DAVENPORT, Iowa — After more than 10 years of work, Davenport has its own memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The MLK Park on Brady Street and 5th Street was dedicated by the nonprofit, Friends of MLK, yesterday on Juneteenth.
CEO Ryan Saddler said the park wouldn't be possible without contributions from the city and the community. Friends of MLK raised $1.2 million from corporate sponsors, organizations and individual donors. The City of Davenport also contributed $500,000.
"Putting in all the work of going from zero dollars to a $1.2 million project, then along the way of, 'Oh gosh are we gonna get there? We’ve committed to this and I don't know where the funding’s gonna come from,'" Saddler said. "And community steps up, other funders step up. Just to see this day come to fruition, it’s a little surreal."
But the location has a very real history. Saddler said 5th Street had a long list of Black-owned businesses and rooming houses going back to the 1880s, including the first in Davenport. He said the street was derogatorily called "Africa Row" at the time.
"We believe this location was also home to the legendary Bluebird Tavern," Saddler said. "Legend has it that Bix Beiderbecke actually played with Louis Armstrong here."
Just a few blocks away on 7th Street, Dr. King also made history in 1965 when he accepted the Pacim in Terris Award from the Catholic Interracial Council at a Masonic temple. Former Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba recounted parts of his speech.
"That night in Davenport, King went on to remind us all with words that are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution — 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,'" Gluba said. "He further drove home this message when he said, 'In the final analysis, we must get rid of racial segregation because it is morally wrong and morally sinful.'"
The park also teaches about civil rights leaders closer to home using large informational plaques. Rogers Kirk, pastor of Third Missionary Baptist Church, helped make the park a reality.
"It was designed to recognize people who stand up for right and righteousness, those who stand for a cause," Kirk said. "What you will end up seeing is many individuals in our community who literally, in spite of the odds, stood up for what justice is all about."
What is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth commemorates a historic day in American history when around 2,000 Union troops entered Texas, freeing about four million slaves on June 19, 1865.
On that day, slaves in Galveston, Texas learned that they were free, over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
Juneteenth, sometimes known as a second Independence Day, calls for a time of celebration and education.
President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law on June 17, 2021, making Juneteenth a federal holiday. Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech that day to discuss the importance of the declaration.
"We are gathered here, in a house built by enslaved people," Harris said. "We are footsteps away from where President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation."
In 1979, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday. In the decades following, several other states followed suit.
"This is a day of profound in my view, profound weight and profound power," President Joe Biden said.
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