Reverend Nicodemus D. Shamborguer
Labor Day celebrations in Chattanooga can be spectacular and Labor Day 1918 was no exception as the City of Chattanooga and the families in the communities near Blackford and Wiehl Streets prepared for the dedication of Lincoln Park. With a large crowd in attendance, Chattanooga Commissioner Ed Herron presented the park to the community and it was accepted by the Reverend C. A. Bell. Then the festivities began under the direction of the “No. 5, Grand United Order of Odd Fellows [colored]”, with the organization’s representatives appearing in splendid uniforms and regalia.
The program celebrated the community’s residents, their faith and civic involvement while also paying tribute to Mayor Jesse Littleton and the Commission with a special recognition of Commissioner Herron for his relentless dedication to the park’s funding, design and construction.
After a musical prelude, an invocation by Reverend A. White and the introduction of the Master of Ceremonies by Howard Daniels, MC E. H. Gill walked to the podium amidst thunderous applause. He recognized special guests and then spoke briefly about the significance of the Lincoln Park for the community. Solo music performances were offered by Katy Brown and Bonnie Ware with Lucern Craufford then providing a series of instrumental selections.
The Reverend Nicodemus D. Shamborguer, the minister at Wiley Memorial who resided on Lookout Street with his family, then stepped forward and offered a challenge to the attendees, “What is Expected of Us as Citizens.” Encouraging each to consider the admonition of the Golden Rule, he reminded the crowd that they were neighbors and should work together for the good of all people. Lincoln Park, taking its name from the neighborhood and the late president, was an example of what could occur when people join together instead of being divided by race, faith or status in life.
Mr. Gill returned to the stage and commended the planning committee: Reverend White, Sam Thomas, Austin Jones, E. Thirgood, J. S. Hodge and Howard Daniels. Then, with a bow and a clap of his hands, the ‘real’ celebration began. Concessions were “in full swing” and the tennis courts and swings were “well filled.” The fountain, which had been stocked with gold fish, attracted almost every visitor, especially “the wee party-goers.” Some of the community’s “leading men” who were on-site for the first time “expressed themselves as well-pleased with the new playground,” noting that both the location and the vast improvements were a tribute to the neighborhood. As one noted, “Lincoln Park promises to be a popular place from the beginning.”
And, popular it was. Lincoln Park became the central attraction for the neighborhood and a popular destination for the city’s Negroes for the next five or more decades.
Its popularity prompted a series of Chattanooga mayors and commissions to add improvements. In 1937, Parks and Playgrounds Commissioner R. M. Cooke and Reverend J. B. Barber of the Leonard Street Presbyterian Church joined together the dig the “first shovel of dirt” for a swimming pool. While the commission issued $29,000 in construction bonds, the total cost of $60,000 included local and federal funds. Commissioner Cooke explained that building a “pool for black citizens was something he had worked on since taking office” – it was a “much needed and very desirable thing.” When the dedication of the pool occurred early the following year, community leaders shared the stage, encouraging a “lessening of racial tension.” Dr. Spencer McCallie, headmaster at The McCallie School, urged a “united front of colored and white races in making and keeping America a place of equal opportunity for any man.”
After the Allied victory in World War II and, as thousands of veterans returned home to Chattanooga and the city mourned its more than 660 dead, the park expanded once more. Lincoln Center, a round building with a large front portico entrance, was built as an event site. By 1947, Lincoln Park gained additional fame as it hosted an Independence Day celebration attended by more than 15,000 people. The Chattanooga Observer, a black newspaper and a precursor to John Edwards, III’s Chattanooga Chronicle of recent times, reported that visitors flocked to the event from Atlanta and other regional cities. The zoo was a reported highlight for the visitors.
Perhaps, Lincoln Park’s greatest claim to fame was its lighted baseball field where Monday and Thursday nights witnessed black baseball games, playing to the cheers of hundreds of fans. Prior to Engel Stadium’s construction in 1929, Lincoln Park was the home park for the Chattanooga Black Cats.
But, that’s a story for another day.
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Linda Moss Mines, the Chattanooga-Hamilton County historian, chairs the Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors Commission.