Westside High School

Westside High School is a public high school in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. It is part of the Duval County School District and serves Jacksonville's Westside. The school was established in 1959 and was originally named Nathan B. Forrest High School, after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The fact that the school was named for Forrest was a point of significant controversy until the Duval County School Board changed the name in 2014. History The school opened as New School 207 in 1959 in Jacksonville's Wesconnett neighborhood, at the site of present-day Westside Middle School (formerly J. E. B. Stuart Middle School). Built during the era of racial segregation, it was originally a white-only school. The school's name was a contentious issue from the beginning, with three groups supporting different names. Incoming students, who had already dubbed the football team the "Vikings", voted to name it Valhalla High School, while another faction wanted to name it Wesconnett High School after the neighborhood. The United Daughters of the Confederacy wanted the school named for "a distinguished Southern leader", eventually settling on Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest. After multiple votes failed to find agreement, the Duval County School Board voted to name the school Nathan B. Forrest High School on September 17, 1959. When the school's name officially became Nathan Bedford Forrest High School, Confederate symbolism and its athletics nickname, "Rebels," were adopted as well as featuring Confederate flags, "rebel yells" and the song "Dixie" at sporting events. The use of Confederate imagery became a recurring point of contention after the school was integrated. In 1961 the school board branched off Forrest's junior high school, forming what is now Jefferson Davis Middle School. The measure allowed Forrest to avoid double sessions. In 1966 the board relocated Forrest to its present location on Firestone Road, converting the old building into J. E. B. Stuart Middle School. Naming issue The fact that the school was named for Nathan Bedford Forrest became a point of contention and controversy. Later commenters have seen the decision as a response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education that school segregation was unconstitutional. Critics pointed to controversial aspects of Forrest's biography to argue he was an inappropriate namesake for the school.