To the editor:

We are asking the committee for renaming the current “Central Junior High School” to please return the name “Liberty Memorial” to this school.

Liberty Memorial Middle School only changes ONE word from the original tribute name, Liberty Memorial High School.

LMHS was built in memory of the 19 Lawrence High School students and alumni who died during World War I, in battle, from wounds or from the severe flu epidemic of 1918. Bronze plaques on either side of the auditorium stage display the names of these brave men, and a collage of the students’ photos is displayed in the front hallway. Liberty Memorial is a historical and meaningful name, not just a directional name, as the other junior highs use.

The 19 Lawrence students and alumni gave their lives while they were in their teens or 20s. These brave young men are buried in cemeteries in France, in America and even in Oak Hill Cemetery here in Lawrence. Please honor the memory of students by keeping “Liberty Memorial” (which is etched in stone about the front doors) as the everlasting name for this school.

At the beginning of each school year, the principal tells new students about the history and significance of the school’s name and their responsibilities to honor its history. I hope that at the opening assembly this fall, 88 years after the school’s opening, the principal will continue to educate students about the origin of their school and the continued pride they should feel in attending “Liberty Memorial Middle School.”