Honor Caroline LeCount, Philadelphia's Rosa Parks

Update: We made our goal for this tombstone, thank you for your generous contributions! If you wish to support us in our efforts to name a street after Caroline LeCount please visit us at www.renametaney.com

If you wish to contribute money to our cause, please visit www.renametaney.com and click on "donate"

Want to join us in making a difference? We're raising money to honor "Philadelphia's Rosa Parks" the educator and activist: Caroline LeCount.

Caroline LeCount is buried in Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, PA near several famous Black nineteenth-century luminaries and contemporaries: the historian and underground railroad conductor William Still, the martyred educator (and LeCount's fiancé) Octavius Catto, the revolutionaries James Forten and Hannah Till. Still, Catto, Forten, and Till all have gravemarkers, but LeCount has not been yet honored with one, therefore Caroline LeCount needs a tombstone.

How did we first hear about Caroline LeCount?

Back in 2020, a number of us decided that we needed to do something about the fact that there is a street named in honor of Roger Taney in Philadelphia - the man who ruled in the Dred Scott decision that African Americans had "no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit."

Forming a grassroots effort of a diverse coalition of neighborhoods, we are seeking to remove the name of a man who embodies white supremacy and hate. Over the last two years, we have been working to rename the street to align with the values of today’s residents. During this process, we polled residents and - through the democratic process - the name "LeCount Street" was suggested and agreed upon in December 2021.

Since then, we have gained the support of every RCO along Taney street - through seven different neighborhoods to rename Taney Street to LeCount Street in honor of Caroline LeCount. We currently need a one-sentence bill to pass City Council. We are working to persuade Council President Clarke that this matters, symbols matter, the values of the community matter, and justice matters. Councilmembers Johnson and Curtis Jones have been very supportive.

Who was Caroline LeCount?

Caroline LeCount was born in 1846 in South Philadelphia to Sarah and James LeCount, a carpenter and a conductor on the Underground Railroad who used to hide fugitive slaves in the coffins he made. Caroline attended Philadelphia’s Institute for Colored Youth, which was the genesis of Cheyney University, the oldest institution of higher learning for African Americans. After graduating in 1863, she became a teacher at Ohio Street School (later the Octavius V. Catto School) on the 2000 block of Lombard Street, educating the city’s young Black population. In addition to working to improve the lives of her students, Caroline LeCount labored as a civil rights activist. She was a gifted orator and supported the Union during the Civil War as an officer in the Ladies’ Union Association. LeCount is best known for her work trying to desegregate the Philadelphia streetcar system when she confronted a conductor who refused to stop for Black riders, making her Philadelphia’s equivalent of Alabama’s Rosa Parks. Tragedy struck in LeCount’s personal life when her fiancé, the famed Black activist Octavius V. Catto, was assassinated in 1871. Rising above her personal loss and social disadvantages, LeCount later became a school principal before retiring in 1911. Many in Philadelphia are not familiar with her name or extraordinary legacy.

What can you do to help?

We welcome additional volunteers for events in Clarke’s district that will make sure that every Taney Street resident has their voice heard. The progress of activism is long and slow and uneven, but ultimately we expect to be successful and to use our newly organized group to uplift other causes and efforts to make Philly more fair and inclusive so everyone has an opportunity to succeed!

If you decide to donate to this campaign, your funds will be sent to the Fitler Square Neighborhood Association, and we will use these funds to finance the construction of a memorial marker at Eden Cemetery for Caroline LeCount.

Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us.