Parker Action Alliance Receives $2,807 from Mayor for Parker Street

Parker Action Alliance, a neighborhood organization, received a Mayor's grant for the beautification and rededication of Parker Street in honor of George Wells Parker, one of the first African Americans to graduate from Harvard University in the early 1900s. He was known for helping resettle Blacks in Omaha during the Great Migration from 1917 to 1920.

In 1917, Parker gave a speech to the Omaha Philosophical Society entitled "The African Origins of Grecian Civilization" which preceded his booklet The Children of the Sun. The booklet is for sale online or at the Aframerican Bookstore on 33rd & Lake Street.

The grant from Mayor Jean Stothert will support PAA in their efforts to re-energize Parker Street from 24th to 35th Street and adjacent neighborhoods. The Parker Action Plan includes streetscape improvements, lighting on Parker Street bridge, and neighborhood communications.

Parker Action Plan

From left: Luis E. Jimenez, Dawaune Lamont Hayes, and Mayor Jean Stothert.

The Board of Governors consists of Dawaune Lamont Hayes, Alajia McKizia, Marcey Yates, and Luis E. Jimenez. City officials signed the grant agreement on June 7 and sent the effectuated document thereafter.

Costs for the dedication include commemorative signage permit, gardening tool kit, plants and flowers, soil, mulch and beautification materials. A Little Free Library will be installed by Culxr House at 27th and Parker Streets, next to the North 75 Freeway.

The rededication will take place on Parker's death date, July 28. Visit Parker Action Alliance on Facebook @parkeralliance.