View source for Utah's Dixie

{{Redirect|Southern Utah|the university|Southern Utah University}}{{short description|Cultural region in the southwest of the U.S. state of Utah}}
{{Use American English|date = October 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = October 2019}}
[[File:Map of Utah highlighting Washington County.svg|thumb|right|"Utah's Dixie" usually refers to Washington County, highlighted in red on this county map of Utah.]]
[[File:Virginrivermap.jpg|thumb|right|Southwestern Utah is in the upper [[Colorado River]] Basin.]]

'''Dixie''' is a nickname for the populated, lower-elevation area of south-central [[Washington County, Utah|Washington County]], the southwest corner of the State of [[Utah]], bordering nearby [[Arizona]] to the south, and [[Nevada]] to the west. The area lies in the northeastern [[Mojave Desert]], south of Black Ridge and west of the [[Hurricane Cliffs]]. Its winter climate is significantly milder than the rest of Utah. 

Originally settled by [[Southern Paiute people|Southern Paiutes]], the area became part of the [[United States]] after the [[Mexican–American War]], in the subsequent [[Mexican Cession]] of 1849 of lands in the [[Southwestern United States|old Southwest]]. The following year, portions of it were organized by the [[United States Congress]] and approved by the [[President of the United States|U.S. president]] as the new federal [[Utah Territory]]. In 1854, members of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) moved to the area from the [[Great Salt Lake]] region to establish [[President of the Church (LDS Church)|church president]] and territorial governor [[Brigham Young]]'s intended Indian mission in the region.<ref name="Under Dixie Sun">{{Cite book |first1= Hazel |last1= Bradshaw |first2= Nellie |last2= Jenson |title= Under Dixie Sun: a History of Washington County |publisher= [[Daughters of Utah Pioneers]] Washington County Chapter |year= 1978 |orig-year= 1950 |oclc= 4831960 |page= 23 }}</ref>  After arrival, the settlers led by [[Jacob Hamblin]] in [[Santa Clara, Utah|Santa Clara]], began growing [[cotton]] and other temperate cash crops in and around the town. By 1860, the Paiute native population had declined due to disease and gradual displacement by the new white settlers.<ref>[https://historytogo.utah.gov/paiute-indians/ Utah History To Go, Paiute Indians] from historytogo.utah.gov accessed December 4, 2015.</ref><ref name="Arrington">{{cite journal |first= Leonard J. |last= Arrington |author-link= Leonard J. Arrington |title= The Mormon Cotton Mission in Southern Utah |journal= [[Pacific Historical Review]] |volume= 25 |issue= 3 |pages= 221–238 |date=August 1956 |doi= 10.2307/3637013 |jstor= 3637013 }}</ref>

Because of the warmer climate, the importance of cotton crops grown in the region, and the Southern origin of some early settlers, the area was nicknamed Utah's "Dixie”. This referenced the original [[Dixie]], the nickname for The South of the eleven [[Southeastern United States|southern states]] of the [[United States]] further east that had seceded and formed the temporarily independent [[Confederate States of America]] government, which lost the subsequent [[American Civil War]].

== The Cotton Mission ==
The area was first referred to as the "Cotton Mission", in response to Brigham Young's 14th General Epistle issued in October 1856. Although he determined that the [[Great Basin]] region surrounding the Great Salt Lake and extending to the west and south be self-sufficient, but it was not at first. He criticized his fellow Latter-day Saints as "quite negligent in raising cotton and flax.” His emphatic command was: "And let our brethren who have the means, bring on cotton and woolen machinery, that we may be enabled to manufacture our own goods, so fast as we shall be able to supply ourselves with the raw material...."<ref name="Epistles">{{Cite book |last= Neilson |first= Reid L. |title= Settling the Valley, Proclaiming the Gospel: The General Epistles of the Mormon First Presidency |publisher= [[Oxford University Press]] |year= 2017 |isbn=  978-0190600891 }}</ref>

