Tuskegee Airman, first Black female police officer honored with street names

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Two streets in a Louisiana city will be named after two notable hometown figures: a Tuskegee Airman and the first Black female police officer.

The Mandeville City Council voted recently to rename streets for the airman, Samuel Sams Jr., and for law officer Beverly Fulton Watson, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

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Avenue A will now be known as Corporal Samuel Sams Drive, after the World War II veteran who served with the famed 99th Fighter Squadron.

Avenue D will be renamed Officer Beverly Watson Way to honor the 20-year police veteran who retired in 2007.

Sams died in 2017. His widow, Marian Sams, was at the council meeting and said afterward she was glad her husband had lived long enough to be publicly recognized.

“I’m sure he would have been really happy and smiling,” Sams said.

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Watson, who has health issues, did not attend the council meeting. But council member Jill McGuire, whose district includes Old Mandeville and who sponsored both ordinances, said Watson’s sister suggested naming Avenue D, where the retired officer lives, in her honor.

City officials plan to hold public dedication ceremonies when the new signs go up.

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