Harry Baals' Name Keeps a Government Building from Bearing His Name

I was a long time resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana. I had never heard of Mr. Baals until today. He was a bit before my time. Apparently he was a popular mayor back in the day. He was elected to four terms in the 1930s and the 1950s as Mayor, and his name was on a list of choices for a new government center.

Mr. Baals was a Republican, and a lifetime resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana. He passed away in 1954. He was also the Postmaster from 1922 to 1931. So there is plenty of reason to choose his name as he was a very influential citizen of his time.

His name will more than likely not be chosen because city officials fear that with such a name the center, and or the city would be made fun of. You have to admit that it could be problematic. However, if a University in South Carolina can have a game cock as a mascot, and everyone yells go cocks. What's wrong with a building named after Harry Baals?

You all may think I'm making this up, but I swear to you it's true. I read an article on CBS News about this problem. It seems that some of Mr. Baals descendents decided to change their last name to the different spelling of Bales. It's understandable that they would want to do that.

Not all of his descendents are afraid of the stigma of the name. One of Mr. Baals great nephews still has the name in its original spelling. His name is Jim Baals and he said, ""Harry served four terms and was a wonderful mayor. I don't know what the problem is," he said. "I understand people are going to poke fun at it. That's OK. I've lived with that name for 51 years now, and I've gotten through it. I think everybody else can, too."

The city opened up naming of the center online, and so far Mr. Baals name has come up three times more than any other name. I'm sure that the city is probably not very happy that this has been launched into the media. Oh, well. It will be interesting to see what Fort Wayne officials finally decide to name the center. I guess they probably never thought that this would become such an issue.

Source:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/09/ap/strange/main20031136.shtml