=== Origin ===
"[The] first groups of settlers [arriving in Spring 1857] – the Adair and Covington Companies – were from further east in the southern states, mainly from [[Mississippi]], [[Alabama]], [[Virginia]], [[Texas]], and [[Tennessee]]."<ref name="Red Hills">{{Cite book |last= Larson |first= Andrew K. |title= The Red Hills of November: A Pioneer Biography of Utah's Cotton Town |location= Salt Lake City|publisher= [[Deseret News Press]] |year= 1957 |asin=  B0007JCUQ6 |page= 9 }}</ref> While there is no indication that [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] was practiced in Utah's cotton farming, Robert Dockery Covington, the leader of the second company of Latter-day Saints, was a former slave overseer and was listed in earlier U.S. Decennial Census records as owning eight slaves per the 1840 Census,<ref name = "Covington Census">{{cite United States census | url = https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHTX-K32?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=KWV9-9PM | title = R. Covington| year = 1840 | location = Noxubee, Mississippi| roll = 218| page = 13| line = 9| imagenum = 00206 | digfolnum = 005154557  | nafilm = M704 218 | access-date = 2020-070033 }}</ref> which made "farming a very profitable occupation.” It is unknown whether Covington had grown cotton or supervised slaves who grew cotton.<ref name="Covington History">{{cite news |title= History of Robert Dockery Covington|url= https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/KWV9-9PM | page = 2 |access-date=2020-07-03 }}</ref> A contemporary said: "He was a strong Rebel sympathizer and rejoiced whenever he heard of a Southern victory."<ref name="Family Record and History of George A. [sic] Hicks">{{cite news |title= Family Record and History of George A. [sic] Hicks |page = 32 }}</ref><ref name="Shadows">{{Cite book |last= Aird |first= Polly |title= Playing with Shadows: Voices of Dissent in the Mormon West |publisher= [[Arthur H. Clark Company]] |year= 2011 |isbn=  978-0870623806 |page= __ }}</ref> Covington was the first president of the LDS Church's Washington [[Ward (LDS Church)#Branch|Branch]].<ref name="I Was Called to Dixie">{{Cite book |first=Andrew|last= Larson|title=I Was Called to "Dixie:" The Virgin River Basin: Unique Experiences on Mormon Pioneering |publisher= [[Dixie College Foundation]] St. George, Utah |year= 1992 |page= 68}}</ref> Covington's first counselor was Alexander Washington Collins, who the contemporary said was a former slave driver known to publicly and humorously tell horrific stories of whippings and rapes of his slaves.<ref name="Family Record and History of George A. [sic] Hicks"/><ref name="Shadows"/><ref>{{cite news |last= Maffly|first= Brian|date= 2012-12-10|title="Utah's Dixie was steeped in slave culture, historians say" and Correction |url= https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=55424505&itype=cmsid&fbcli |work=Salt Lake Tribune |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-08}}</ref>

Andrew Larson's landmark history of the area in 1992 states that it was already referred to as “Dixie" by 1857: 
{{blockquote|Already the settled area of the Virgin Valley was being called Utah's "Dixie". The fact that cotton would grow there, as well as tobacco and other semi-tropical plants such as the South, produced made it easy for the name to stick. The fact that the settlers at Washington were ''bona fide'' Southerners who were steeped in the lore of cotton culture—many of them, at least—clinched the title. Dixie it became, and Dixie it remained. ... The name "Dixie" is one of those distinctive things about this part of Utah ... It is a proud title. |Andrew Larson|I Was Called to Dixie (p. 185) [Emphasis in original]}}

=== Early challenges ===
"[T]he harsh environment, the intense heat of summer, the continual toil, and the ravages of malaria  . . . led some of the settlers to desert the place at the end of the first season."<ref>I Was Called to Dixie, p. 71.</ref> In the fall of 1858, it was reported "that of approximately 400 acres planted to cotton only 130 acres could be counted a success".<ref>I Was Called to Dixie, p. 70.</ref> Cultivation of cotton and food crops depended on irrigation, which was a collective activity.<ref name="Irrigation in Utah">{{cite news |last = Fuller | first = Craig |title= Irrigation in Utah|url= https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/i/IRRIGATION.shtml |access-date=2020-07-04 }}</ref> There were regular food shortages, including "the 'starving time' when many people were reduced to eating pigweed, alfalfa, and carrot top greens in lieu of a more substantial diet".<ref>I Was Called to Dixie, p. 75.</ref> The area's culture included a shared religion, shared suffering and success, and even a collective economy for a time.<ref>I Was Called to Dixie, pp. 290-313.</ref>

