School Renamed for Lawyer Rather than Gunslinger

A Los Angeles middle school is named for Johnnie Cochran, the defense lawyer famous for his defense of O.J. Simpson, rather than Wyatt Earp, the lawman known for his role in the gunfight at the OK Corral.

Cochran, an alum who was on the debate team, died in 2005, the Los Angeles Times reports. Earp, who lived on the site of what is now the school, died in 1929. The school was renamed for Cochran a year after his death.

A movement to rename the school for Earp failed in the 1990s, the story says. One opponent complained that the “Earp” school would sound like indigestion. Others fought to keep the original school name, Mount Vernon, because it was originally designed to be a replica of George Washington’s home.

Earp’s residence was moved across the street when the school was built, and it still attracts tourists.