Washington Park in Newark will now be known as Harriet Tubman Square.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka celebrated the Juneteenth holiday by presiding over a ceremony Monday at the triangular downtown park and officially renaming it after Tubman (1822-1913), who escaped enslavement, helped others do the same via the Underground Railroad, and became a noted abolitionist and voting rights advocate
The park, which is bounded by Washington and Broad streets and Washington Place, had been named after George Washington (1732-1799), who led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolution, became the United States’ first president, and has often been referred to as the father of the nation. Washington also enslaved hundreds of Black people on his Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon.
“The renaming of the park as Harriet Tubman Square marks a pivotal moment acknowledging underrepresented histories that all Americans and Newark residents should value,” Baraka said in a statement.
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