SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A Springfield Park Board member is proposing a name change for the city’s Douglas Park, named for the legendary U.S. senator from Illinois, Stephen Douglas, whom research has shown profited from slavery.
Lisa Badger tells The Springfield State Journal-Register that she will ask the board to rename the northwest-side green space for Frederick Douglass, the 19th Century Black scholar and abolitionist.
Last month, the Chicago Park District voted to rename for Frederick Douglass its own Douglas Park, which had carried the name since 1869. And Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called in July for removing imagery of Douglas from the Statehouse.