=== End of the Cotton Mission ===
The Cotton Mission did not work as well as Young had hoped. Yields in the test fields were not as high as expected, and growing cotton never gained economic viability, although a cotton mill was built and used for a few years in the Town of [[Washington, Utah|Washington]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://wchsutah.org/buildings/washington-cotton-factory.php|title= Washington Cotton Factory|website=wchsutah.org|publisher= Washington County Historical Society|access-date=November 12, 2013}}</ref> "[C]onsistent operation of the Factory" ended in 1897.<ref>I Was Called to "Dixie' p. 232.</ref>

== The name "Dixie" ==
 [[File:1914 D Sugarloaf.jpg|thumb|Prominent landmark red rock hill named "Sugarloaf" (a.k.a. "Dixie Rock")  overlooking nearby town of [[St. George, Utah]], [[county seat]] of surrounding [[Washington County, Utah|Washington County]] in southwest [[Utah]]'s Dixie region, pictured with "1914 D" markings / graffiti from graduating class of nearby state college. (photo taken c.1914).]] Local residents and others in Utah used “Dixie" to refer to the area. In 1915, the LDS Church-sponsored St. George Stake Academy, founded four years earlier in 1911, officially became reorganized, secularized and renamed as the [[Utah Tech University|Dixie Academy]] (now [[Utah Tech University]]).<ref>I Was Called to "Dixie' p. 563.</ref> Shortly thereafter, "Dixie" was painted on Sugarloaf, the nearby prominent red rock hill above the [[county seat]] town of St. George. “Dixie Rock,” as it became known, previously had been painted with the year of the college's graduating class and a "D.”<ref>{{cite news |last= Passey |first= Brian |date= 2015-11-06|title= Call 'Dixie Rock' by its real name.|url= https://www.thespectrum.com/story/life/2015/11/06/some-might-call-dixie-rock-but-s-sugarloaf/75252246/ |work= The Spectrum|location= St. George, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-03}}</ref> 

The wider option of Dixie occurred during a period of nostalgic American Civil War history revisionism, including the [[Lost Cause of the Confederacy]] myth. Dixie and The South became idealized "by the many attentions of northern artists to southern mythology, the North's fascination with aristocracy and lost causes, the national appeal of the agrarian myth, and the South's personification of that ideal, to say nothing of the North's persistent use of the South in the manipulation of her own racial mythology."<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Gerster|first1= Patrick|last2= Cords|first2=Nicholas |date=November 1977 |title= The Northern Origins of Southern Mythology|journal= The Journal of Southern History|volume=XLIII |issue=4 |pages=567–582 |doi=10.2307/2207006 |jstor= 2207006}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Cox|first=Karen L. |date=2011 |title=Dreaming of Dixie: How the South was Created in American Popular Culture |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=luw0oCagYLQC|location=Chapel Hill, NC |publisher=The University of North Carolina Press |isbn=9780807834718}}</ref> Dozens of institutions and businesses in the area of southwest Utah over the decades adopted and used the name "Dixie".<ref name="Wilkins">{{cite news |last= Wilkins|first= Terell|date= 2020-07-02|title= The argument returns: How St. George kept its 'Dixie' name and what happens now|url= https://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2020/07/02/st-george-dixie-debate-returns-history-future-racism-confederacy/5357687002/ |work= The Spectrum|location= St. George, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-03}}</ref>

