Springfield Park (formerly Dignam Park until 1914, and then Confederate Park until 2020) is a public park in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, on the southern bounds of the historic neighborhood of

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

. It is part of a network of parks that parallel Hogan's Creek.

History

Springfield Park was opened in 1907 as Dignam Park, named for a former chairman of the city's Board of Public Works. It was the first Jacksonville city park to include a

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people ...

.Urban Parks: Confederate Park
Metro Jacksonville website From opening until the

Civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

the park was open to whites only. In 1914, Jacksonville hosted the annual reunion of the

United Confederate Veterans The United Confederate Veterans (UCV, or simply Confederate Veterans) was an American Civil War veterans' organization headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was organized on June 10, 1889, by ex-soldiers and sailors of the Confederate Sta ...

, with estimated attendance of about 8,000 former

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

soldiers. The UCV chose the park as the location for a new monument to honor the Women of the Southland, and five months after the reunion the city renamed the park "Confederate Park."

Florida's Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy ''Florida's Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy'', also known as ''A Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy'' and the ''Monument to the Women of the Confederacy'', is an outdoor Confederate memorial installed in Jacksonville, Florid ...

, a monument/statue, was erected in 1915. On August 11, 2020, the

Jacksonville City Council The Jacksonville City Council is the legislative governing body of the city of Jacksonville, Florida. The council meets in its chambers at Jacksonville City Hall, 117 W. Duval St. Under Florida’s government transparency laws, all official co ...

voted to change the name of the park to Springfield Park, after the name of the

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

it sits in. The Springfield Park Playground, east of the park, was originally a part of Springfield Park, but was used for

military training Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recruit training, proceed ...

during World Wars I and II. It is now a dog park.City of Jacksonville
, Department of Recreation and Community website

''Florida's Tribute to the Women of the Confederacy''

The monument was designed in 1914 by sculptor

Allen George Newman Allen George Newman III (August 28, 1875 – February 2, 1940) was an American sculptor, best known for his statue '' "The Hiker"''. Early life He was born in New York City, the son of hardware manufacturer Allen G. Newman, Jr. and his wife Ada ...

(1875–1940), and dedicated on October 26, 1915. Jno. Williams, Inc. served as the founder, and

McNeel Marble Works The McNeel Marble Works of Marietta, Georgia, was founded in 1892 by Morgan Louis McNeel and his brother, R. M. McNeel. Its location near the Blue Ridge Mountains provided the firm with access to areas where marble and granite could be quarried. ...

served as the work's contractor. Its condition was deemed "treatment needed" by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

's " Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in November 1992. As the inscription says, it was sponsored by the Florida Division of the

. In May 2018, the monument was cited among those targeted by the March for Change, a three-day, 40-mile (64-km) protest against Confederate monuments located in Jacksonville and St. Augustine. It is No. 10 on the Make It Right Project's list of Confederate memorials it wants to see removed.

Gallery

File:CWVeteransJax.jpg, The 1914 reunion of the

in Jacksonville. File:ConfederateParkJAXPostcard.jpg, Postcard showing Confederate Park in 1918. File:Confederate Park, Jacksonville, FL, US (19).jpg, ''

'' File:Confederate Park, Jacksonville, FL, US.jpg, Memorial to Robert Burns File:Confederate Park, Jacksonville, FL, US (15).jpg, Eagle statue File:Confederate Park, Jacksonville, FL, US (17).jpg, Bridge (1929) File:Confederate Park, Jacksonville, FL, US (16).jpg, Entrance to bridge File:Confederate Park, Jacksonville, FL, US (13).jpg, Plaque for Iowa regiment in the Spanish-American War

References

External links

* {{Jacksonville attractions Confederate States of America monuments and memorials in Florida Parks in Jacksonville, Florida 1907 establishments in Florida