Petitions in Fayette County debate McIntosh High name

Several online petitions are advocating for and against changing the name of Peachtree City’s McIntosh High School. A Change.org petition started by Cole Sanford alleges that the half-Scottish/half-Native American William McIntosh was “a traitor to the Creek Nation…who brought death and destruction to his own people and others” during the First Seminole War in 1816. McIntosh, a planter and businessman who owned enslaved persons, was executed by the Creeks in 1825 after signing a treaty that ceded control of Creek land to Georgia and Alabama.

The petition, which has more than 1,700 signatures, also objects to the use of the Chiefs mascot and Native American imagery at the school and asks for their “retirement.” Two other petitions with more than 700 signatures each seek to preserve the name and mascot, saying McIntosh’s descendants approved of the school’s naming in 1981 and that the chief “was a brave and honorable man.” All three petitions are directed at the Fayette County Board of Education, which has not yet addressed the matter.