Photos: Faces of 10 Confederate leaders with ties to Southern...

Education

Photos: Faces of 10 Confederate leaders with ties to Southern public schools

Alexander Hamilton Stephens: was vice president of the Confederacy. "Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition," he said, according to the Washington Post. Stephens County and the school district are named after him.

Jefferson Davis: the Kentucky native was selected by the Confederate Congress as its president. Davis, reportedly, did not want the job. He wanted a military command. Jeff Davis County and the school district are named after him.

John Pelham: the Alabama native switched sides to the Confederate army when the war began. Was called “the Gallant Pelham” because of his youthful bravery. He died from battlefield wounds. Pelham City Schools is named after him.

Joseph Brown: Georgia’s governor during the Civil War. First elected in 1857, Brown was a secessionist, warning the abolition of slavery would lead to racial equality. He frequently feuded with Confederate President Jefferson Davis during the war. After the war, Brown helped start the Atlanta school system and was its board president. Brown Middle School is named after him.

Joseph Wheeler: Born near Augusta, Wheeler graduated from West Point and served in several military campaigns before resigning to join the Confederacy after Georgia left the Union in 1861. He fought Sherman’s march to Atlanta. After the war, Wheeler was elected to Congress and became House Ways and Means Chairman. Wheeler High School in Cobb County and the Wheeler County school system are named after him.

Phillip Cook: The Twiggs County native became a general in the Confederate army. He was wounded three times during the war. After the war, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives and was Georgia’s secretary of state. Cook County and the school district are named after him.

Robert Toombs: The Georgia native was the Confederacy’s first Secretary of State. A slave-owning planter, he was known as the one of the most ardent secessionists in the U.S. Senate. He fled abroad after the war ended and refused a pardon, which prevented Toombs from regaining U.S. citizenship, according to New Georgia Encyclopedia. The Georgia Legislature named a county after him in 1905. A school system is also named after him.

Ben Hill: as a Confederate senator from 1861 to 1865, he aligned himself with the centralizing policies of Confederate president Jefferson Davis. He was a political maverick and imprisoned after the war. Hill later became a member of Congress and a U.S. senator. Ben Hill County and the school district are named after him.

Henry Gray Turner: Turner rose to rank of captain in the Confederate army during the Civil War. After the war, he became a state lawmaker and served on the Georgia Supreme Court. Turner County and the school district were named after him in 1905. Information compiled by Fred Broschart / AJC.

1/9

Alexander Hamilton Stephens: was vice president of the Confederacy. "Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition," he said, according to the Washington Post. Stephens County and the school district are named after him.

Today's Gallery Headlines

Jimmy Carter ‘forever’ stamp

PHOTOS: 2025 AJC Photos of the Year

Coca-Cola first ad

PHOTOS: Coca-Cola ads over time

Alonzo Herndon

PHOTOS: Philanthropists leave mark on Atlanta

gainesville, thomas county central

PHOTOS: Thomas County Central pummels Gainesville for 5A state title

More Galleries

First day of school standalone photo assignment

PHOTOS: School starts for Decatur students

Back to School Presser

PHOTOS: New Fulton school prepares for school year

Berry College sunset

PHOTOS: Georgia campuses among Travel & Leisure's most beautiful

Graduates of Goodwill of North Georgia job training program and career development programs line up for a graduation ceremony at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta on Monday, June 9, 2025. Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

PHOTOS: Graduates of Goodwill of North Georgia’s job training programs