City of Philadelphia - File #: 240931

• File #: 240931
• Version: 0
• Type: Bill
• Status: IN COMMITTEE
• File created: 10/17/2024
• In control: Committee on Streets and Services
• Title: Authorizing and directing the changing of the name of Taney Street to LeCount Street, from West Toronto Street to West Somerset Street; from Ridge Avenue to Cecil B. Moore Avenue; from Master Street to Aspen Street; from Pine Street to Bainbridge Street; from Catharine Street to Christian Street; from Dickinson Street to Morris Street; and authorizing and directing the changing of the name of Taney Terrace, from Point Breeze Avenue to Jackson Street, to LeCount Terrace, all under certain terms and conditions
• Sponsors: Council President Johnson, Councilmember Jones, Councilmember Phillips, Councilmember Gilmore Richardson, Councilmember Gauthier, Councilmember Thomas, Councilmember Landau, Councilmember Lozada, Councilmember Brooks, Councilmember Harrity, Councilmember O'Rourke, Councilmember Driscoll, Councilmember Squilla, Councilmember Bass
• Indexes: STREET RENAMING

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result	Tally
10/28/2024	0	Committee on Streets and Services
10/17/2024	0	CITY COUNCIL	Introduced and Referred

Title
Authorizing and directing the changing of the name of Taney Street to LeCount Street, from West Toronto Street to West Somerset Street; from Ridge Avenue to Cecil B. Moore Avenue; from Master Street to Aspen Street; from Pine Street to Bainbridge Street; from Catharine Street to Christian Street; from Dickinson Street to Morris Street; and authorizing and directing the changing of the name of Taney Terrace, from Point Breeze Avenue to Jackson Street, to LeCount Terrace, all under certain terms and conditions

Body
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA HEREBY ORDAINS:

SECTION 1. The Council of the City of Philadelphia makes the following legislative findings:

1. In 1857, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, in the infamous landmark Dred Scott v. Sanford decision, declared that Black slaves and their ancestors "are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States."

2. Until the Reconstruction amendments to the U.S. Constitution, this decision barred the extension of citizenship rights to any person of African descent in the United States, preventing the utilization and enjoyment of their constitutional, which contributed to the events leading to the secession of Southern states and the outbreak of the Civil War.

3. One year after Dred Scott, some Philadelphians celebrated this bolstering of white supremacy by renaming Minor Street, running between 26th and 27th streets through Grays Ferry, Fitler Square, Fairmount, and Strawberry Mansion, to "Taney Street."

4. For years there have been campaigns to rename Taney Street, but in Spring 2020 the goal took on a new sense of urgency following the murder of George Floyd.

5. A group of Taney Street residents and neighbors hosted a petition signing that received 2,807 signatures to rename the street. That group then b...