Confederate Park (Jacksonville)

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Confederate Park
Confederate Park, Jacksonville, FL, US (18).jpg
Confederate Park
Confederate Park (Jacksonville)
TypeMunicipal (Parks & Recreation Department)
Location Jacksonville, Florida
Coordinates 30°20′02″N81°39′16″W / 30.33389°N 81.65444°W / 30.33389; -81.65444
Area6.01 acres (24,300 m2)
Created1907
Operated byCity of Jacksonville
StatusOpen all year

Confederate Park (formerly Dignam Park until 1914) is a public park in Jacksonville, Florida, on the southern bounds of the historic neighborhood of Springfield. It is part of a network of parks that parallel Hogan's Creek.

Contents

History

Confederate Park was opened in 1907 as Dignan Park, named for a former chairman of the city's Board of Public Works. It was the first Jacksonville city park to include a playground. [1] At that time and until the Civil Rights Movement the park was open to whites only.

In 1914, Jacksonville hosted the annual reunion of the United Confederate Veterans, with estimated attendance of about 8,000 former Confederate soldiers. The UCV chose the park as the location for a new monument to honor the Women of the Southland, and five months after the reunion the city renamed the park "Confederate Park." Florida's Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy, a monument/statue, was erected in 1915.

The Confederate Playground east of Confederate Park was originally a part of Confederate Park, but was used for military training during World Wars I and II. It is now a dog park. [2]

Florida's Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy

The monument was designed in 1914 by sculptor Allen George Newman (1875–1940), and dedicated on October 26, 1915. Jno. Williams, Inc. served as the founder, and McNeel Marble Works served as the work's contractor. Its condition was deemed "treatment needed" by the Smithsonian Institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in November 1992. [3] As the inscription says, it was sponsored by the Florida Division of the United Confederate Veterans. [3]

In May 2018, the monument was cited among those targeted by the March for Change, a three-day, 40-mile (64-km) protest against Confederate monuments located in Jacksonville and St. Augustine. [4] It is No. 10 on the Make It Right Project's list of Confederate memorials it wants to see removed. [4]

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References

  1. Urban Parks: Confederate Park, Metro Jacksonville website
  2. City of Jacksonville, Department of Recreation and Community website
  3. 1 2 "Florida's Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy, (sculpture)". Smithsonian Institution . Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Holloway, Kali (June 3, 2018). "Announcing the Launch of the Make It Right Project". Independent Media Institute. Retrieved September 10, 2018.