Negro Brook is believed to be the last such offensive name in Vermont place names, as others have been changed. He said a summer trip to the coast of Maine revealed a Negro Island, noting that state likely would soon face some changes. Vermont Board of Libraries Chairman Tom Frank of Williston said Vermont is not alone with facing the issue of ridding its geographic locations of offensive names. →īut guidelines for renaming, she said, emphasize brevity for the practical reason of fitting names on crowded maps, thus the simpler Huzzy Brook. Shea said she had consulted with Marchant, who had suggested naming the brook after the couple, using both their names and not just Susanna. The couple is believed to have moved to Vermont in 1810. Shea said the couple had six children, and James Huzzy served as a soldier during the American Revolutionary War, as a substitute for his owner’s son’s service. They lived in what was then called the town of Acton, Shea said, which was located between Townshend and Grafton it was later annexed to Townshend. She said that James and Susanna Huzzy had a long history in Townshend, and Susannah Huzzy had died at age 104 in 1854. “Everyone was in favor of changing the name.” It seems like it’s been going on forever,” she said. Shea said she was elated with the vote of support by the state board. The original petitioners didn’t want to use the name Huzzy, Shea said after the vote, because they believed it cast a negative light on Susanna Huzzy, since her last name sounded too much like “hussy.” Shea said any possible negative connotation associated with the word hussy was “fairly archaic.”īut using Susanna Huzzy’s maiden name Toby was even more objectionable, as “toby” was often used as a pejorative for Black people, and the 2021 effort was rejected by the board. The 2022 petition had the support of the Townshend Select Board and the Townshend Historical Society, according to Select Board Chairman Sherwood Lake and Historic Society President Charles Marchant. It was a victim of misunderstanding, Shea said.
The earlier effort was spearheaded by people from Burlington and fell apart during a confusing and contentious meeting in June 2021.
They gathered signatures on a petition, they worked with the Townshend Select Board and the Townshend Historical Society, and then they asked the state Board of Libraries for the official name change. Lynne Shea of Townshend, who spearheaded the second initiative to change the name, told the board that she and others had worked with the community to build their support of the name change.
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