Education

Boston Public Schools renames South End school after civil rights icon Mel King

The McKinley Schools will now be known as the Melvin H. King South End Academy.

Mel King funeral
A South End school is being renamed after local civil rights icon Mel King. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe

By Susannah Sudborough

1 minute to read

The City of Boston has decided to rename a South End school in honor of the late Mel King — a local civil rights icon who broke barriers for Black Bostonians by becoming the first Black person to be featured on a general election ballot for Boston mayor in 1983.

The McKinley Schools, a group of four schools in one that provide special education to students kindergarten through grade 12, is being renamed the Melvin H. King South End Academy, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s office said in a media advisory Tuesday afternoon.

The idea to rename the school after King was first proposed in March 2021 by Edith Bazile, a longtime local education advocate. In her proposal, she wrote that President William McKinley, for whom the schools are currently named, ignored calls to take action against lynchings and other violence towards Black people in the South in the 1890s.

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The Boston School Committee began officially considering the proposal in December 2022.

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“Education has always been a priority for his activism, and access to education, so I think it’s a great honor,” King’s son Michael King told The Boston Globe previously. “I think it’s great to name the school after him.”

King was also once a teacher at Boston Technical High School, now the John D. O’Bryant School, from which he graduated.

Wu, Superintendent Mary Skipper, School Leader Cindie Neilson, and King’s wife, Joyce King, are scheduled to celebrate the renaming at the school at 10 a.m. Wednesday, the advisory said. The celebration will be livestreamed on boston.gov.

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King died on March 28 at age 94 in his home. He is remembered for his steadfast engagement with civic matters in Boston and the enduring positive impact he had on the city.

In 2021, a South End square was renamed to honor King.

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