The journey to rename a street in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Greenville was marked by heated debates, public protests, and a community battling with its history and future.
What began as an idea to rename a street in early 1991 turned into a year-long struggle that divided the city.
It all started with a proposal to rename Broadway Street, one of the city’s oldest and most historically significant streets to memorialize King.
But Broadway had long been important to Greenville’s Black community too, making it, in their minds, the most fitting way to honor King.
However, opposition to the proposal quickly mounted, with critics arguing that Broadway’s historical and practical importance made it unsuitable for renaming.
In 1991, the Greenville City Council members included Mayor Frank Self and council members Sarah Johnson, Charles Moore, Paul Artman, Fred McCourt, Jerre Lane, and Ed Shaw. and at the first meeting in January they voted 3-2 against renaming Broadway, sparking outrage among many in the community.
Artman defended his vote, saying, “the street has been a dedicated road since as early as 1860.”
Lane said, “Broadway was one of the original streets in Greenville, and I think renaming it would only divide the city.”
Lane suggested finding another way to honor Dr. King, such as naming a new street or creating a memorial.
Weeks later a group calling itself: Citizens United for a Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard organized and came back to the council chambers, packing them to overflow capacity demanding Broadway be renamed for King, and again the council voted no.
That decision ignited protests and calls for boycotts.
The continued rejection of the Broadway proposal led the council to order a feasibility study to look at other streets that could be named for King.
The study was conducted by researchers from Mississippi Valley State University.
Researchers explored three possible streets for renaming: MS-1, U.S. 82, and Broadway Street.
U.S. 82 was ruled out because it was already dedicated to Roy B. Fulton, a prominent Washington County leader who had contributed significantly to local development projects, including the Washington County Industrial Park and Warfield Point Park.
Rodney Hawkins, one of the researchers, visited the Greenville Mall on MS-1 as part of the study.
Looking back on the experience, Hawkins said that visit was all it took.
“I went into the mall, and there were Asian people, Black people, and White people there talking to each other, shopping together, and just getting along,” Hawkins said. “And then it hit me, that this was what King was talking about in his I Have a Dream speech.”
For Hawkins, the sight of people of all races coexisting peacefully made MS-1 the perfect choice, and some of the city officials agreed with him.
After months of debate, often heated, on March 5, 1991, the city council voted to rename MS-1 for King.
However the issue was not on the agenda for the meeting, so Shaw made a motion for it to be added.
But, the council members were still so split from the Broadway renaming vote in January, that even adding this to the agenda was strongly opposed.
Moore and Johnson both voted not to adding the item.
The motion to add passed and a vote was taken to rename MS-1 for King.
Moore, Johnson, and Artman voted against the motion. Lane, McCourt, and Shaw voted for the motion, making the vote a tie.
Self voted in favor, breaking the tie.
Self and Shaw said they voted for the renaming to settle the Broadway issue because it was at a stalemate.
Moore, Johnson, and Artman said they opposed the motion because it was not on the agenda.
But Moore went farther than the other two council members with his comments.
“By not having it on the agenda, people were prevented from voicing an opinion,” Moore said. “I think this is an underhanded way to go about it. I resent the way this has been done.”
As a result of the first council meeting in March, the slogan Broadway or No Way was born.
Because of criticism, and a press conference held on the steps of City Hall by the group Citizens United for a Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, at the March 19, 1991, city council meeting the vote was unanimous to rescind the renaming of MS-1.
This put the whole issue right back on the drawing board, and simultaneously in the frying pan.
About 250 people marched to city hall, singing songs like We Shall Overcome as they walked down Broadway to Main St.
Protestors placed a black wreath at the corner of Main and Broadway Streets to symbolize their disappointment with the council’s decision.
Inflamed by the council’s second decision not to rename Broadway for King, Moore said, “racism is alive in Greenville.”
Supporters of the Broadway renaming included local organizations such as the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and the 100 Black Men, as well as prominent individuals like Leonia Dorsey, the Rev. John Redmon. Carl McGee, attorney Alese McDaniel, and Amelia Wicks.
Redmon called the arguments against the renaming selfish, asking “what is a name for?
“It can be there to help us find something,” Redmon said. “Or it can be there to honor something.”
