Rolando post office renamed for longtime San Diego lawmaker Susan Davis
BY DEBORAH SULLIVAN BRENNAN
JULY 6, 2023 6:12 PM PT
The Rolando facility was formerly named after the seventh president, Andrew Jackson, who owned slaves and forced thousands of Native Americans off their lands on deadly marches. Jacobs said the renaming was prompted by residents’ desire to shift the focus to a local leader who had improved San Diego.
Erik Anderson, the San Diego man who started the petition to remove Jackson’s name from Rolando’s post office, said he was motivated by protests against the murder of George Floyd in 2020, adding that renaming efforts aren’t about erasing history but revisiting who communities choose to memorialize.
More: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-07-06/rolando-post-office-susan-davis
Ceremony Renames Andrew Jackson Post Office for Susan A. Davis
July 7, 2023
The unveiled plaque read “This Building Is Named in Honor of Susan A. Davis by an Act of Congress, Public Law 117-314, December 27, 2022.” However, a legend will remain for the foreseeable future in large letters atop the Post Office Building stating: “United States Post Office, Andrew Jackson Station, San Diego, California 92115.” No congressional appropriation has been made to replace the lettering, and according to Davis, such an appropriation is problematic because such legislation would have to incorporate not only this post office branch but other renamed post office branches throughout the nation.
During the ceremony, Congresswoman Jacobs said she received a petition from the Rolando neighborhood, organized by resident Erik Anderson, on her second day in office, January 7, 2021, asking that the post office branch be renamed in Davis’s honor. “I am so thankful to have active, engaged constituents who care about the symbols of our community and what we are teaching the next generation and making San Diego a welcoming home for everyone,” she commented, without specifically mentioning the community’s dissatisfaction with having a post office named for the 7th President of the United States.
