Chicago Park District Honors Influential Women By Renaming Parks After Historic Figures
Women's History Month Programs Include Presentations by Park District Historian
Release Date: 03/08/07
As part of Women’s History Month in March, the Chicago Park District recognizes women who have made important contributions to their communities. In 2004, the Park District launched an initiative to rename parks after historically significant women who have played key roles in shaping this city’s legacy. Since then, 24 parks have been renamed to commemorate women.
“We hope that this effort continues to inspire and educate the residents of communities with the renamed parks,” said Timothy J. Mitchell, general superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District. “Each park site that is selected for renaming is located within a 3-mile radius of where one of the women lived, worked or performed community service.”
Individuals must be deceased at least one year before a park can be named in her honor. All proposed park renamings are brought to the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners for review. This is followed by a 45-day notice period to solicit public input.
In recognition of Women’s History Month, Julia Bachrach, historian at the Chicago Park District, will lead three admission-free presentations on the park renaming initiative at public libraries on the following dates:
- Wednesday, March 28 at 3 p.m. at Woodson Regional Library, 9525 S. Halsted St.
- Thursday, March 29 at 12:15 p.m. at Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St.
- Friday, March 30 at 3 p.m. Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 N. Lincoln Ave.
Since March 2004, the Chicago Park District’s Board of Commissioners has named the following parks after women:
1. Lillian Hardin Armstrong (1898 – 1971) Park, 4433 S. St. Lawrence St., is named after the jazz musician, composer and bandleader.
2. Arnita Young Boswell (1920 – 2002) Park, 6644-48 S. University Ave., is named after the accomplished social worker, educator and activist who founded the Chicago’s League of Black Women.
3. Gwendolyn Brooks (1917 – 2000) Park, 4534-40 S. Greenwood Ave., honors one of Chicago’s most acclaimed and beloved poets who served as the Poet Laureate of Illinois and won the Pulitzer Prize.
4. Bessie Coleman (1896 – 1926) Park, 5445 S. Drexel Ave., is named for the nation’s first African-American female pilot and the first African American to hold an international pilot license. Today there is a group of African-American female pilots known as the Bessie Coleman Aviators Club.
5. Lorraine L. Dixon (1950- 2001) Park, 8701-9159 S. Dauphin Ave., is named after the Chicago alderman who became the first woman to head the City Council Committee on Budget and Government Operations.
6. Lucy Flower (1837- 1921) Park, 2550 W. Moffat, commemorates the social reformer who worked to eliminate juvenile delinquency and helped found the Illinois Training School for Nurses.
7. Lorraine Hansberry (1930 – 1965) Park, 5635 S. Indiana Ave., is named after the author of the classic “A Raisin in the Sun.” In 1959, she became the youngest person and first African American to win the New York Drama Critic’s Circle Award for Best Play of the Year.
8. Harriet M. Harris Park, 6200 S. Drexel Ave., honors the philanthropist and namesake of the Harriet M. Harris YWCA in Chicago that operates out of this park.
9. Vivian Gordon Hash (1890 – 1960) Park, 4458 S. Oakenwald, honors the librarian who established research collections related to African American history well before public awareness of the topic.
10. Mahalia Jackson (1911 – 1972) Park, 8385 S. Bickhoff Ave., is named for the gospel singer who became world famous for her beautiful, warm contralto voice.
11. Nancy Jefferson (1923 – 1992) Park, 3101 W. Fulton Boulevard, is named after the nurse, social worker and civic leader who served as director of Chicago’s Midwest Community Council.
12. Mary Jane Richardson Jones (1819 – 1910) Park, 1220 S. Plymouth Ct., memorializes the women’s rights activist, philanthropist and abolitionist who helped hundreds of slaves find safety through the Underground Railroad.
13. Mary Margaret (Megs) Langdon (1918 – 1993) Park, 1754-58 W. Albion St., is named for the accomplished university administrator and award-winning community activist in the Rogers Park and Edgewater neighborhoods.
14. Margaret Hie Ding Lin (1888 – 1973) Park, 1735 S. State St., honors one of Chicago’s first Chinese physicians who played an active role in providing medical services to the residents of Chinatown.
15. Lucy Ella Gonzales Parsons (1853 – 1942) Park, 4712 W. Belmont Ave., is named after the labor reformer and women’s rights activist who organized the Working Women’s Union No. 1 in 1878, the only women workers union in Chicago at the time.
16. Guadalupe Reyes Park, 821 W. 19th St., is named after the activist and community leader who founded El Valor in 1973, an organization that is still active and provides services to people with disabilities.
17. Ellen Gates Starr (1859 – 1940) Park, 2306 W. Maypole Ave., honors the women’s rights activist and social reformer who co-founded Hull House, one of the world's first settlement houses.
18. Grace Zwiefka Thuis (1909 – 2000) Park, 4759 N. Lavergne, is named after an exemplary employee of the Chicago Park District for more than 60 years. She was one of the first female executive staff members and added activities specifically geared towards women.
19. Mamie Till-Mobley (1921 – 2003) Park, 6404-16 S. Ellis Ave., memorializes the woman who helped ignite the American Civil Rights Movement after her son Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955.
20. Chi Che Wang (1894 – 1979) Park, 1762 W. Diversey Parkway, is named after the scientist and teacher who was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1922 for the medical research she conducted for Michael Reese Hospital as a department head at the University of Chicago.
21. Dinah Washington (1924- 1963) Park, 8213-17 S. Euclid Ave., is named for the versatile and talented vocalist who was widely known as the nation’s “Queen of Blues.” She won a Grammy Award in 1959 for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance.
22. Marlene Wesolek (1937 – 2001) Park, 13401 S. Avenue M., honors the activist who organized anti-crime marches, was involved in community programs devoted to eliminating juvenile delinquency and providing educational, recreational and civic opportunities to the citizens of the Hegewisch community in Southeast Chicago.
23. Elizabeth Wood (1889 – 1993) Park, 2914 N. Leavitt St., is named after one of the nation’s most progressive housing reformers. Shortly after the Chicago Housing Authority was formed in 1937, she was appointed as the agency’s first executive secretary.
24. Helen Zatterberg (1902 –2002) Park, 4246 N. Hermitage Ave., memorializes the librarian who was dedicated to educating Chicago’s north side community about its history, preserving the area’s historical sites and archives and establishing historical collections relating to the neighborhood.
- Contact Phone: 312 742 7529