Sanford park no longer honors chief who tossed Jackie Robinson
Sanford workers on Tuesday took down a sign for Roy Williams Park after commissioners agreed to rename the public space that honored a former police chief who ordered legendary Black baseball player Jackie Robinson to leave a game at a city stadium because of his race.
The grassy park tucked in a quiet downtown neighborhood between Fourth and Eighth streets is now called Elliott Avenue Park. City officials said they expect to put up a new sign with the new moniker by the end of this month.
“We need to get this man’s name off the park,” Commissioner Patrick Austin said. “We’re not removing history. But we don’t want to glorify people whose views don’t match what good citizens know is right.”
Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson was the first black player to play in Major League Baseball when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, bringing an end to racial segregation in professional baseball.
A year earlier, Robinson arrived in Sanford with minor league team the Montreal Royals for a spring training game at a ball field where Historic Sanford
Memorial Stadium now stands — less than a mile south from the city park.
Robinson started the March game as shortstop. And by the end of the second inning, Robinson had two hits.
Chief Williams walked into the dugout and told the team manager that Robinson and another Black player John Wright would have to leave the stadium because Sanford didn’t allow integrated teams to play on city-owned fields. Otherwise, the game would have to be canceled.
Robinson and Wright left the field and headed back to Daytona Beach.
Williams, who was named police chief in 1923, served in that role through the 1960s. He died in 1983.
Austin said he’s heard from residents asking why Sanford continues having Williams’ name on a city park. He and others urged the city to rename it. City commissioners agreed
unanimously Monday night.
The park stretches about two city blocks and is dotted with palm trees and crepe myrtles.
Bob Walko, who lives on Elliott Avenue across from the park, said he was surprised to learn that it was named after Williams after watching city workers take down the greenand-white city sign.
“Why honor someone who really doesn’t deserve it?” he said. “If that’s his legacy, then I don’t think we should name a park after him…. They could name it Jackie Robinson Park. But the park is too small for that.”
Mayor Art Woodruff agreed that the park’s name should be changed.
“We need to remember history, but we don’t want to honor someone for doing that,” Woodruff said. “It shouldn’t have happened, but unfortunately it did. Things were done at that time that were wrong.”