White (Willye B.) Park

Just after World War II, the Rogers Park Kiwanis Club urged the City of Chicago to establish a playground in their neighborhood.  In 1949, the City used Playground Bond funds to purchase land along Ashland Avenue for park development.  Initially known as Ashland Playground, the site soon had playground equipment, a sand box, and a brick shelter house.  In winter, park patrons could ice skate on the flooded lawn.  In 1951, the City Council officially named the site Kiwanis Park, in recognition of the service club’s efforts.  In 1957, the City of Chicago transferred the park to the Chicago Park District pursuant to the Chicago Park and City Exchange of Functions Act. 

The park lies across Ashland Avenue from the Stephen F. Gale Elementary School.  In 1998, the park and the neighborhood schoolyard were jointly operated by the Park District and the Chicago Board of Education.  The Park District officially renamed the site Gale School Park the following year.  During 2000, the adjacent park and school properties were extensively improved, and a portion of Ashland Avenue closed, creating a single, unified campus park.  The Board of Ed and the Public Building Commission transferred property in 2003 and 2004 to the Park District to expand the park footprint. In 2008, the Chicago Park District constructed a new field house in Gale School Park and renamed the entire site in honor of five-time Olympian Willye B. White.

Born on Dec. 31, 1939 in Money, Mississippi, Willye B. White was raised by her grandparents in Greenwood, Mississippi. She picked cotton to help support her family but also found time to participate in sports. As a 16-year-old high school sophomore, Willye spent summers training with famed track and field coach Ed Temple at Tennessee State University and soon won a silver medal in the long jump at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. This marked the first time an American woman had won a medal in that event. She went on compete in the next four more consecutive Olympic Games.

After moving to Chicago in 1960, she began a career as a practical nurse and went on to become a public health administrator. In 1991, she founded the Willye White Foundation to help children develop self-esteem and encourage them to become productive citizens. That same year, she began working for the Chicago Park District as Director of Recreation Services, developing important programs such as sports initiatives for young girls in housing projects, the Great American Workout at Buckingham Fountain, a football camp at Soldier Field for boys and girls, and a program to recognize outstanding female athletes in 66 City High Schools.

Throughout her life, Willye B. White received much recognition and many honors. UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, honored her humanitarian efforts—selecting her as the first American winner of the Pierre de Coubertin International Fair Play Award. Her impressive list of awards includes the President’s Council on Health and Physical Fitness National Honor Award and the Women’s Sports Foundation Wilma Rudolph Courage Award. She was entered on numerous distinguished lists of athletes including the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, the Sports Illustrated for Women 100 Greatest Athletes of the Century, and Ebony Magazine named Willye B. White one of the nation’s 10 Greatest Female Athletes.