A Hilltop school bears the name of a racist. Honoring a Tacoma icon would be better | Opinion
He was described as an “unabashed racist” who once said, “No population that could be brought within the limits of our Territory could be more repugnant to the feelings of the people, or injurious to the prosperity of the community, than free negroes.”
His son-in-law and biographer, Thomas Prosch, wrote, “He was prejudiced also against the negro … and thought that, as far as possible, it was better for the races to live apart.”
He described Black people as “idle in their habits, difficult to be governed by the laws, thriftless and uneducated.”
He is Tacoma pioneer Morton Matthew McCarver, whose name is emblazoned across the front of an elementary school in the heart of Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood.
Tacoma Schools is now considering a change to the school’s name.
McCarver was, in the words of historian Murray Morgan, a “boomer” who arrived in Tacoma in 1868 to make his fortune with the coming of the Northern Pacific Railroad. He talked idealistic local pioneer Job Carr into selling him most of Carr’s land claim for $600, along with some land McCarver owned in Oregon. Thus, he felt positioned to make a financial killing when the rails reached Commencement Bay and what is now Old Tacoma.
It was a miscalculation, however, as the Northern Pacific stopped short of McCarver’s property, instead establishing the city called New Tacoma. He never made his fortune and died in 1875 — the first person buried in Tacoma Cemetery.
McCarver did express support for public education, helped build Tacoma’s first one-room schoolhouse and served briefly as a county school superintendent. These are some of the reasons why his name was selected for a Tacoma school.
But there was a very dark side to McCarver’s character when it came to the issue of race relations.
McCarver was an astute politician, and while living in the Oregon Territory was elected to the Territorial Legislature, becoming its Speaker. He, along with legislator Peter Burnett (later California’s first elected Governor), enacted Oregon’s racist “Exclusion Law,” barring people of color from residing in the territory. Violation of the law resulted in 20-39 lashes, every six months, until the person left.
McCarver later was elected to the California Territorial Legislature, and during a debate over a proposed state constitution, once again called for banning Black people — arguing that their entry would be “the greatest calamity that would befall California.”
Although Prosch, his biographer, argued that McCarver’s views on race moderated over time, Morgan noted in his writing that McCarver “had a lifelong prejudice against Blacks.”
Changing the name of a school in Tacoma is a serious issue, requiring a thoughtful and considered process. The process includes a formal request to the superintendent, the cooperation of the school’s principal, input from a broad-based advisory committee, community engagement, and a formal recommendation to the Tacoma School Board. That process — which could result in McCarver Elementary School’s name being changed — is in its beginning stages.
There are, of course, other notable Tacomans who could be considered for the name of a Hilltop neighborhood school.
One would be Nettie J. Asberry (1865-1968), a 73-year resident of Hilltop who taught piano to many of its children.
In 1913, Asberry organized the Tacoma Chapter of the NAACP, the first west of the Rockies. She later wrote a scathing letter, published locally and nationally, that received widespread attention, denouncing the racism in the film “Birth of a Nation.”
Asberry also helped lead efforts to desegregate Fort Lewis and the military, and lived long enough to see President Harry Truman achieve it through an executive order. This was all done in the face of an active local chapter of the KKK.
In later years, Asberry was a frequent visitor to Tacoma schools speaking on Black history. Her Hilltop home is on the Local Register of Historic Places; once restored by the Tacoma City Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, it will be open to the public. It’s located a mere 15-minute walk from what is now McCarver Elementary.
Nettie J. Asberry was an iconic local and national figure of the 20th century civil rights movement. She would be a most appropriate name for a Tacoma school.
A lifelong Tacoma resident, Bill Baarsma served as Tacoma’s 37th Mayor (2002-2009) and as a Council Member (1992-99). He currently serves on the Board of Historic Tacoma.
After retiring from a career in local government, Michael Lafreniere now serves as communications director for Historic Tacoma and was the managing director of Tacoma Historical Society.
