November 14, 2024
Michaela Althouse/PhillyVoice
Joy Taney, a fifth-generation niece of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, spoke during a City Council meeting on Thursday to support renaming Taney Street to LeCount Terrace.
UPDATE (12/5/24): Mayor Cherelle Parker signed this bill into law on Dec. 4, 2024.
A Philadelphia street that for 166 years has been named after a Supreme Court justice who supported slavery will finally be changed after City Council unanimously voted in favor of renaming Taney Street to LeCount Terrace on Thursday.
In 1858, the roadway was named after Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who has no major ties to the area. It will now honor 19th century civil rights activist Caroline LeCount. Known as "Philly's Rosa Parks," LeCount fought segregation on streetcars, fundraised for Black soldiers during the Civil War and was the second Black female principal of a public school in the city.
Taney authored the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision in 1857, which said enslaved African Americans could not become U.S. citizens and could not be protected by the federal government or the court system. It was later overturned by constitutional amendments.
The road runs between 26th and 27th streets and through Grays Ferry, Fitler Square, Fairmount, Brewerytown and Strawberry Mansion. Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Councilmembers Curtis Jones and Jeffery Young, who grew up on the street, all co-sponsored the bill; the road runs through all of their districts.
The Rename Taney coalition has worked for the change since 2020, and the new name was selected after door-to-door visits, online surveys, a town hall and a community-wide vote.
Two descendants of Taney spoke during Thursday's meeting in favor of the new name. Joy Taney, a fifth-generation niece of Justice Taney, called her ancestor one of the "great American dehumanizers" and said she felt ashamed whenever she saw the street.
Her father, Peter Taney, said that the justice's actions cast a shadow over him for his entire 75 years of life.
"I heartedly applaud the efforts to rename the street," Peter Taney said. "In my extended family, I'm one of eight siblings, I think my sentiments are shared by everybody with the last name of Taney right now."
For residents, the house numbers and ZIP code will stay the same, and the Post Office will deliver to the both the old and new addresses for the next 10 years. They need to notify the DMV of the change once a driver's license or other ID expires, but the adjustment will be automatic with utility companies as well as mapping and delivery services. Property deeds do not need to be altered, as they use parcel numbers.
