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Q: Walt Whitman Park. ( Answered,   13 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Walt Whitman Park.
Category: Reference, Education and News > General Reference
Asked by: stephenh-ga
List Price: $15.00
Posted: 27 May 2005 04:29 PDT
Expires: 26 Jun 2005 04:29 PDT
Question ID: 526210
I am trying to find out information about the Walt Whitman Park. Is
this national park (located in washington DC) on any historical
listing or register. What is out there on the internet about this
park.  Anything you you could provide me would be very much
apprecaited.

Thank you
Answer  
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
Answered By: nenna-ga on 28 May 2005 07:32 PDT
 
Good morning stephenh-ga and thank you for allowing me to research
this question for you.

Walt Whitman Park (which is not listed in the National Park Guide) was
created in honor of Walt Whitman (1819-1892), poet, journalist, and
native New Yorker.  The City acquired this land in 1945, consisting of
2.913 acres.  That same year, a local law named the park for Walt
Whitman in honor of the centennial publication of "Leaves of Grass". 
Unfortunately, it is not listed in the National Register of Historic
Places.  However, his house is.  You can see that listing at:

( tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceID=325&resourceType=Building )

I was not able to find an exact address for this park but you can call
the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation at 212-NEW-YORK to
get this information.

A brief history of Walt Whitman:

Walt Whitman was born in Huntington, Long Island on May 31, 1819, one
of 9 children. After leaving Long Island, moving to Brooklyn, Walt?s
parents were forced to move back to Long Island in 1833 for financial
reasons but Walt chose to stay behind, moving back to Long Island
himself in 1836.  He farmed, taught school and began writing ?The Long
Islander?.  It was not until 1855, however, that the man often
referred to as ?America?s Poet? found his literary voice.

By 1892, he had written nine editions to ?Leaves of Grass?, the first
edition containing 9 untitled poems.  The final edition of ?Leaves of
Grass? appeared in 1892, the year of his death.    You can read the
entire works online at:

( http://www.whitmanarchive.org/archive1/works/leaves/ )

Walt also served as a volunteer nurse in the army hospitals of
Washington, D.C. during the Civil War (1861-1864).  After 11 years in
Washington, D.C., Whitman settled in Camden, New Jersey with his
brother, George, at 330 Mickle Street, today a National Historic
Landmark maintained by the State of New Jersey. Whitman prepared the
final or "deathbed edition" of Leaves of Grass in the Mickle Street
house.

Walt Whitman died on March 26, 1982.  His remains rest in a mausoleum
in Camden's Harleigh Cemetery.  You can view a picture of his final
resting place at:

( http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1098 )

Walt Whitman also had a bridge named after him, the Walt Whitman Bridge:

( http://www.phillyroads.com/crossings/walt-whitman/ )

I hope this answers your question.  If you need any clarification
before rating, please do not hesitate to ask!

Nenna-Ga
Google Researcher

Sources: 

New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
( http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=12568
)

Art History Club
( http://www.arthistoryclub.com/art_history/Walt_Whitman )

Camden County Facts:
( http://www.camdencounty.com/facts/ ) 

DRPA (Delaware River Port Authority)
( http://www.drpa.org/drpa/drpa_history.html )

Walt Whitman
(http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASwhitman.htm )

Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site and Interpretive Center
( http://waltwhitman.org/ )

National Park Service
( http://www.nps.gov/parks.html )

Google Search Terms:

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=walt+whitman+park+history&btnG=Google+Search

://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=National+Register+of+Historic+Places&btnG=Search

Clarification of Answer by nenna-ga on 31 May 2005 08:19 PDT
According to the Washington DC Parks & Recreation website located at
(http://dpr.dc.gov/dpr/site/default.asp ), Walt Whitman park (no
address provided) is a ?Federal Park? but have found no evidence of it
(written record) on the internet other than that one entry - there for
I am unsure if they are referring to the area located near 20th & E. 
I am stubborn and will keep searching and if I find anything that will
help, I will gladly post!

Nenna-GA

Request for Answer Clarification by stephenh-ga on 31 May 2005 08:48 PDT
If you find something and able to give me a resource to call someone,
or someplace (where I can get a document) I will give you a bonus.  I
promise.:)

Happy hunting.

Clarification of Answer by nenna-ga on 31 May 2005 08:51 PDT
I will get back to you ASAP! :)

Request for Answer Clarification by stephenh-ga on 01 Jun 2005 04:33 PDT
Nenna-ga

I thought that you were going to get back to me about the Walt Whitman
Park but I never heard from you.  Did you run into problems with it. 
Please do let me know.

Thank you.

