Design of Abolition Row Park in New Bedford to be discussed today – SouthCoastToday.com

By Michael Bonner mbonner@s-t.com

NEW BEDFORD Loose straws discarded from their original cup and lid, cigarette butts and plastic bottles littered the green space across from the New Bedford Historical Society on Wednesday.

Lee Blake, the Society's president, envisions a much different description a year from now for the plot of land at the corner of Seventh and Spring streets.

You have this wonderful opportunity to tell the story of the abolition movement and the work that blacks and whites did to protect each other and to protect self-emancipated blacks that came to the city, Blake said.

By the start of summer 2018, trees, kiosks, benches and a gazebo will replace the litter as part of the design for Emancipation Park as it's named on the rendered drawings. A meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at 83 Spring St. to discuss plans for whats called Abolition Row Park.

The $190,000 project, to be funded by the New Bedford Historical Society, is meant to create a small park with the mission of telling the story of abolitionists who once lived in the neighborhood.

According to Blake, 17 abolitionists at one time called the area home.

Its an education garden because it will tell the story of the neighborhood, Blake said.

In January, the New Bedford Historical Society received a $40,000 grant from the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Scotts Miracle-Gro Co.

Blake said the Historical Society has already received donations to complement the grant, but more funding is needed.

We were really lucky because the historical society has been working with communities around the country because 2018 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Douglass, Blake said.

According to Historical Society website, Douglass made his way to New Bedford in 1838 via the Underground Railroad after escaping from slavery. In New Bedford, he was helped byNathan and Polly Johnson, African American abolitionists, and he and his wife Anna began their life together, raising their young family here.

Douglass quickly rose to prominence as an abolitionist and anti-slavery speaker and each February, the Society recognizes his contributions at an annual Read-a-thon.

The design plans for the parl show a "Frederick Douglass bench" with a Little Free Library. The plans also list a North Star Gazebo and an Outdoor Room Educational Exhibits.

A wrought iron fence will surround the perimeter of the park and Adinkra symbols will accompany the greenery in the garden.

COGdesign, a nonprofit in Cambridge that provides pro-bono landscaping designs, developed plans for the park.

COGdesign chose this project, despite its distance from Boston, because of the historic significance of the place and the potential for public learning that the historical society is providing, said Jean Krasnow, who sits on the Board of Directors of COGdesign.

Blake said the plot had been vacant since a 2009 fire destroyed the building on it in. The New Bedford Historical Society has worked to gain ownership of the land for seven years before finally purchasing the piece of land about six months ago.

We wanted to make sure that the land across the street was important to how New Bedford saw the role of Frederick Douglass, Blake said.

Follow Michael Bonner on Twitter @MikeBBonnerSCT.

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Design of Abolition Row Park in New Bedford to be discussed today - SouthCoastToday.com