== 20th century links to the old Confederacy ==
Links between southwest Utah's Dixie region and the old southern [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] re-emerged in 1952, when then-Dixie Junior College athletics teams adopted 'Rebel' as their nickname and the school made its mascot as a [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]] soldier in 1956. By the end of the [[1950s]], the [[Flags of the Confederate States of America|Confederate battle flag of 1863]] was regularly flown as a school symbol."<ref name="Wilkins"/> These changes were contemporaneous with the nearby [[University of Nevada Las Vegas]] (UNLV) across the state line to the west similar adoption of the "Rebel" character name, mascot and other symbols, like "a cartoon wolf with a Confederate uniform.”<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.unlv.edu/campuslife/mascot-nickname|title= Hey Reb! and 'Rebels' Nickname|author=<!--Not stated--> |website= University of Nevada Las Vegas |date= June 21, 2017|access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref> They also occurred during the emerging intensifying simultaneously of the nation-wide [[civil rights movement]] in the 1950s, [[1960s]] and extending into the [[1970s]], against racial differences and discrimination/ segregation in the post-[[World War II]] era, between 33rd [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Harry S. Truman]] and his then controversial executive decision to racial integration and gradual elimination of segregation and discrimination in all the military branches of the [[United States Armed Forces]] in 1947 and the subsequent later landmark ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' famous legal case with the unanimous decision by the [[United States Supreme Court]] in the federal national [[capital city]] of [[Washington, D.C.]], issued in May 1954, outlawing future racial segregation in the nation's public schools.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/civil-rights-movement-timeline|date= 2017-12-04|title =  Civil Rights Movement Timeline | website= The History Channel |access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref> 

On a "parade float called 'Gone With the Plow', dating from the late 1960s, a man with his skin painted black pushe[d] a plow while a white student, formally dressed with a top hat, [held] what appear to be reins or a whip".<ref name="Maffly">{{cite news |last= Maffly|first= Brian|date= 2012-12-20|title= Should Dixie's new name honor tradition or change for the future?|url= https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=24321481&itype=storyID|work= Salt Lake Tribune|location= Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref>

John Jones and Dannelle Larsen-Rife wrote on behalf of the [[Southern Utah Anti-Discrimination Coalition]], [[Modern display of the Confederate battle flag|listing many Confederacy-related activities]] at Dixie State College, including “black-face minstrel shows (through October 2012), mock slave auctions (through the early 1990s),<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Slave Sale Planned at Dixie College|work= Washington County News|location=St. George Utah |date=1962-05-10 }};{{cite news |title=Dixie Hilites|work= Washington County News|location=St. George Utah |date=1976-12-02}};{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= College Selling Slaves|work= Washington County News|location=St. George Utah |date=1980-11-06 }};</ref> [[Modern display of the Confederate battle flag|Confederate flags (continuing to the present), and numerous other associations to the Confederacy]] prevalent on this campus (The "Rebel" mascot as recently as 2008, "True Rebel Night" is ongoing; The Dixie Confederate yearbook into the 1990s)."<ref>{{cite news |last= Jones|first= John|date= 2012-11-30|title= The Dixie in Dixie State College|url= https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=24319296&itype=storyID|work= Salt Lake Tribune|location= Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref>

The ''[[Salt Lake Tribune]]'' recounted photos in Dixie College yearbooks, called for years as ''The Confederate''. "[A]s late as the early [[1990s]] [w]hite students sing in black face, dress as Confederate soldiers, stage slave auctions and affectionately display the Confederate battle standard."<ref name="Maffly"/><ref>{{cite web |url= https://wchsutah.org/schools/dixie-college-yearbooks/dixie-college-yearbooks.php|title= Dixie College Yearbooks|author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 1941–1999|website= Washington County Historical Society|access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref> The local newspaper ''The Spectrum'' reviewed and published excerpts from local newspapers and Dixie College publications that contained Confederate related activities, photographs, and references.<ref>{{cite news |last= Bancroft|first= Kaitlyn|date= 2020-07-17|title= Confederate flags, mock slave auctions, minstrel shows: Can Utah's 'Dixie' be separated from past associations?|url= https://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2020/07/17/dixie-name-racist-history-confederacy-st-george-utah/5370233002/|work= The Spectrum|location= St. George, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-17}}</ref>

