These 3 New Orleans parks will soon have new names; plus, a street name will honor Fats Domino

The New Orleans City Council is expected to greenlight new names for parks in the French Quarter, Leonidas and Algiers on Thursday, the first locations to be rededicated under a process aimed at scrubbing Confederate and segregationist monikers from public places.

The rechristenings come nearly a year after the council kicked off its renaming commission in the weeks following the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, a killing that sparked nationwide protests and conversations about racism and police violence. They are expected to be followed by 34 more name changes for streets and other public places, though those efforts are expected to take more time because of the city’s lengthy review process.

In addition to the parks, the Council is also expected to rename Caffin Avenue in the Lower 9th Ward after Fats Domino, honoring one of the founders of rock ‘n’ roll on the street where he spent most of his life and attempted to ride out Hurricane Katrina. That honor is not directly connected to the renaming process involving the Confederacy.

Perhaps the most prominent park to be renamed is Washington Artillery Park, which overlooks Jackson Square from the Mississippi River Levee, though it also is the least likely to be known by its official name.

The park is now named for a military unit that fought for the Confederacy. It will be rededicated for Oscar Dunn, who served as the first Black elected lieutenant governor in the U.S. in the years after the Civil War.

Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer, who set up the renaming process and represents the French Quarter, said she was particularly excited about renaming the park for Dunn, an important but overlooked historical figure who she said deserved a place of prominence.

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