Oscar winner Julianne Moore petitions to change JEB Stuart High School's name

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In mid-1970s Moore attended JEB Stuart High School in Fairfax, Virginia
She and friend Bruce Cohen, an Oscar-winning producer, started Change.org petition asking school to be renamed for Thurgood Marshall
Stuart was slave-owning general known as 'eyes and ears' of Robert E Lee
Confederate flag used to be on the school symbol and basketball court
Push for change comes after Charleston, South Carolina, shootings

By Christopher Brennan For Dailymail.com

Published: 20:04 EST, 24 August 2015 | Updated: 22:55 EST, 24 August 2015

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Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore is campaigning that her high school change its name away from a Confederate general.

JEB Stuart High School in Fairfax, Virginia, was founded in 1959 and allegedly named in honor of the Civil War commander in apparent protest at the Supreme Court's decision to integrate schools.

Moore and her high school friend-turned-producer Bruce Cohen are demanding that the school rename itself, and started a Change.org petition that had already amassed more than 28,000 signatures as of Monday night.

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Oscar winner Julianne Moore has started a position to change the name of JEB Stuart High School in Virginia. Above, she attends an Alzheimer's Association event in June (left) and acts in high school (right)

The school formerly included the Confederate flag on its basketball court and in its school symbol. Moore said that students should not have to be embarrassed about a name with ties to slavery

The petition says 'this school is attended by a diverse group of students who should not have to attend a school that bears the name of a man who fought to keep African Americans enslaved'.

Stuart was a slave owner who quickly left the US Army and joined the Confederacy shortly after Virginia seceded, according to the History Channel.

He was known as the 'eyes and ears' of General Robert E Lee, though his actions are thought to have led to the South's loss at the Battle of Gettysburg, a turning point in the war.

Moore and Cohen, who produced hits such as Big Fish and won an Oscar for American Beauty, suggest changing the name to Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall.

They say the justice, who argued the Brown v Board of Education integration case in front of the Supreme Court before joining it, was a neighbor of the school.

When the Hollywood actress attended the school in the mid-1970s the basketball court allegedly had a Confederate flag on it and the school's symbol, Stuart riding a horse, also featured the controversial banner.

The school has since removed the flag from both locations in 2001, according to the petition.

Moore started the petition with friend Bruce Cohen (left), who graduated from the Virginia school in 1979 and has gone on to produce films such as Big Fish and American Beauty

Stuart (right) was known as the 'eyes and ears' of Robert E Lee's army during the Civil War and the petition says that the school was named as a protest against school integration. Moore and Cohen suggest renaming the school for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (left) who also argued Brown v Board of Education

'No one should have to apologize for the name of the public high school you attended and the history of racism it represents, as we and so many alumni of Stuart have felt the need to do our whole lives,' the petition said.

Moore's call for the school to be renamed comes amid a push across parts of the country to remove the flag and other honors towards the slave-owning Confederacy after white supremacist shooter Dylann Roof shot nine black church-goers dead in south Carolina this June.

The student population at JEB Stuart are now almost half Hispanic, along with 24 per cent white, 14 per cent Asian-American and 11 per cent black, the Washington Post reported.

'I'm signing because as a JEB. Stuart High School student, I feel embarrassed to say I go to a school named after someone who wouldn't support our diverse student body' a post on the petition from Anna Rowan said.

Cohen told the Post that 'It’s something that embarrassingly none of us stopped to think, ‘How did our school get this name?'

The producer said that he and Moore decided to lend their star power to the cause after hearing about students advocating for the change.

Cohen graduated from the school in 1979. Moore, part of a military family, finished school in Germany.

The push to rename the school comes as many uses of the Confederate flag and names honoring the Confederacy have faces calls for removal. Above, Moore (center) in a yearbook photo

The school used to have the Confederate flag featured in its school symbol until 2001. Above, Moore with her husband and children on the red carpet (left) and acting in a high school play (right)