Naval Academy building renamed in honor of Jimmy Carter

The U.S. Navy has renamed a building at the Naval Academy to honor former President Jimmy Carter.

Maury Hall has been renamed Carter Hall, according to a news release on Friday. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said this followed a vote by Congress to identify and remove names connected to the Confederacy from U.S. military facilities.

In Georgia, Fort Gordon and Fort Benning are among facilities that are being renamed. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III had accepted the Congressional Naming Commission’s recommendations and ordered name changes by the end of 2023.

“When Secretary Austin directed us to implement the recommendations of the Naming Commission, he instructed us to give proud new names,” Del Toro said in the news release. “Today, on the Friday before Presidents Day weekend, that is exactly what we are doing. I can think of no one more worthy of this renaming than President Jimmy Carter.”

Carter family members attended the renaming ceremony.

Carter’s grandson, Josh Carter, said, “It would be impossible to overstate what this Academy and the Navy has meant to my grandfather, and by extension to my family. It was life on the farm that gave my grandfather his work ethic and his ability to enjoy getting up at 5:30 every morning. But it was this school that taught him discipline, the value of expertise, and the importance of service. It is my hope that every student that comes through this great hall will learn the same foundational values that my grandfather learned here and through his career in the Navy.”

Carter, a 1946 graduate, is the only Academy graduate to serve later as president, according to U.S. Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck. Carter served for seven years as a submarine officer. In 2004, the former president christened the USS Jimmy Carter, a $3.3 billion nuclear submarine.

Maury Hall was previously named for Matthew Fountaine Maury, who headed the coast, harbor and river defenses for the Confederate Navy. The Naval Academy is located in Annapolis, Maryland.