The Stonewall Jackson Trail was a proposed highway in West Virginia that would have been named after Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. The trail was first proposed in 1909 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), a women's organization that honors Confederate veterans and promotes the Lost Cause mythology. The UDC argued that Jackson was a great military leader who deserved to be honored with a highway named after him.
The proposal to name the highway after Jackson was met with strong opposition from African Americans and civil rights activists. They argued that naming a highway after a Confederate general would glorify the Confederacy and its legacy of slavery. The NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization, led the opposition to the proposal.
The debate over the Stonewall Jackson Trail continued for decades. In 1915, the West Virginia legislature approved a bill naming the highway after Jackson, but it was vetoed by Governor William E. Glasscock. Glasscock argued that the name would be offensive to many West Virginians.
The debate over the Stonewall Jackson Trail died down in the 1920s and 1930s, but it was revived in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1969, the West Virginia legislature again considered a bill to name the highway after Jackson. The bill passed the legislature, but it was vetoed by Governor Arch Alfred Moore, who argued that it would be divisive and offensive.
The Stonewall Jackson Trail proposal was finally abandoned in the 1970s. The highway was eventually built and named Interstate 68. The highway runs through the Monongehela Valley, from the Pennsylvania state line to Charleston.
Here is an image of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson:
Here is an image of the Stonewall Jackson Trail proposal:
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