Smith, Moses recognized with honorary street renamings

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A late Hinds County district attorney and a late civil rights activist are being honored with two honorary street renamings in Jackson.

On Tuesday, the city council approved the honorary renaming of Valley Street from John R. Lynch Street to Utica Avenue to Robert Shuler Smith Drive.

The council also voted on the honorary renaming of Lynch Street from Dalton Street to Rose Street after Dr. Robert “Bob” Moses.

The ordinances were approved on 6-0 votes. Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes introduced both proposals but was absent from the meeting.

Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley said he was happy to endorse the proposal. “Although this is initiated by my colleague, Councilman Stokes, we recognize the contribution to the community of this fine lawyer within our space, and his law firm there in my ward,” he said.

Moses, who was a leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and a principal organizer of the Freedom Summer Project in 1964, died last July. He also played a major role in establishing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which challenged Mississippi’s all-white delegation at the Democratic National Convention also in 1964.

Smith died in September after being involved in a major car wreck. Smith, a graduate of St. Louis University, served as Hinds County District Attorney for 12 years and also ran for governor.

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