User:Laeh101/Jeff Davis Parkway
Norman C. Francis Parkway is a street located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It runs southwest to northeast between Rendon Street and Clark Street. Eventually, the parkway turns into Moss street while Dumaine street runs perpendicular at the northeast end. At the southeast end, the parkway turns into Octavia Street and Walmsley Avenue is perpendicular to the southeast end of the street. Many popular landmarks run along this parkway such as Xavier University of New Orleans, Bayou St. John, and Comiskey Park.
| Maintained by | City of New Orleans Department of Public Works |
|---|---|
| Location | New Orleans |
Location
The street is located southwest of the head of Bayou St. in Gert Town all the way to the Carondelet Canel. Norman C. Francis Parkway is located in the southern part of New Orleans. It runs southwest to northeast.
Origin of the name
Norman C Francis Parkway was renamed in January 2021. Before that the street was named Jefferson Davis parkway or more commonly known as Jeff David parkway. Jefferson Davis was a slave-owning president during the confederacy. There was a lot of controversy surrounding this matter within the community. During the summer of 2020, the Black Lives Matter Movement was growing increasingly popular at a fast rate and the renaming of confederate monuments and streets was one of the many issues the movement addressed.
Norman C. Francis was the president of the Xavier University of Louisiana. Xavier University of Louisiana is a Historically Black College/University located on the more southern portion of the street. Norman C. Francis was the first black president of the university and was an activist that advocated for the black community. After Hurricane Katrina & Rita, he was named a chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. He was an advocate for change in the university and assisted the students while amplifying their voices while he was president. He earned many awards and honors in his time and was one of the many reasons why the university gained attention at a national level. He attended college at Loyola, and he is the first African American student to attend their institution. His accomplishments and his influence in New Orleans are why the city honored him with the street name in the January of 2021.
History
The parkway that was proposed in 1904 was originally proposed as a speedway instead of a parkway. It was supposed to be what connected the two major parks in the city at the time. Both parks still existing to this day. There was a portion of the parkway that was going to be named after John Hagan, who was an influential merchant in New Orleans. He was a land speculator who had lots of funds. He also was an important developer for the city of New Orleans. They asked for funds for this new speedway not from the city, but from the property owners in the area. But in 1910, 6 years after the first proposal is when the park of that avenue was named Jefferson Davis parkway. There was a statue on the corner of canal street and Jeff Davis parkway honoring the dead confederate president. This was not the first choice for the location of the monument. In 2017, there were two other monuments as well that were removed due to the background and demand for change in New Orleans.