Recently, the University of Arizona removed Cesar Chavez's name from a campus building. It is worth asking: what standards are we actually applying to the historical figures whose names we celebrate on our public spaces?

Samuel Hughes is one of Tucson's most honored founding figures. His name is on a neighborhood, an elementary school, and a local inn. But the historical record — documented in university archives, historical newspapers, and primary source accounts — tells a story that does not match that celebration.

Two things stand out. First, historical records indicate Hughes was a man in his early thirties when he married Atanacia Santa Cruz, who was approximately 11 or 12 years old at the time. That elementary school bearing his name serves children the same age as his child bride.

Second, in 1871, a vigilante mob massacred more than 100 surrendered Aravaipa and Pinal Apache people — almost all women and children — at Camp Grant. Hughes did not ride with the mob. But as Adjutant General of the Territory, primary records including direct quotes from his own wife document that he supplied the attackers with rifles, ammunition, and wagons from his home.

Renaming is not erasing history. History belongs in textbooks and museums where it can be studied honestly. Putting a name on a public school is a celebration. It tells children that this person represents the best of who we aspire to be.

Tucson's community deserves an open, transparent process to examine this history and decide together what our public spaces should honor.

Sign this petition to demand the Tucson Unified School District and City Council open a formal community-led process to rename Sam Hughes Elementary School and the Sam Hughes neighborhood.