Agassiz name dropped from greenway project because of namesake's views on race

FARGO — The racial views of a 19th century scientist have sunk a proposed name for a greenway planned in association with the Fargo-Moorhead flood diversion.

The Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Council of Governments, which is leading the greenway project, had proposed calling it Agassiz Greenway , after Louis Agassiz, a prominent 1800s geologist for whom glacial Lake Agassiz was named and whose name also figures into the name of many organizations, businesses and buildings in the region.

However, soon after details of the greenway project started to circulate earlier this month Metro COG officials began hearing from people pointing out Agassiz's views on race and his writings regarding white supremacy.

Now, the agency and its project partners, including Fargo, West Fargo, Horace, Cass County, the Diversion Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have all agreed not to use Agassiz in the name of the recreation master plan.

Cindy Gray, executive director of Metro COG, said the name Agassiz was initially chosen for the proposed greenway because of its connection to the ancient glacial lake and the fact so many places and organizations in the region bear the name.

"It seemed very appropriate, and that's the only thing we knew about that name, at the time, until a member of the public who participated in our online input opportunity made us aware of it," Gray said, referring to Louis Agassiz's views on race.

She said Metro COG is now exploring alternative names for the greenway, and she said the process could include voices from the wider community.

Roughly 11,000 years ago, the lake that bears Agassiz's name covered portions of western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota, fed by meltwater from a glacier in Canada.

Lake Agassiz eventually disappeared, leaving in its place the Red River Valley. In the late 1800s the extinct glacial lake was given the name "Agassiz" by Warren Upham, a geologist with the Natural History Survey of Minnesota, as an homage to the Swiss-born naturalist and Harvard professor known as the father of glacial geology.

Today, school buildings in Fargo and Grand Forks carry Agassiz's name, as does the Lake Agassiz Regional Library in Minnesota, which is comprised of 13 branches, including its main library in Moorhead.

But the scientist is increasingly getting the cold shoulder as awareness grows about his views on race, particularly his support for a theory popular among scientists of his day known as polygenism, which held that different races had different origins, rather than a single origin.

Proponents of slavery used polygenism to buttress the idea that different races were genetically distinct and that slavery was a natural condition for an inferior race.

John Rodenbiker, a member of the Fargo School Board, penned a letter to the editor of The Forum this week in which, speaking as a private citizen, he suggested that the proposed name — Agassiz Greenway — be reconsidered in light of Louis Agassiz's views on race.

In his letter, Rodenbiker described polygenism as a discredited theory that was used to support arguments that white people are superior to non-white people, and he said Agassiz’s contributions to such beliefs were a factor in white supremacy ideas spreading across America in the 1800s.

"Let us all think carefully and intentionally about the legacy carried by 'Agassiz' going forward," Rodenbiker wrote. "I am not suggesting that everything that bears the word 'Agassiz' in our area is racist or needs to be renamed. But let’s be aware of the totality of the legacy implied by the word."

In a phone interview, Rodenbiker told The Forum he doesn't think Fargo school officials have any interest in doing something about the name of a building in the school district that contains Agassiz, adding that because of the building's age the structure may soon "pass into history on its own."

Rodenbiker said after his letter was published he heard from a number of people who said they had no inkling regarding the origins of the Agassiz name. He said his letter was intended to raise awareness about the 19th century scientist and ask people to consider Agassiz's complicated legacy before naming anything else after him.

Agassiz's legacy was a factor in a Connecticut woman filing a lawsuit against Harvard University in 2019.

The suit dealt with photographs of the woman's enslaved ancestors that were commissioned by Agassiz in the 1850s. The woman claimed in her suit that her family should control the rights to the photos and not the university whose racist faculty member commissioned them.

The Lake Agassiz Development Group in Fargo has been around in one form or another since the 1970s.

Its executive director, Amber Metz, said her understanding of the name is that it was a reference to the glacial lake and beyond that she didn't know its origins.

That is until she got a phone call recently from someone with another local nonprofit group, who informed her there was a growing murmuring about Louis Agassiz, the person the glacial lake was named for, and his views on race.

"That's disappointing to me," Metz said, referring to what she's learning about Agassiz's legacy. She said she anticipates her group's board members may discuss the group's name in the future.

Jim Nelson, executive director of Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity, said the organization was founded in 1991 and at that time the name was chosen as a nod to the geographical region and he said he doubts there was little if any awareness by organizers of the nonprofit as to who Louis Agassiz was.

"We will be developing a more thorough statement that addresses this new information, as well as some things that were already in progress," Nelson added.

Liz Lynch, regional library director for the Lake Agassiz Regional Library, said she has always associated the name Agassiz with the glacial formation, not the person, and she noted that many communities the library serves are situated near beach ridges that define the shores of the ancient lake.

Lynch said given the views associated with its namesake, the library's moniker is probably deserving of additional conversation.

"As a public library, we really pride ourselves on being a place for everyone," Lynch said.

Attempts were made to reach several other organizations that have Agassiz in their name for comment, including several businesses, but those attempts were not successful.