City councilors on Thursday will consider whether to remove Tate Brady's name from a city street, but don't look for his granddaughter Mary Brady to be part of the conversation.
She lives in Texas and won't be at the council meeting. But she does have an opinion on the matter.
"The Brady family wishes to express our regret at recent attempts to diminish the character and reputation of Tate Brady, a man who poured out his energy, along with others like him, to build the great city of Tulsa and the great state of Oklahoma," Mary Brady wrote in an email.
She is the daughter of Henry Tate Brady, whose father, Wyatt Tate Brady, helped establish the city of Tulsa and was one of its biggest boosters.
But Wyatt Tate Brady also was a member of the Ku Klux Klan for a time in the early 1920s, and his association with that organization and his alleged role in the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot has fueled a call by a few dozen Tulsa residents that his name be removed from Brady Street.
In her email, Mary Brady notes her grandfather's work on behalf of Tulsa and urges residents to look closely at the full scope of his life.
"Tate Brady focused his life bringing people, publicity, education, water, transportation and the other resources needed to settle the new frontier," she wrote. "Having contributed his life's work to generations of Tulsans, such a noble pioneer who lived in centuries past, deserves at least thoughtful consideration of historical facts rather than a rush to judgment."
A large crowd is expected at Thursday night's meeting. The council sent out more than 200 letters to Brady Street property owners inviting them to attend and give their opinions.
It will be the third council meeting on the issue since a group of residents on May 16 first urged councilors to remove the Brady name from the Brady Arts District.
But the council has no authority to change the name of an association or private business. It can rename a city street.
Mayor Dewey Bartlett has come out in opposition of the name change but has not said whether he would veto a council vote to do so.
Councilor Jack Henderson has proposed changing Brady Street to Burlington Street.
A 1907 city ordinance naming streets lists the street as "Burlington Street," with the name scratched out and "Brady" written in its place.
City Council staff members have speculated that the Burlington name might have come from then-Councilor James Woodford, who was from Burlington, Kan.
However, that name may carry baggage of its own. The city is named after Burlington, Vt., which some people claim was named after an 18th-century New York family with ties to the slave trade.
Henderson said Wednesday that he understands Mary Brady's pride in her grandfather and does not question his contributions to the city.
The proposal to rename the street "is not for the good things that he did, it's because of the things that he did that did not shed a good light on the city," Henderson said.
Mary Brady said the family stands by its ancestor.
"We remain proud of Tate Brady's many remarkable accomplishments," she said.
City Council meeting
City councilors on Thursday will consider renaming Brady Street to Burlington Street. The council has notified all Brady Street property owners of the meeting and will take public comment.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue.
could be an interesting night drafter