In March 1987 and 1988, the community held a festival called a "Secession", presided over by then 13th [[Governor of Utah]], [[Norman Bangerter]], in 1987, and in the following year by [[Wilford Brimley]], the famous actor and Utah native, in 1988.<ref>{{cite news |date= 1988-02-16|title= Brimley to preside over secession |work= Washington County News|location= St. George Utah.}}</ref> Events included a grand Southern-style ball presided over by a costumed Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara, who also participated in many publicity photos.<ref>{{cite news |date= 1987-02-27|title= Boat to be sold at 'Ball'| work= Washington County News|location= St. George Utah. }}</ref> A 40-foot Confederate flag was hung over St. George Boulevard.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mellor |first=Pat |date= 1987-03-13|title= Dixie kicks off two day 'secession'|work= Washington County News|location= St. George Utah }}</ref> Smaller Confederate flags were displayed widely by city, county and school officials in promotional photographs. The former St. George local daily newspaper ''[[The Spectrum (Utah)|Washington County News]]'' (now merged into ''[[The Spectrum (Utah)|The Spectrum and Daily News]]'' of the [[Gannett|Gannett Company]] nation-wide media chain), front-page masthead included the old Confederate battle flag and the slogan that it was published in “St. George, Confederate State of Dixie", and the headline puckishly reading that the "Area About to Leave Union Again".<ref>{{cite news |last=Olbert |first=Rae Dawn|date= 1988-02-15|title= Area about to leave 'Union' again |work= Washington County News|location= St. George Utah}}.</ref>

== "Dixie" controversy ==
Controversy over the use of "Dixie" has repeatedly arisen in the larger Southern Utah community.

===Dixie State University===
{{further|Utah Tech University#"Dixie" name, Confederacy symbols, and mascot changes}}

The Confederate flag was removed as a Dixie College symbol in 1993. The Confederate soldier 'Rodney the Rebel' was eliminated as the mascot in 2005 and the nickname 'Rebels' was discontinued in 2007.<ref name="Wilkins"/>

That same year, the Dixie State College administration considered affiliation with the [[University of Utah]], and “U.U. officials said dropping the 'baggage' of Dixie would be mandatory."  "'Dixie' has connotations of the Old South, the Confederacy, and racism,’ Randy Dryer, then the U.U. trustees' chairman, wrote to the academic journal ''The Chronicle of Higher Education''."<ref name="Maffly"/> The affiliation with the University of Utah did not happen at that time.

In 2012, many articles appeared as the [[college]] was about to make "the leap to [[university]] status next year".<ref name="Maffly"/> ''[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]'', the state's largest and influential daily newspaper in the [[state capital]] and largest city in Utah, editorialized that the school needed a new name based on the pioneer origin of the name, and Confederacy-honoring practices of the students.<ref>{{cite news |date= 2013-01-13|title= Dixie State College:It is time for a new name|url= https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=24923809&itype=storyID|work= Salt Lake Tribune|location= Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref> An African American student told the ''Tribune'' he was shocked to find old college yearbooks with photos "of students in blackface, holding mock slave auctions, dressed in Confederate uniforms and staging parade floats and skits that seem to ridicule blacks, such as a crowd in black face behind a white student dressed as a Col. Sanders-type figure. 'In 1968 they were still doing minstrel shows,'" he said.<ref>{{cite news |last= Maffly|first= Brian|date= 2012-12-24|title= Student, faculty dissent a new challenge for Dixie, community|url= https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=24635578&itype=storyID|work= Salt Lake Tribune|location= Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref> The college student body president said in 2012 that when "on recruiting trips to [[California]] that he encountered students unwilling to consider studying at a place called Dixie. "One said, 'Your name makes me shudder,' and walked away ..." Faculty members who raised the issue complained about being asked to leave the community.<ref>{{cite news |last= Maffly|first= Brian|date= 2012-12-24|title= Student, faculty dissent a new challenge for Dixie, community|url= https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=24923809&itype=storyID|work= Salt Lake Tribune|location= Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref>

