The Texas Recreation and Parks Society honored East 12th Street’s Givens District Park on Wednesday, naming it one of three new Lone Star Legacy parks this year. When the park opened in 1959, it was the second segregated public park for Black Austinites. It was named after Dr. Everett H. Givens, a Black dentist and community leader who advocated for improvements in East Austin during Jim Crow. Currently, the city is in the process of making improvements to the park in accordance with a vision plan that was approved in January 2019. Givens joins Zilker, Parque Zaragoza, Pease, Eastwoods, and Rosewood parks, which have also earned the historic designation.
Elizabeth Pagano is the editor of the Austin Monitor. More by Elizabeth Pagano