Arts & Entertainment

Custer Fair Updates Name by Dropping Gen. Custer Reference

The executive director heard from Native American participants who were unhappy with the name and agreed it should change.

The Evanston street fair on Custer Street will still be a bustling mix of food, crafts and entertainment when it sets up this weekend. But the name will be a bit different.

Instead of Custer’s Last Stand, it will simply be Custer Fair.

The old name was a reference to Gen. George Custer — whom Custer Street was named for — who died battling Native Americans at Little Big Horn. The fair has always embraced its namesake’s history, inviting Native Americans to perform at the fest.

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But recently some of those performers, particularly the younger ones, raised concerns about the name and its historical connotations, according to an article in the Evanston Review.

They voiced them to John Szostek, the fair’s executive director, who agreed with them. Instead of sticking with the name despite opposition, a la the Washington Redskins, he decided to drop the reference to the general starting this year, the article says.

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You can read the full Evanston Review article here.

For details about the weekend’s activities, visit the fair’s website here.


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