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Lee Elementary Renamed After Dr. Aaron and Ollye Shirley
December 9, 2021
Lee Elementary, named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, was renamed after healthcare and education advocates Dr. Aaron and Ollye Shirley to Shirley Elementary on December 6, 2021. In 2017, JPS officials decided that the district would remove the names of Confederate figures from select schools. That included Lee Elementary.
Dr. Aaron Shirley was a Gluckstadt native and graduated from Lanier High School, Tougaloo College, and Meharry Medical School. He was the first black resident at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) and was considered a “Gandhi-like” figure for many across the state of Mississippi. He became a physician and served as an associate professor of pediatrics at the medical center. Shortly after his residency, he helped to establish the Jackson Hinds Comprehensive Health Center. He also established a comprehensive school-based clinic to provide health and counseling services. Dr. Shirley also founded the Jackson Medical Mall, a once-abandoned shopping mall that was transformed into a modern medical and retail facility.
Dr. Shirley’s wife, Dr. Ollye Shirley, was an accomplished leader in public television, children’s programming and advocacy, civil rights activism, public education, community service, and more. She was accepted to Tougaloo College at the early age of 15. Dr. Ollye Shirley was a long-serving member of the JPS Board of Trustees, including serving as President of the Board. She assisted in a significant school board referendum that allowed the District to expand and improve its facilities. Additionally, she was instrumental in expanding Mississippi Educational Television's programming in this area to include Sesame Street despite initial opposition because of its ethnically diverse cast of adults and children.
Scholars, staff, district administrators, school adopters, and the Shirley family packed the now Shirley auditorium to celebrate the occasion. “For the school’s name to be changed from a confederate general to the Shirley name of an amazing African-American couple who fought for equality and justice for everyone is overwhelming,” said Erin Shirley Orey, daughter of Dr. Aaron and Ollye Shirley. “To know that the young scholars here learned about the Shirleys and participated in civic engagement by voting for the Shirley name to be the name of this school is amazing, and that touches us more than anything because you decided to change the name to Shirley Elementary.”