CMS Renames Local High School after Julius Chambers
A local high school has a new name. Zebulon B. Vance High School is now known as Julius L. Chambers High School.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education voted to rename the school on Oct. 13th. Chambers is best known for being one of the most influential civil rights lawyers. He fought in Charlotte for school desegregation, as well as for worker and voter rights. Chambers, who died in 2013, founded the first racially integrated law firm in North Carolina and took eight cases to the U.S. Supreme Court, winning every time. He is credited with winning the landmark case Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education that federally mandated school busing, bringing about racial integration in schools here and throughout the country.
The renaming ceremony took place on Wednesday, July 14th in the school’s auditorium. U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, Derrick Chambers (Julius Chambers’ son), Board Chairperson Elyse Dashew, Dr. Ruby Jones, Board member-District 3, Superintendent Earnest Winston, and Principal Erik Turner all spoke during the ceremony.
