Rebels L.A. - Joseph LeConte — Keith Harris History

What’s in a name? Well…when it comes to the naming of buildings or schools or anything else, the naming of an institutional structure - a commemorative expression - is a reflection of the named individual’s most significant contributions to society or the historical narrative.

Hollywood peeps will get this one: Joesph LeConte Junior High School. Ya’ll know Fountain Blvd. dead ends there…and that’s probably about it. Well it turns out that Joseph LeConte was the son of great wealth and privilege. Born in 1823 in Georgia (near Savannah) to a slave-holding family, he grew up on a plantation, received a stellar education at Athens College and the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons, studied with Louis Agassiz at Harvard, and went on to teach at Oglethorpe University and the University of Georgia. Before the Civil War, he held a plum position as a professor of chemistry and geology at South Carolina College.

But alas, the war came and he offered his talents to the Confederate government. As an officer in the Confederate Army, he was in charge of the manufacture of medicines and explosives - and it seems he was part of the Confederate Secret Service. Well, we know how that turned out. After the war, LeConte held tightly to his racist disposition and during the Reconstruction years suggested the the Negro legislature was run by rascals and, according to his autobiography, that “the sudden enfranchisement of the negro was the greatest political crime ever perpetrated by any people.” (1)

But I offer the following to complicate the issue: he went on to make valuable contributions in the fields of geology and natural history. He was a great proponent of conservation (a worthy endeavor) and was among the founding members of the Sierra Club. He even served on its board of directors. LeConte worked with and promoted the philosophies of John Muir and lead “Excursion Parties” to Yosemite, served as president of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, and was a member of both the American Philosophical Society and National Academy of Sciences. When he died in 1898 he was a renowned scholar who had published in the fields of geology, monocular and binocular vision, philosophy, art, evolution, and religion. (2)

And thus…he has a school named in his honor.

The problem of course is that he never renounced his racist sensibilities. Not only did he think that race antagonism was a rational sentiment, he thought it was necessary to maintain the purity of the white race. Now the school was named to honor his intellectual pursuits…but there’s that nagging Confederate thing and the racism that tends to go with it. Today the school has a link on its home page that acknowledges LeConte’s “unacceptable views on race.” But they are otherwise quiet on the issue.

So to my next point…I just read and reviewed Stephen Hood’s book: Patriots Twice: Former Confederates and the Building America After the Civil War. He suggests that those who are hell bent on tearing down monuments honoring former Confederates might be acting in haste…as so many of these men made positive contributions to society beyond their Confederate service. Fair enough…at least he’s not wrong about the contributions part. Of course, most of the attacks on monuments to the Confederacy’s heroes are attacks on the Confederacy - as these men are most well known for their Confederate service and are almost always depicted in Confederate uniform. But Hood has made me think about those who have been honored for their work in science, government, education, or whatever who also had Confederate connections and/or held troubling views on race. I think he makes a fair observation by suggesting that we might not judge historical actors by our standards…and (let’s be honest) no one from the past will ever stand up to the morality purity test of our own times.

So does this mean we absolve some people of their sins in the name of honoring their greater contributions? Not necessarily - in fact we should make note of their shortcomings as a matter of fact…and problematize their lives and the commemorative landscape associated with such people. I think it’s important to understand our history warts and all (as I have heard said…). So here’s an idea. Keep the name of the junior high school - and put up a bronze plaque listing LeConte’s contributions to science and philosophy (what he is known for, after all…) while explaining his worldview, especially as it pertains race. That should at the very least put all the contextual cards on the table and help us reckon with our past in a productive way.

With compliments,

Keith

Notes

(1) Joseph LeConte, Autobiography of Joseph LeConte (New York: D. Appleton, 1903), 238.

(2) The Sierra Club, Yosemite Conservation heritage Center, Dr. Joseph LeConte, https://www.sierraclub.org/yosemite-heritage-center/dr-joseph-leconte?_ga=2.141476208.374609942.1602210822-1938208546.1602210822,