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After an outpouring of love and hashtags for D.C.’s “Mayor for Life,” Mayor Muriel Bowser attended a reception last night and announced four recommendations to commemorate the late Marion S. Barry, Jr.
The suggestions include the creation of a bust or statue to sit in front of the John A. Wilson Building and naming the new student center at the University of the District of Columbia after the late mayor. There are also recommendations to rename Good Hope Road and Frank W. Ballou Senior High School in Ward 8.
While there’s really no shortage of things that can be named after Barry, it seems like the only losers here are those who came before him. Take Frank Ballou, for instance. He spent two decades as superintendent of the D.C. public school system in the early twentieth century. If the school becomes Marion S. Barry Senior High School, what’s Ballou now, chopped liver?
A commission of 13 people established by Bowser came up with about 30 recommendations overall. Some that didn’t top the list were establishing a local holiday, creating scholarship programs, and creating a museum exhibition. The task force includes former and current elected officials, businesses community leaders, and relatives of the late mayor. Other D.C. residents provided input during engagement forums over the summer.
Earlier this year, Bowser renamed D.C.’s summer youth employment program the Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program.
Meanwhile, Barry still doesn’t have a proper gravestone. According to Washingtonian, it’s been a year since his burial and he rests at Congressional Cemetery “commemorated by a small laminated card attached to a rusted metal stake.”
Maybe Bowser should set up a task force for that.
