Nashville, TN — The Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation is seeking community input on a request to change the name of Hadley Park to Hadley-Lillard Park.  The new name change request came from Councilwoman Sharon Hurt representing Metro Council’s Minority Caucus during the May 4th Parks Board meeting.  This new name request replaces the previous petition to change the name from Hadley Park to Kwame Leo Lillard Park.

The Parks Board will accept public comment for a 30-day period which will now end on June 8. The public will be able to provide input by email, standard mail, phone, or in-person during the June 1st Parks Board meeting.  The Parks Board is soliciting public input before taking a formal vote to determine whether to petition the Tennessee Historical Commission, the governmental body that will make the final decision, on changing the name of the park.
Information on how to provide input is as follows.
MAIL:              Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation, Post Office Box 196340, Nashville TN 37219-6340
                        ATTN:  Hadley Park Name Change
                        Clearly state if opposed or in favor of the name change.
                        Include your name and address.
EMAIL:            metroparks@nashville.gov
                        SUBJECT LINE:  Hadley Park Name Change
                        Clearly state if opposed or in favor of the name change.
                        Include your name and address.
PHONE:           Call 629-255-1200, extension 51200
                        Clearly state if opposed or in favor of the name change.
                        Include your name and address.

PARKS BOARD
MEETING:       The Parks Board will meet at noon, Tuesday, June 1, 2021 in the Parks Boardroom located at 2565 Park Plaza. Interested parties will have an opportunity to give input regarding the name change.  Participants will have a maximum of three minutes to speak. COVID19 protocols will be in place.
The historic Hadley Park in North Nashville was established in 1912 and, for decades, was the only public park in the city opened to African Americans. The park area contained the Hadley family’s home, whose plantation also became the site of Tennessee State University. Major E. C. Lewis named it Hadley Park but did not identify the Hadley he intended to honor. At the time, one of the city’s newspaper assumed Lewis meant the Hadley family, John L. Hadley specifically, a white slave-owning family who had lived on the site. However, it’s also entirely possible that Lewis had intended to honor Dr. W. A. Hadley, an African American physician with whom Lewis had worked during the 1897 Centennial Exposition.
The proposed name change would honor Kwame Leo Lillard, a civil rights activist who died in December.