Tuffree Middle School was named after Colonel J. K. Tuffree, a financial backer of the Confederate States who also served in the secret service for the Confederacy. Tuffree moved to Orange County in 1872, and lived in Fullerton until his suicide in 1903. More than 60 years later, in the wake of Civil Rights Movements across the country and following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the school was named to honor the Confederate colonel. Now in 2020, Orange County is one of the most racially diverse places in the country--more than ever, it's unacceptable for an Orange County public school to honor those who tried to preserve brutal institutions of slavery and racial hierarchy. Black students in north Orange County do not deserve to attend a school named after someone who fought to guarantee their subjugation. Tuffree Middle School must change its name to something more relevant to its racially diverse community and appropriate for its student body. We hope to gather enough signatures to convince the Placentia mayor and Placentia-Yorba Linda USD superintendent that the north Orange County community stands for inclusivity and integrity, and that it's time to change the name.

sources:

brief biography on Tuffree: https://tinyurl.com/ybxuuf73

1903 Los Angeles Herald article on Tuffree and obituary: https://tinyurl.com/yddlluq4

1891 Los Angeles Times article on Tuffree's service in the Confederacy: https://tinyurl.com/y8pfj5l3 

PYLUSD article on Tuffree: https://tinyurl.com/yctkh3mp