Minneapolis Lake Calhoun was named after Secretary of War, Vice President and South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun, which is odd. Why on earth was Minneapolis naming lakes after a guy from South Carolina? Now, KARE 11 reports, some people want to change the name because he was also a proponent of slavery.
“I am looking at all of this information on Calhoun and the more I see, I think this is one of the worst people ever born in this country,” John Winters told the station.
Calhoun sent the Army to survey the area and authorized the construction of Fort Snelling. That’s his Minnesota connection, apparently. Good enough, it appears, to get a big lake named after you.
There’ll probably be a Parks Board hearing soon on whether the name of the lake should be changed, considering the beliefs of Mr. Calhoun. Perhaps its original name — Mde Maka Ska — would work.