In July 2015, following the [[Charleston, South Carolina]], shootings at a downtown prominent Black / African American church by [[Dylann Roof]], Dannelle Larsen-Rife again editorialized for renaming Dixie State University.<ref>{{cite news |last= Larsen-Rife|first=Dannelle  |date= 2015-07-15|title=The time is now to rename Dixie State University |url= https://www.thespectrum.com/story/opinion/2015/07/05/dixie-state-university-confederacy-utah/29663889/ |work= The Spectrum |location= St. George, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref> She was interviewed on an episode of the state-wide [[public radio]] program ''"[[RadioWest (KUER)|RadioWest]]"'' on station [[KUER|KUER-FM]], with professors from the [[University of Utah]] and the [[University of Wyoming]].<ref>{{Cite episode |title= Utah's "Dixie" |url=https://radiowest.kuer.org/post/utahs-dixie |access-date= 2020-07-04 |series = RadioWest|network=NPR |station= KUER |date= 2015-07-15 |language= en }}</ref> A substantial statue of rebel soldiers and a horse, with a Confederate flag displayed, was returned to its sculptor.<ref>{{cite news |last= Maffly|first=Brian |date= January 13, 2015|title= Dixie State University returning controversial 'Rebels' statue to artist|url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4389143&itype=storyID  |work= Salt Lake Tribune|location= Salt Lake City, Utah|access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref>

In 2020, in the wake of the incident of the [[murder of George Floyd]] by city police officers in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]], and the extensive nation-wide [[George Floyd protests|subsequent protests]], the issue again returned to the forefront of public attention. Jamie Belnap, a former resident of St. George, wrote "Now, seven years after the vote at DSU [to retain the Dixie name], murmurings about the name 'Dixie' have begun again. There's a new petition and, unsurprisingly, online detractors from the community have already begun to emerge.... Isn't it time DSU sends a message to its students of color that it cares more about equality than nostalgia?"<ref>{{cite news |last= Belnap|first=Jamie|date= 2020-06-24|title= Racism is ingrained in Dixie State's history |url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4389143&itype=storyID  |work= Salt Lake Tribune|location= Salt Lake City, Utah|access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref> On December 14, 2020, the University's board of trustees voted to recommend removing the word ''Dixie'' from the school's name. The 2021 session of the [[Utah Legislature]] meeting in the [[Utah State Capitol]] in [[Salt Lake City]] voted to take the recommendation, starting a year-long process to solicit input and consider alternative names.<ref name="trib2020">{{cite web |last1=Jacobs |first1=Becky |title=Dixie State University trustees recommend removing 'Dixie' from school's name |url=https://sltrib.com/news/2020/12/14/dixie-state-university/ |website=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |access-date=14 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215001830/https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/12/14/dixie-state-university/ |archive-date=15 December 2020 |date=14 December 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Vigdor|first=Neil |date=2020-12-15 |title=Dixie State University in Utah Says It's in Need of a Name Change |work=The New York Times |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/us/dixie-state-name-change.html |access-date=2020-12-15}}</ref> The Board of Trustees of D.S.U. and the Utah State Board of Education both voted unanimously voted to move forward with the new name of "Utah Tech University". Earlier than expected, after in November 2021, the [[Utah State Legislature]] was called into a special session by 18th [[Governor of Utah]] [[Spencer Cox (politician)|Spencer Cox]] (born 1975, serving since 2021). While the primary purpose for that session was to approve redistricting maps following the [[2020 U.S. census|2020 U.S. Decennial Census]], The name change bill for Dixie State was also included on topics to be raised and discussed by Utah legislators that term.<ref>{{Cite web|last=McKellar|first=Katie|date=2021-11-05|title=Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has called the Utah Legislature into special session. Here's what's on the agenda|url=https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/11/5/22766145/utah-gov-spencer-cox-has-called-utah-legislature-into-special-session-heres-agenda-dixie-state-biden|access-date=2021-11-10|website=Deseret News|language=en}}</ref> While the issue continued to be contentious, the decision to bring the issue early into special session at the State Capitol was made because leaders felt no more information was needed, only a vote and decision. Both chambers of the [[bicameral]] [[state legislature]] voted on November 10, 2021 to change the name of the university near St. George to '''[[Utah Tech University]]''' effective eight months later in July 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dixie State gets final approval from Utah lawmakers to drop contentious name|url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2021/11/10/dixie-state-university/|access-date=2021-11-12|website=The Salt Lake Tribune|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Dixie Convention Center===
In 2020, controversy also affected the name of the [[Dixie Center|Dixie Convention Center]]. After a rebranding study, the governing board voted to change the Dixie Center name to Greater Zion Convention Center, consistent with the area's already renamed Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office, which had an earlier name change the year before in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |last= Richardson|first= Ryann|date= 2019-05-23|title= Washington County tourism office changes its name as part of rebranding strategy |url = https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2019/05/23/arh-washington-county-tourism-office-changes-its-name-as-part-of-rebranding-strategy/#.XwEjQOdMGDJ |work= St. George News|location= St. George, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref> "The vote to change [the Convention Center name] to Greater Zion on June 23 led to a flood of social media posts and an [[online petition]] that gathered over 17,000 signatures of public citizens in favor of keeping Dixie as the name."
<ref>{{cite news |last= Peery|first= Lexi|date= 2020-06-29|title= Local Leaders Vote To Keep Dixie Center Name, For Now, After Receiving Backlash |url= https://www.kuer.org/post/local-leaders-vote-keep-dixie-center-name-now-after-receiving-backlash#stream/0 |work= KUER|location= Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref> "[A]fter a public comment period in which multiple community members expressed strong support of the Dixie name, the Interlocal Agency amended the motion to temporarily revert to the Dixie Center name and to meet again on the issue in six months."<ref>{{cite news |last= Bancroft|first= Kaitlyn|date= 2020-06-30|title= Accused of political correctness, officials keep 'Dixie' name over 'Zion' for center|url= https://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2020/06/30/southern-utah-dixie-convention-center-keeps-name-for-now-change-org-petition/3283205001/ |work= The Spectrum|location= St. George, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-03}}</ref>

