San Anselmo High School Name Change Goes Into Effect Immediately

SAN ANSELMO, CA – During his storied life he stared down hate on the world's biggest stage and took home Olympic gold.

Nearly 30 years after his death, Archie Williams dealt another blow to what to what in the estimation of racial justice advocates stands as a persistent Marin County symbol of white supremacy.

The Tamalpais Union High School District’s five-member board voted unanimously Tuesday to rename Sir Francis Drake High School after Williams, a beloved community hero who taught at the school.

The name change went into effect immediately. The school’s athletic department has already changed its Twitter handle.

The board’s vote followed a 13-0-1 vote last week by the Drake Leadership Council in support of a recommendation to name the school after Williams.

The district vote culminated a nine-month process. The school went under the name H.S. 1327 in the interim.

The move to rename the school formerly named after a 16th century slave trader began last summer during a national reckoning on racial justice amid the George Floyd protests.

The name change was not without controversy. An organized group formed in opposition to the name change, The Marin Independent Journal reported.

Williams, who is Black, won the gold medal in the 400-meter race at the 1936 Berlin Olympic games. He clocked a new world record time of 46.1 seconds that helped spoil Adolf Hitler’s use of the Olympics as a propaganda for white supremacy.

After the Olympics, Williams went on to complete a degree in mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley and then after earning his pilot’s license and was hired as a civilian flying instructor at the Tuskegee Army Flying School.

He eventually enlisted in the Air Force — working as an instructor, weather officer and pilot — flying missions during World War II and the Korean War.

Williams later became a teacher at Drake High. He died of a heart attack at 78 in 1993, The New York Times reported.

“Archie Williams’ contributions and character align beautifully with the student body’s values,” Archie Williams Principal Liz Seabury said in a statement.

“We know that the Board is being asked whether or not our recommendation meets Board Policy for names and processes, but my hope was that in addition to receiving their support on these procedural points, that the Board would also see this recommendation as a true and just move toward a name that recognized community, equity, positivity and service to others.

“That’s what Archie Williams’ remarkable legacy says to us.”

The school will fundraise over the summer to pay for new signage and students will decide on a new mascot. As Drake High, the school’s mascot was the Pirates.

“Archie Williams is inarguably an individual who made tremendous contributions to our school, our community and to our nation,” Board President Leslie Harlander said in a statement.

“The Drake Leadership Committee (DLC) used a process that, while not perfect, did provide students, staff and our community the opportunity to be heard.”