TULSA — The name Brady that adorns a popular downtown street in Tulsa will remain the same but instead of honoring the city's founder and businessman who was in the Ku Klux Klan it will now celebrate a Civil War photographer who had the same name.
The change to remove Wyatt Tate Brady as the street's namesake and replace it with Mathew Brady, a 19th-century photographer best known for his images of American Civil War battlefields, was approved Thursday night by the Tulsa City Council in a 7-1 vote after weeks of heated debate throughout the city.
In addition, signs that read "Reconciliation Way" will be placed atop street signs throughout the Brady Arts District, a successful downtown redevelopment project.
The compromise plan was suggested by Councilor Blake Ewing, who said the change would retain the district's name without honoring the former namesake.
The plan was endorsed by Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett. Last week, the council deadlocked on changing the name of Brady to Burlington.