Shot in the Dark: What's in a Name?

What do Margaret Douglas, Duke Ellington,
the Wright Brothers, Sojourner Truth, Juan
Bosch, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, Countee Cullen, and Adam Clayton Powell have in common? They're all names of New York City schools.

Most NYC public schools are commonly referred to by their numerical resignations, e.g. P.S. 128. But P.S. 128 is also known as Audubon. Whether it is named after the German highway or the artist John James remains ambiguous.

Such designations stem from the names of affluent donors, favorite movie stars, and freedom fighters, among others.

P.S. 199, also known as Jessie Isador Straus, was named after a member of the illustriously rich philanthropic family who died aboard the Titanic.

A small sampling of the schools named after freedom fighters includes P.S. 046 Arthur Tappan, P.S. 154 Harriet Tubman, and P.S. 149 Sojourner Truth.

Some schools bear the names of artists and thinkers: P.S. 004 is called Duke Ellington after the pianist, and P.S. 208 is known as Alain L. Locke, the philosopher commonly known as the father of the Harlem renaissance.

The Chancellor's regulations on the Department of Education Web site state that to name schools, regional superintendents send written recommendations of names to the chancellor, who has complete authority over the naming of all public schools.

Sometimes, political higher-ups name schools without regard for the demographics of the population that the school serves.

While researching for a story she was writing for the Village Voice, professor at the Graduate School of Journalism LynNell Hancock unearthed some interesting information about P.S. 380, Brooklyn's John Wayne Elementary in District 14. The school received its name from "despotic" superintendent-and apparently avid John Wayne fan-William "Wild Bill" Rogers.

In a 1987 article, Hancock wrote that locals refer to P.S. 380 as the Juan Wayne School. "The local Hispanics had no idea who he was, and their children of course attended the school," Hancock said in an e-mail. Now they do: for years on the movie star's birthday, John Wayne's son doled out ice cream to the puzzled little tykes who got the chance to obtain firsthand knowledge of "Juan's" legacy.