DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - A push has begun in Dubuque to change the name of a park to honor of a one-time slave who gained his freedom and another Black man killed in a lynching.
The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that the Dubuque branch of the NAACP and other community members support renaming Jackson Park after both men, Ralph Montgomery and Nathaniel Morgan.
Montgomery was a slave living in Dubuque when, in 1839, he won his freedom in a ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court. It was only a year later that Morgan was killed in a lynching.
Dubuque NAACP President Anthony Allen said the idea of renaming the park began two or three years ago. Jackson Park is named after President Andrew Jackson, who signed the 1830 Indian Removal Act that displaced Native American tribes.
NAACP leaders plan to meet with the City Council and the Park and Recreation Commission.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.