Betty Carter, a former publisher of the Delta Democrat-Times, and the 1990 Duke and Stein Community Service Award recipient, shared Redmon’s thoughts on the matter but had concerns about the community division the issue was causing.
“Broadway or no way is a good battle slogan,” Carter said. “But it doesn’t do much to help the community.”
After the march and protests were over, Hawkins wrote an op-ed published in the DD-T on the experience of seeing a civil rights-style march in Greenville over the renaming of a street.
“It brought back memories of the sacrifices made in the 1960s,” Hawkins said. “Those who marched back then endured beatings, jail, and even death to achieve lasting change, opening doors and creating opportunities for future generations.”
Hawkins said that because he was against renaming Broadway, people were calling him Uncle Tom, among other hateful things.
“Martin Luther King Jr. and others gave their lives so we wouldn’t have to fight the same battles, Broadway will always be Broadway, and this debate has created unnecessary division. King’s legacy deserves something that all travelers can see and remember, like the new highway being built,” Hawkins said. “Instead of fighting over this, we should focus on making Greenville better, advocating for air-conditioned schools, economic development, and ending prejudice.”
Hawkins finished his op-ed by writing: “Together, we can keep Dr. King’s dream alive and make a brighter future for all.”
The issue seemed to cool off, as the summer months of 1991 heated up, no more marches, no more agenda items, the Broadway or No Way t-shirts and bumper stickers that were promised didn’t seem to make it past the planning stages.
But naming a street for King was still on some people's minds because it was the right thing to do.
Then in January of 1992, it was back on the agenda, although it was tabled and a committee was formed to find a solution.
That committee was made up of Self, Artman, Moore, McDaniel, Minnie Smith, and Dorsey.
Dorsey and McDaniel were among those who initially approached the council with the proposal to rename Broadway.
By March 1992, the Greenville City Council revisited the issue.
Self who expected the measure to pass with ease this time was optimistic.
“It’s Martin Luther King’s birthday,” Self said. “I think he should be recognized.”
But before the vote, in a last effort to express her disappointment, Dorsey said the black community would not be happy with this decision if it happened.
“Personally I am not happy, for so long, and too long the black community has asked over and over and been constantly denied,” Dorsey said. “The renaming of any street other than Broadway would not affect the healing between the black and the white communities.”
Shaw made an alternative motion that the north part of Broadway, from Washington Ave. to the city limits be renamed for King.
The alternate motion was opposed by McDainel who saw the problem as more than which street to rename.
“The issue at hand goes beyond one street versus the other,” McDaniel said. “It is a symptom of racial division in Greenville.”
The vote was 5-1 to rename MS-1 within city limits as MLK Blvd. with Shaw casting the dissenting vote.
McCourt, who opposed renaming Broadway, supported the MS-1 proposal.
“It’s ultimately the council’s decision,” McCourt said. “This is the best solution for everyone.”
While some saw this as a compromise, others viewed it as a way to honor King without sacrificing Broadway’s historical significance.
Redmon, who had been vocal throughout the process, saw the decision as a victory for the values King stood for.
“We’re playing with fire here, if we open the door for bigots, they’ll come in; if we open the door for ignorance, it will come in,” Redmon said. “But we’re in this together.”
Lane said all of the division and controversy around renaming a street for King ran counter to the unity that King supported.
“I think if Dr. King were here today,” Lane said. “I don’t think he would want a street to be named that would cause dissension in the community.”
Today, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is a tribute to King’s life and his dream of unity and racial harmony.
But it should also serve as a reminder of the debates, protests, marches, and struggles it took to bring that dream to life in Greenville.
Because that journey from Broadway or No Way, to MS-1 becoming Martin Luther King Boulevard shows how Greenville’s community, both Black and White, eventually came together in the past, with a shared vision for its future.
This story was made possible with the help of the Delta Democrat-Time’s archive, the Washington county archive on the second floor of the courthouse, and all of the people who got involved.
Without the help of the city clerk, Amelia Wicks, who said she was a part of the march way back then, or her two deputy clerks, Vondrica Bolden, and Crystal Bowie, and the patience of Bettis Dennis-Lowe, who runs the information desk which oversees the microphish at the Washington County public library in Greenville this story wouldn’t have happened.
