A School, and Maybe a Street, for Cochran

When the Los Angeles Board of Education last month renamed her middle school in honor of the late Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., eighth-grader Markeisha Garrett was thrilled. She knew of him as a lawyer who “helped a lot of people” and thought that other things, such as a street, should be named after him too.

City Councilman Herb J. Wesson Jr. thought the same thing.

So he introduced a motion this month to rename a street -- a three-block section of 17th Street in front of what used to be known as Mount Vernon Middle School -- after the attorney.

Cochran became famous for successfully defending former football star O.J. Simpson against murder charges. But long before that trial, he had gained prominence as a pioneer in representing victims of police misconduct.

Wesson said that as he talked to community members about the name change at the school, “we thought it would be excellent to take it to another level and have the city name a portion of the street” after Cochran, who died last March of a brain tumor.

“I thought it would be fitting to coordinate this with the renaming of the school,” Wesson said. Cochran attended Mount Vernon in the 1950s and, according to the principal, decided to become a lawyer after taking a seventh-grade debate class.

The motion, seconded by Councilman Bernard C. Parks, has been referred to the Public Works Committee and will need the City Council’s approval. Over the years, many other street-name-change proposals -- some successful, some not -- have gone through City Hall.

Parks’ support could be seen as all the more significant given that he was a deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department during the Simpson trial, when Cochran argued that police jumped to the conclusion that Simpson was guilty, then ignored evidence to the contrary because Simpson was black.

Regardless of their roles in the Simpson case, Parks and Cochran were longtime friends who admired each other despite their differing views.

“There are people who have made an impact on this community and need to be remembered,” said Parks, who is also working with the Cochran family to name a new gymnasium at the Van Ness Recreation Center after the lawyer.

Throughout the Greater Los Angeles area, there are streets and squares named after prominent people.

Temple Street was named for the man who opened the first store in Los Angeles, John Temple. Pico Boulevard was named after Don Pio Pico, the 14th and last governor of California under Mexican rule. Hepburn Circle, Garland Drive and Astaire Avenue -- named for film greats -- can be found in Culver City.

Proposals to change street names can be contentious -- especially if the original name has historical significance or if the new moniker would inconvenience merchants.

In 2003, many residents opposed the council’s ultimately unsuccessful attempt to rename a section of Crenshaw Boulevard after the late Tom Bradley, the city’s longest-serving and only African American mayor. They argued that the street’s history and national recognition were too important to lose. (It is named for George L. Crenshaw, an importer and real estate developer.)

“The community felt very strongly about the history of Crenshaw Boulevard,” Councilwoman Janice Hahn said, adding that Bradley “was deserving of a street; they were just not willing to change Crenshaw Boulevard.”

And business owners on Crenshaw said it would be too costly to print their business forms with a new address.

That was a concern in 1993, when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the City Council considered renaming Brooklyn Avenue and Macy Street and part of Sunset Boulevard -- seven miles of roadway altogether -- after pioneering United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez.

Some business owners grumbled about the cost and hassle of changing the streets’ names, but the proposal passed. Today, Cesar E. Chavez Avenue runs from downtown Los Angeles to Monterey Park.

Trying to get business owners to buy into the idea of a name change won’t be a problem with the proposed Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Drive. On the section of 17th Street to be renamed, only a dozen residences would be affected.

“I have not heard any opposition to this change of name,” Wesson said. “But anything is possible.”

One source of opposition could be the families of those Simpson was charged with murdering in 1994: his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. Nicole Simpson’s sister, Denise Brown, told the news service Reuters in January that renaming the middle school for Cochran would be in “bad taste.”

Although the school board voted unanimously Jan. 24 to rename Mount Vernon for Cochran, there were mixed reactions at the school.

Principal Scott Schmerelson said he credits his campus for Cochran’s career.

