Minneapolis may strip segregationist's name from street, rename it after civil rights pioneer

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis street named for a segregationist developer may soon be renamed after the state’s first Black woman attorney.

More than 40 people signed up to speak at a Planning Commission hearing on a proposal to rename Edmund Boulevard to Lena Smith Boulevard.

The commission unanimously approved the proposal, advancing it to the Business, Housing and Zoning Committee, which is set to vote on Sept. 2. The hearing marked the first of three government steps that could culminate in a City Council decision in September. If passed, the name change would take effect Sept. 22.

The street, which runs through the Longfellow neighborhood along the Mississippi River gorge, is named after Edmund G. Walton — a real estate developer who, in 1910, introduced Minnesota’s first racially restrictive housing covenants. These clauses, written into property deeds, prohibited homeowners from selling or leasing to people of color. They became a legal framework for segregation across Minneapolis and helped cement enduring racial disparities in housing, wealth and opportunity.

“Covenants legitimized racial terror,” said Kirsten Delegard, co-founder of the Mapping Prejudice Project. “They steered investment into white neighborhoods. These patterns of segregation continue today.”

Neighborhood organizers have spent nearly five years confronting that legacy through a grassroots effort called Reclaiming Edmund. The coalition has knocked on doors, hosted teach-ins and surveyed hundreds of residents. In a city-run survey of nearly 600 people, 69% of Edmund Boulevard residents supported a name change. Support jumped to 86% when including all Ward 12 residents.

Supporters propose renaming the street after Lena Olive Smith, who became Minnesota’s first Black woman attorney in 1921. Smith spent decades fighting discrimination through law and activism, serving as president of the Minneapolis NAACP, defending Black residents targeted by white mobs, and working to dismantle employment and housing segregation across the city.

“She’s someone all Minnesotans can be proud of,” said Longfellow resident Laura Triplett, who helped lead the renaming effort. “This takes us in the right direction. It aligns with the city’s mission and our 2040 goals — and it’s overdue.”

Smith’s most famous case came in 1931, when she represented Arthur and Edith Lee, a Black couple who were harassed and attacked after moving into a white neighborhood. Smith advised them not to flee — and threatened to involve the governor if needed.

That defiance is part of why supporters say Smith’s name belongs not only in textbooks, but on street signs.

“Symbols matter,” Triplett said. “The words we use matter. And all the conversations we’ve had, and the votes we got on the survey, show that people care — this matters to them.”

City planner Andrew Frenz told the commission that the renaming petition meets all municipal requirements and recommended the Planning Commission forward it to the City Council. A hearing before the council’s Business, Housing and Zoning Committee is scheduled for Sept. 2, with a final council vote expected on Sept. 11.

The city has pledged to minimize burdens for residents. Signage costs will not be assessed, ID update fees will be waived, and mailing and emergency systems will be updated automatically. Volunteers from Reclaiming Edmund and the Longfellow Community Council plan to help residents update their addresses with utilities and government agencies.

The proposal has faced some criticism, including calls to simply rededicate the street to a different “Edmund” — a change that would avoid a formal renaming. Triplett called that approach “invisible.”

“It’s rooted in convenience, not in justice,” she said. “If we want to clearly repudiate what Walton did, changing from this Edmund to that Edmund is not clear. In fact, it’s quite murky. I would even say it’s offensive.”

Mark Brandt, a fellow organizer and longtime resident, said he first learned of Walton’s role in Minneapolis segregation five years ago and began working with neighbors to bring that history into public view.

“Many neighborhoods in Minneapolis were blanketed with covenants, leading to the racial segregation and wide racial disparity in homeownership that we still struggle with today,” Brandt said. “That’s the legacy of Edmund Walton.”

Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, who is sponsoring the ordinance, said the renaming represents a broader effort to confront that legacy — not only by rejecting it, but by honoring those who fought to dismantle it.

“Honoring someone who fought to keep us — our families — out of our neighborhoods is utterly unacceptable,” Chowdhury said. “As a woman of color, and as someone who has listened closely to the voices of our BIPOC neighbors, I can say this plainly: It’s time for change.”

She called the effort a community-led act of truth-telling.

“This reflects the core values and mission of the City of Minneapolis — to remember our history honestly, to celebrate those who have been overlooked, and to educate ourselves and our community about the roots of racial and economic disparities,” she said. “This understanding is crucial if we are to dismantle those disparities and build a more equitable future.”

For some, the implications are personal.

“My granddaughter will no longer live three doors in from a street named after a racist,” said Steve Brandt, a retired Star Tribune reporter who helped bring the Mapping Prejudice project to public attention in 2016. “That matters.”

________