Austin City Council votes to rename Confederate Avenue to honor Maggie Mayes

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin City Council voted Thursday to initiate the renaming of Confederate Avenue in Old West Austin to honor Maggie Mayes.

Mayes founded the freedmen community's first school in Clarksville. The city says that her commitment to the education of her community's children fostered learning, literacy, and enhanced the quality of life for the community's children and families.

The effort to rename the street was led by community members with support from the Old West Austin Neighborhood Association and others. 

In response to past recommendations to remove or rename City-owned monuments and memories with connections to the Confederacy, councilmember Kathie Tovo sponsored the renaming. Councilmembers Natasha Harper-Madison, Sabino "Pio" Renteria, and Ann Kitchen along with Mayor Pro Tem Alison Alter co-sponsored the resolution.

"It is an honor to have the opportunity, especially during Black History Month, to contribute to the important work of undoing, brick by brick, systemic racism and institutional inequity in our City," councilmember Tovo said. "And I’m excited that this street can be named after Maggie Mayes, a Black woman who had an immeasurable impact on our community."

Councilmember Renteria said that having a street named Confederate Avenue near the freedmen community of Clarksville is an "incredible justice" and called the renaming long overdue. 

"I am proud to join my colleagues in seeing this wrong set right," he said. 
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