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Baltimore Democrat To File Legislation Renaming Robert E. Lee Park…
Camp Out
Baltimore is saved… well, except for the rampant black-on-black crime.
Via Baltimore Sun
City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young is taking the first legal step to strip a popular county-operated park of its Confederate ties.
Young says he will file a bill Monday to change the name of Robert E. Lee Park, which is owned by the city, to Lake Roland Park. But some say a woman who died 100 years ago could be standing in his way.
Elizabeth B. Garrett White, a wealthy Baltimorean, required when she died in 1917 that the proceeds from the sale of her Mount Vernon Place estate be used to erect a monument for Lee, a Confederate general who spent time in the city during White’s lifetime.
“If it were me, and my will, I would haunt them so terribly that they would change their minds after a week,” said Carolyn Billups, Maryland division president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Young said he’s prepared to take on the challenge. He said “racially divisive” Confederate symbols have no place in the city.
“We’re doing it,” Young said. “We’ve changed names of schools. We’ll defend changing the name. You can go around the city of Baltimore, and all around the country — names of prominent people have disappeared, have come off buildings.”[…]
Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz called on the city to change the park’s name, preferring one more sensitive to the diverse population that uses the space. The county has made $6 million in upgrades to the park since taking over operations in 2009.
“The park is centered around historic Lake Roland, and the name Lake Roland Park better reflects this open space treasure,” Kamenetz said in a statement Friday. “We look forward to making a joint announcement with the city about the name change in the near future.”
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake supports changing the park’s name. Her spokesman, Kevin Harris, said she has not settled on a new name she’d prefer, but she’s “not going to stand in the way” of the council’s legislation. Harris said Rawlings-Blake would sign a bill renaming the space Lake Roland Park if the legislation makes it to her desk.
Camp Out
Baltimore is saved… well, except for the rampant black-on-black crime.
Via Baltimore Sun
City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young is taking the first legal step to strip a popular county-operated park of its Confederate ties.
Young says he will file a bill Monday to change the name of Robert E. Lee Park, which is owned by the city, to Lake Roland Park. But some say a woman who died 100 years ago could be standing in his way.
Elizabeth B. Garrett White, a wealthy Baltimorean, required when she died in 1917 that the proceeds from the sale of her Mount Vernon Place estate be used to erect a monument for Lee, a Confederate general who spent time in the city during White’s lifetime.
“If it were me, and my will, I would haunt them so terribly that they would change their minds after a week,” said Carolyn Billups, Maryland division president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Young said he’s prepared to take on the challenge. He said “racially divisive” Confederate symbols have no place in the city.
“We’re doing it,” Young said. “We’ve changed names of schools. We’ll defend changing the name. You can go around the city of Baltimore, and all around the country — names of prominent people have disappeared, have come off buildings.”[…]
Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz called on the city to change the park’s name, preferring one more sensitive to the diverse population that uses the space. The county has made $6 million in upgrades to the park since taking over operations in 2009.
“The park is centered around historic Lake Roland, and the name Lake Roland Park better reflects this open space treasure,” Kamenetz said in a statement Friday. “We look forward to making a joint announcement with the city about the name change in the near future.”
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake supports changing the park’s name. Her spokesman, Kevin Harris, said she has not settled on a new name she’d prefer, but she’s “not going to stand in the way” of the council’s legislation. Harris said Rawlings-Blake would sign a bill renaming the space Lake Roland Park if the legislation makes it to her desk.
