange County's Road Naming and Addressing Ordinance, petitions for street renaming must include signatures from 75 percent of the property owners on the road in question.

Sandy said she reached out to a similar organization in Charlotte to learn more about the challenges faced by other groups trying to accomplish similar name changes.. She said she realized that Change the Names did not have the financial budget or access to Town personnel to successfully change road names.

She said she also struggled to get the names of property owners on Cameron Avenue from Orange County. 

“Now you and I know very well that that county is collecting taxes, property taxes, they know everybody who owns property in Chapel Hill,” she said.

Sandy said she did not know enough about the name change process to start working with the town council from the beginning. Before approaching the town council, she said the group sent out flyers, conducted interviews and received signatures in support of the change.

“So we've done quite a bit, but they could sort of do it so much better, so much easier, and with better results,” she said. “So they need to be in charge of this and step up to the plate.”

After Sandy’s speech at the town council meeting, numerous audience members stood up to show their support for the name change.

Jesse Huddleston, one of the speakers at the meeting and the board vice chair for the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice, said it was a gift to meet the people who have been working on the name change.

“Pauli’s story is rooted all over Chapel Hill, across North Carolina and even beyond the United States,” Huddleston said in an email. “This is a chance to preserve one of the most humanizing stories of pursuing true emancipation for years to come.”

Jessica Anderson, the mayor of Chapel Hill, said staff did preliminary work on street names last year after the council heard a petition to change the name of Dixie Drive. She said the current request will be referred to the Town's naming committee, which will meet later this month.

Sandy said, if the name change is successful, the organization will move onto focusing on changing the names of Vance Street and Kenan Street.

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