# Who was your school named after? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 6, 2010, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690 "2010-11-06T08:59:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sami41](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c57346/32.png) [@Sami41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sami41)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/1 "2010-11-06T08:59:53Z")
Who was your school named after? My Junior High and High Schools were both named after the town I lived in, but my elemetary school was named for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9\_Mar%C3%ADa\_Reina\_BarriosJose Barrios.](http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mar%C3%ADa_Reina_Barrios) I knew nothing about this cat until today. Who were your schools named after? ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/2 "2010-11-06T09:43:37Z")
My high school was named after the two towns it served, but my grammar school was named after a saint. ---
**Author:** ![ramel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb8c5e/32.png) [@ramel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramel)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/3 "2010-11-06T09:51:31Z")
R.J. Mitchell, the man who designed the Spitfire. > **[R. J. Mitchell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._J._Mitchell)** > > Reginald Joseph Mitchell CBE FRAeS (20 May 1895 – 11 June 1937) was a British aircraft designer who worked for the Southampton aviation company Supermarine from 1916 until 1936. He is best remembered for designing racing seaplanes such as the Supermarine S.6B, and for leading the team that designed the Supermarine Spitfire. > Born in Butt Lane, Staffordshire, Mitchell attended Hanley High School and afterwards worked as an apprentice at a locomotive engineering works, whilst also studying eng... ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/4 "2010-11-06T09:51:36Z")
[Elwood P. Cubberley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellwood_Patterson_Cubberley)High School-Palo Alto, Ca ---
**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/5 "2010-11-06T10:15:45Z")
The school was named after the two cities it served. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/6 "2010-11-06T11:51:57Z")
My Montessori pre-school was named after no one… or maybe after many, its name was in part “Pueblo Trabajador” (the working population/populace/people). My elementary school was name after one of the founders, both were married and educators. There are other public schools with his or her name, but mine was the private school they founded. So the name is Josefita Monserrate de Sellés. Some ex-alum even included it in the [entry about education in San Juan, PR.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan,_Puerto_Rico#Education) My secondary school (junior high and high) didn’t have a name, as it is the laboratory high school for the univesity. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/7 "2010-11-06T12:21:00Z")
Only two of the schools I attended were named after people. One was after [St Joseph,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph) in Christian tradition the stepfather of Jesus. The other was named after Gilbert du Motier, except the school used his title by which he is more commonly known, the marquis de [Lafayette.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_du_Motier,_marquis_de_Lafayette) He was a French military officer who greatly assisted the American side in the War of Indendence. One of these was a Catholic school and one a public school, and you get no points for guessing which was which 😛 All the other schools I have attended were named for their location. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/8 "2010-11-06T12:24:14Z")
My high school was named for [George Bancroft](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bancroft), politician, educator, and Secretary of the Navy who established the USNA at Annapolis. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/9 "2010-11-06T12:29:11Z")
When I lived in Texas, [Ed White](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Higgins_White). ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/10 "2010-11-06T12:37:17Z")
[King Edward VI](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VI_of_England). [My school](http://www.kehs.org.uk/) was a girls only offshoot of the original boys’ school founded in 1552 during his reign, along with a bunch of others all given his name. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/11 "2010-11-06T13:17:06Z")
Father [Junìpero Serra](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junipero_Serra) High School in San Diego, not a catholic school believe it or not. We were the Conquistadors, of course. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/12 "2010-11-06T13:22:00Z")
[Horace Mann](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Mann), who, as far as I can tell, had absolutely no connection whatsoever to West Virginia. But if you’re choosing random educational reformers to name schools after, he’s certainly a fine one. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/13 "2010-11-06T14:41:48Z")
My grade school was named after a saint. My high school was named after a cathedral. My university was named after the county, which was named after Mad Anthony XXXXX. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/14 "2010-11-06T14:54:31Z")
[Montgomery Blair](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Blair), cabinet member of Abraham Lincoln. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/15 "2010-11-06T14:58:23Z")
[Paul Laurence Dunbar](http://www.dunbarsite.org/), one of America’s first notable black poets. Paul Laurence Dunbar High School was the black high school in Lexington during the time of segregation. After integration, there was fierce controversy because some folks didn’t want to keep the name, but others did. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/16 "2010-11-06T15:02:32Z")
My elementary schools were named after Sheldon Harley Wheeler (Army base school in Honolulu) and Lafayette (San Diego). Junior High was John Muir, and my high school was named after Joe Pioneer. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/17 "2010-11-06T15:06:16Z")
**Thomas Johnson,** the first governor of Maryland. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/18 "2010-11-06T15:22:37Z")
I’ve only been to one school named after a person, and they chose [Thurgood Marshall](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurgood_Marshall). The others were named after landmarks, streets, cities or towns. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/19 "2010-11-06T16:01:04Z")
Elementary school was named after the original name of the town/settlement; HS was the current name. (In general, this little burg doesn’t go much for honoring folks by naming schools after–all of the elementary schools’s names are/were basically geographical.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/20 "2010-11-06T16:17:07Z")
My elementary school was named after the street it was on: Einstein School, Haifa, Israel. Seriously. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690.md?page=2)