[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 21, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S5011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RECOGNIZING THE CENTENNIAL OF THE FREDERICK DOUGLASS PARK

  Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize and celebrate the 
centennial of Indianapolis' Frederick Douglass Park.
  In the early 20th century, recreational opportunities for Black 
Americans in Indianapolis were separate and unequal. There were no 
public swings or slides for children to play on, no designated green 
spaces for communities to gather in. When the city's government took 
notice of the polluted and dangerous swimming holes and streams in 
which citizens cooled off, it constructed sanitary swimming pools, in 
White neighborhoods only.
  There were, thankfully, Hoosiers who recognized these injustices and 
resolved to right them: the physician and city council member Sumner 
Furniss and journalist Marcus Stewart, who both lobbied for the 
creation of a park to accommodate the city's growing Black population. 
And the family of local entrepreneur Edward Claypool, who donated the 
land on which to build it.
  Because of their efforts, in the summer of 1921, a new park opened on 
the northeast side of Indianapolis where African Americans were 
welcome. It was fittingly named for the great champion of freedom, 
Frederick Douglass.
  A year later, a large swimming pool filled with clean water opened. 
There were slides, swings, and merry-go-rounds too. Next came the 
adjoining Douglass Park Golf Course. Originally six tomato cans in a 
cow pasture, it later grew to nine holes and par 34 and is one of the 
only golf courses in the Nation named after an African American. Tennis 
courts, basketball hoops, and baseball diamonds were added as well.
  When the doors to other communal gathering places across Indianapolis 
were closed and locked, Frederick Douglass Park didn't just provide an 
alternative, it created a beloved institution that brought people 
together.
  Thousands of Hoosiers spent their weekends and holidays here. It was 
the site of civic gatherings, political rallies, family reunions, 
basketball tournaments, little league championships, and jazz concerts. 
Across the park on a typical summer night the thump of basketballs on 
pavement competed with the echoes of brass instruments. It was not 
uncommon to see the likes of champion boxer Joe Louis playing a round 
of golf or future basketball legends Mel Daniels or George McGinnis 
working on their game.
  One hundred years later, Frederick Douglass Park continues to play an 
important role in the civic life of our capital city and bring joy to 
those who call it home. It is exactly the type of public place where 
Americans have always engaged, interacted, and found common ground.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing this milestone.

                          ____________________