Some Hattiesburg residents want Country Club Road renamed for a civil rights pioneer who died in December 2007.

City Council candidate Ray Coleman is leading the effort to have the street renamed J.C. Killingsworth Drive.

He says a segregated country club used to be located on the street.

Coleman says he was asked to help while campaigning in Ward 5, and met with Killingsworth’s son to learn about the man. He learned that Killingsworth was a United Methodist minister who He helped integrate Hattiesburg public schools. He also marched, boycotted and protested throughout the state, and worked with the Rev. Martin Luther King and Jesse Jackson.

A street name change requires a petition from people who live on the street, a $300 application fee and $100 per sign to replace every street sign.