Hear ye! Hear ye! The Court of Public Opinion is now in session, the Honorable Judge Vox Populi presiding.

Our first case today: The People versus E. Lee Trinkle, former governor of Virginia.

Governor Trinkle, you stand accused of racism and support for eugenics. How do you plead?

Well, since Trinkle has been dead since 1939, he cant very well testify, but he has been the latest historical figure put on trial, so to speak. Last week, the University of Mary Washington renamed its Trinkle Hall, finding the name so offensive that it expedited the renaming ahead of other nomenclature concerns.

This is of interest to us for several reasons, beyond our interest in Virginia history. Trinkle was the rare governor from Southwest Virginia he grew up in Wytheville. His name also adorns buildings at Radford University as well as the College of William and Mary. If his name causes such consternation at Mary Washington, should it not also provoke the same concerns at those other schools? And just what was Trinkles record anyway? The specific charges are contained in a report prepared last year for the Mary Washington Board of Visitors which found that students are uncomfortable walking by Trinkle Hall. It said that Trinkle is perhaps best known by three pieces of legislation either passed or presented during this time as Governor. These included the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, the Forced Sterilization Act of 1924, and the Racial Segregation Act of 1926.

Read the original:

Their View: Trinkle condemned for things that didn't make the first draft of history - Bristol Herald Courier