===In the community===
A substantial number of citizens gathered at the St. George City offices July 2, 2020 to advocate for retaining the "Dixie" names.<ref>{{cite news |last= Caldwell|first= Chris|date= 2020-07-02|title= Protesters gather downtown to oppose talks to change 'Dixie' names|url= https://www.thespectrum.com/picture-gallery/news/2020/07/02/protesters-gather-downtown-st-george-oppose-change-dixie-name/5364720002/ |work= The Spectrum|location= St. George, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Wilkins|first= Terrell|date= 2020-07-02|title= St. George 'Protect Dixie' rally: Name defended as preventing racism|url= https://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/2020/07/02/st-george-residents-protest-removing-dixie-name-city-culture/5364791002/ |work= The Spectrum|location= St. George, Utah |access-date= 2020-07-04}}</ref>
Joey Sammons Ashby, who organized the event as part of the Protect Dixie effort,<ref>{{Facebook page | id= jProtect-Utahs-Dixie-104770767963181/| name= Protect Utah's Dixie}}.</ref> said "People in St. George are not racist.... We were never racist — never...." "You're not going to get rid of racism, but, instead of complaining, think about the blessings black people have." "Because of their ancestors, they're able to be an American, they were able to be born here, they're able to do something for themselves because this is America. This is America, and they can pull up their bootstraps and do it if they want to. There's plenty of people to help the blacks right now so instead of complaining, do something."  "We used to have [[minstrel shows]] here in St. George. It was in fun, it was nothing racist." "I used to dress up with a [[blackface]] for Halloween. I think actually it was a compliment to want to look like a blackface."<ref>{{cite news |last= Williams|first= Ryne|date= 2020-07-02|title='You're not going to get rid of racism': 80-year-old woman organizes protest to 'Protect Utah's Dixie' |url=https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2020/07/02/rmw-youre-not-going-to-get-rid-of-racism-80-year-old-woman-organizes-protest-to-protect-utahs-dixie#.XwpChudMFKI |work=St. George News |location=St. George, Utah |access-date=2020-07-11 }}</ref>

===Dixie Regional Medical Center===
On July 16, 2020, Intermountain Health Care announced that the Dixie Regional Medical Center’s name would become Intermountain '''[[St. George Regional Hospital]]''' effective six months later on January 1, 2021. Mitch Cloward, hospital administrator, said "The meaning of Dixie is not clear for everyone. For some, it only requires explanation; for others, who are not from this area, it has offensive connotations.... Our hospital name should be strong, clear and make everyone we serve feel safe and welcome."<ref>{{cite news |last= Williams|first=Carter |date=2020-07-16 |title=Intermountain to rename Dixie Regional Medical Center |url=https://www.ksl.com/article/50000248/intermountain-to-rename-dixie-regional-medical-center |work=KSL.com |location= Salt Lake City, Utah|access-date= 2020-07-16}}</ref>

