The Hyattsville City Council unanimously approved a motion Monday requiring the city government to study the feasibility of renaming Magruder Park, which bears the name of a former mayor who donated the land on the condition that it be used for “Caucasian inhabitants only.”The government will also examine how to update the deed to remove the racially restrictive covenant from 1927, when William Pinkney Magruder gave the land to the city. The 10-member council will write an action plan after staff members present their findings, the motion says. City Council member Joseph Solomon, the motion’s sponsor, said he wants to rename the park as a way of recognizing that the diverse city of Hyattsville today bears almost no resemblance to the mostly white, segregated town of nearly a century ago. Solomon said he feels “great” about the compromise reached Monday because it still requires the council to take action once the government completes its research. Hyattsville City Council member Joseph Solomon at Magruder Park earlier this month.

Source: Washington Post March 19, 2019 22:35 UTC