“This is the school where he made his career decision,” said Schmerelson, who has been principal there for four years. “When I had spoken to his dad, he told me that when Johnnie came to the seventh grade, he enrolled in a debate class. He liked the class so much that he decided he wanted to be a lawyer.”

But some students think the new name is “ugly and harsh-sounding,” Schmerelson said, referring to the hard “ch” sound in Cochran. And others, like eighth-grader Jackeline Herrera, liked the name with which they were familiar.

“I’m used to it as Mount Vernon,” Herrera said of her school. “I like the name Mount Vernon.”

But Councilwoman Hahn said that having the school named in honor of someone contemporary -- rather than George Washington, for whose famous Virginia home the school was originally named -- is a good thing.

(But the nation’s first president won’t be forgotten on campus. A frieze bearing “Mount Vernon Middle School” -- a piece from the original building, which was destroyed in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake -- will remain on the school’s front lawn, and a bust of Washington will stay in the front office.)

“I think kids sometimes feel very disconnected from our first president. This will cause kids to want to know who [Cochran] was and what he stood for,” Hahn said.

That is happening already.

Herrera said she didn’t know who Cochran was until her school was renamed in his honor.

“It’s inspiring,” Herrera said after learning about him and that he had attended the campus. “You can actually succeed from here.”

“Johnnie Cochran was, without question, a great attorney and a great role model who contributed to this community,” Wesson said.

“Because of his success, he was able to open doors for so many attorneys who are now in their own practices,” he added. “He’s just the kind of person you would want young people to look up to.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Name game

Some local street name changes that went through ...

Olympic Boulevard: 10th Street got this new name in honor of the 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles.

Via Marisol: In 1978, then-Councilman Art Snyder renamed Hermon Avenue -- for the biblical Mt. Hermon -- after his 3-year-old daughter, Erin-Marisol.

Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard: In 1983, Santa Barbara Avenue got this moniker in honor of the slain civil rights leader.

Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Street: In 1988, one-block-long Weller Street in Little Tokyo became a tribute to the Japanese American astronaut killed in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

Marine Avenue: In 1990, Redondo Beach became the last city in the South Bay to change the name of its portion of Compton Boulevard to Marine Avenue. Supporters of the change said they wanted something that reflected their geography. Skeptics wondered whether it was more about dissociating from Compton, a low-income, predominantly minority city.

Cesar E. Chavez Avenue: A seven-mile stretch was renamed after the United Farm Workers union leader in 1993, erasing the name Brooklyn Avenue, which recalled the time when Boyle Heights was the heart of Los Angeles’ Jewish community. Macy Street and part of Sunset Boulevard also were renamed for Chavez.

L. Ron Hubbard Way: In 1996, a one-block stretch of Hollywood’s Berendo Street got a new appellation to honor the late Scientology founder.

Chick Hearn Court: In 2002, 11th Street in front of Staples Center’s main entrance was renamed for the late Francis Dayle “Chick” Hearn, the longtime play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Frederick K.C. Price Square: The Los Angeles City Council in 2005 approved naming the intersection of 79th Street and Vermont Avenue after the televangelist and founder of the Crenshaw Christian Center. But, because of Price’s outspoken opposition to same-sex marriage, the city refused to pick up the $1,000 tab for the dedication ceremony.

And some that hit a roadblock ...

Rue de Vallee: The L.A. City Council rejected famed crooner Rudy Vallee’s 1971 attempt to have a section of the Hollywood Hills street on which he lived renamed for himself. When neighbors objected, Vallee called them “disgruntled pukes” and said they were jealous. He then put up a sign with his favored name at the entrance to his long driveway.

Tom Bradley Boulevard: In 2003, residents and merchants blocked the renaming of a long stretch of Crenshaw Boulevard after the five-term mayor, who died in 1998. Opponents argued against the loss of a historic name and cited inconvenience to business owners in defeating what was to have been a tribute to L.A.’s only African American mayor.

Source: Times reporting

Los Angeles Times