== Today ==
[[St. George, Utah|St. George]], founded in 1861, largest town and current [[county seat]] of [[Washington County, Utah]]<ref name="Logue">{{Cite book |last= Logue |first= Larry M. |title= A Sermon in the Desert: Belief and Behavior in Early St. George, Utah |location= Urbana |publisher= [[University of Illinois Press]] |year= 1988 |isbn= 025201474X |oclc= 16709942 }}</ref> when [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] ([[Mormons]]) patriarch / church president and territorial governor [[Brigham Young]] (1801-1877), selected 300 families to take over that southern area of the old federal [[Utah Territory]] (1850-1896), and grow [[cotton]], [[grapes]], and other crops, is the largest community in the area.<ref name="Logue"/>{{rp|3}} Other communities in surrounding [[Washington County, Utah|Washington County]] of the southwestern corner of Utah, include [[Ivins, Utah|Ivins]], [[Santa Clara, Utah|Santa Clara]], [[Hurricane, Utah|Hurricane]], [[La Verkin, Utah|La Verkin]], and [[Toquerville, Utah|Toquerville]]. The population is nearly 180,000 in the St. George metropolitan area.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=kf7tgg1uo9ude_&met_y=population&idim=county:49053:49021&hl=en&dl=en|title=Public Data Population Washington County, Utah Population.|access-date=2020-07-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/STGPOP |title=Resident Population in St. George, UT (MSA) (STGPOP)  |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2019-01-01 |website= Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis |access-date= 2020-07-11}}</ref>

“Dixie” is almost exclusively used to refer to Washington County itself. However, it sometimes is used to refer to a larger region, including nearby [[Kane County, Utah|Kane]] (to the east), and [[Iron County, Utah|Iron]] (to the north) adjacent [[county|counties]], or an even broader definition of across southern Utah. The term ''"[[Payson–Dixon line]]"'' (a humorous phonetic play on the words / geographic term of the [[18th century]]'s famous [[Mason–Dixon line]] further east in the [[Eastern United States]] of the border between [[Pennsylvania]] to the north and [[Maryland]] / [[Delaware]] to the south, laid out and drawn in 1763-1767, by surveyors [[Charles Mason]] (1728-1786), and [[Jeremiah Dixon]] (1733-1779). It was the longtime traditional borderline between [[slave state (United States)|slave]] and [[free state (United States)|free states]] in the [[19th century]] before the [[American Civil War]] (1861-1865), The term implies that everything south of the town of [[Payson, Utah|Payson]] and the [[Wasatch Front]] range of mountains generally is considered "Dixie".<ref>{{cite podcast |host=Chris, Bre, Jeremy, Jessica |title=Episode 193 Cross the Payson/Dixon Line to the Jello Belt |website=The New Utah Podcast |publisher=The New Utah Podcast|url=https://thenewutah.com/2020/02/07/episode-193-cross-the-payson-dixon-line-to-the-jello-belt/ |access-date=26 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-22 |title=2021 State Of The State: Full Text Of Gov. Spencer Cox's Address |url=https://www.kuer.org/news/2021-01-21/2021-state-of-the-state-gov-spencer-cox |access-date=2022-06-26 |website=KUER |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Wikivoyage|Utah's Dixie}}
* {{citation |first1= James Godson |last1= Bleak |first2= William J |last2= Snow |first3= H Lorenzo |last3= Reid |year= 1928 |title= Annals of the Southern Utah Mission |oclc= 43290460 }}
* {{Citation | last = Evans | first = Georgene Cahoon | title = Utah History Encyclopedia | publisher = University of Utah Press | year = 1994 | chapter = The Cotton Mission | chapter-url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/c/COTTON_MISSION.shtml | url = https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230322214839/https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/c/COTTON_MISSION.shtml | archive-date = March 22, 2023 | isbn =9780874804256 | access-date = April 13, 2024}}

{{Utah}}

[[Category:Regions of Utah]]
[[Category:Geography of Washington County, Utah]]
[[Category:Mojave Desert]]
[[Category:1854 establishments in Utah Territory]]