The wheels are in motion to change the name of Henry Sibley High School, which was named after Minnesota’s first governor who played a controversial role in the Dakota Wars during the 19th century.
The school opened in 1954, nearly 100 years after Sibley was appointed colonel by the Minnesota state militia.
During his military career, he was charged with protecting settlements from the Sioux tribe, 38 of whom were hanged in Mankato the day after Christmas 1862 in the largest mass execution in US history.
He was elected Minnesota governor after two weeks after statehood was granted in 1858.
Over the past few months, an effort by parents and alumni gained steam to remove Sibley’s name from the school, and the Monday night the school board voted to make the change.
School District 197 hosts students from West St. Paul, Mendota Heights, and Eagan, with the Henry Sibley building located on Delaware Avenue in Mendota Heights.
The current enrollment is listed at 1,238 on the Minnesota State High School League website.
It’s now up to the school administration to come up with a way to select a new building name.
The school athletic teams have long been called the Warriors—represented by an armored knight wearing a helmet and carrying a shield, and not a Native American—and there has been no mention of changing that name.
One school board member at Monday’s meeting is reported saying that changing the school building’s name does not erase history, adding that Sibley should be remembered but not honored this way.