Clarification of Answer by nenna-ga on 01 Jun 2005 09:26 PDT
Not being from Washington DC and never having been, I am unfamiliar
with the lay-out of the city or how the streets run.  I am wondering,
and this is just a guess, if the Walt Whitman (park/playground)
located at 20th & E Street isn?t something in memorandum of all of
Whitman?s work performed at hospitals in the area during the Civil
War.  Perhaps a city park (though I can find no log of it with the
City) or a piece of land that a private citizen owns, naming it after
Walt Whitman and erecting a playground for the neighborhood kids.

I did a search of the District of Columbia?s Office of Tax and Revenue
website using the Real Property Tax Database but came up short of any
recreational land named Walt Whitman park or variations thereof.  You
can find this website at:

 https://www.taxpayerservicecenter.com/RP_Search.jsp?search_type=Assessment )

Doing a quick scan of Google Maps, I was able to identify one park ?
the Edward J. Kelly Park, which would be almost kitty-corner to where
the Walt Whitman Park would be, but still no information on the Walt
Whitman park itself.

You can contact the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation at:

3149 16th St. NW
Washington, D.C., 20010
202-673-7647 Fax: 202-673-6694

Perhaps they can give you more information.  (I have sent an email to
a contact at the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation and I will
post anything he tells me through clarification if I hear back from
him.)

Interesting to note:  ?And another Whitman honor may soon come to
pass. Murray and the Friends of Walt Whitman have been working toward
a city designation of Walt Whitman Way, the one-block strip outside
the National Portrait Gallery. A bill is being considered by the D.C.
Council.?

Source:  Washingtonpost.com
( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62977-2005Mar24_2.html )

The National Portrait Gallery is located at:

750 Ninth Street, NW
Victor Building?Suite 8300
Washington, D.C. 20001
(202) 275-1738

And I leave you with this snippet of information:

?Few writers continue to generate as much interest in the wider
culture as the poet of Leaves of Grass. In recent years his words have
been inscribed in public areas with increasing frequency: on the
railing above the main terminal of Reagan National Airport, in the
Archives-Navy Memorial Metro Station and in the walkway of Freedom
Plaza in Washington, D.C., on the railing at the Fulton Ferry Landing
at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, at the entryway of the Monona
Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin (Frank Lloyd Wright
insisted that the design should include an inscription from his
favorite American poet), on a plaque at the entryway to the Willa
Cather Garden at my own university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Whitman was a
central voice in Ken Burns's magisterial Civil War series for PBS and
again for Rick Burns's PBS series on New York. He has been celebrated
in musical compositions from classical to pop and invoked in political
speeches, television programs, and, with remarkable frequency, films.
He has been featured on postage stamps, postcards, and matchbook
covers and in cartoons, including a New Yorker illustration featuring
a copy of Leaves of Grass with a zipper down the spine, an allusion to
President Clinton's famous gift to Monica Lewinsky. Inexpensive pocket
editions of Whitman were distributed to workers and farmers during the
Depression, and free copies were given to the American armed forces
during World War II. Whitman has been used to sell cigarettes, cigars,
coffee (in a variety of ways), whiskey, insurance, and more. Many
schools bear the name Walt Whitman, including the first private gay
high school in the United States. Hotels, bridges, apartment
buildings, summer camps, parks, truck stops, common rooms in guest
houses, corporate centers, AIDS clinics, political think tanks, and
shopping malls are named after Whitman.

Source: University of North Carolina Press
( http://uncpress.unc.edu/chapters/price_walt.html )

Good luck in your search and I am sorry I couldn?t be of better help.

Nenna-GA

Clarification of Answer by nenna-ga on 03 Jun 2005 05:56 PDT
And just as you posted that information, I received an email back from
the Washington DC Department of Parks & Recreation:

"The area you have identified 20th & E Streets is not in the DC
Department of Parks and Recreation's inventory.  National Park Service
has property at 20th & E, however it is identified only by Reservation
715.  Please contact the National Park Service at 202-619-7222 for
additional information.

Thank you for your interest in the DC Department of Parks and Recreation."

I'm glad you were able to find the answer afterall!

Nenna-GA
Comments  
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: myoarin-ga on 28 May 2005 05:53 PDT
 
HI Stephen,
I was despairing at the mass of sites relating to the W.W. Park in Brooklyn,
but then I improved my search:
"Walt Whitman Park" -"New York" -Brooklyn

and found the location immediately:

Giant Food BikeDC 2004 begins at Walt Whitman Park at 20th and E Streets NW

http://www.waba.org/bikedc2004/route.html

Pleased to have been able to help,
Myoarin
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: myoarin-ga on 28 May 2005 16:14 PDT
 
Stephen,
The park in Washington DC is just a downtown block with a playground,
a couple of blocks west of the White House  - no National Park.  The
park in Brooklyn is over four square miles in size and sounds like a
more fitting tribute to Walt Whitman.
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: czh-ga on 28 May 2005 21:55 PDT
 
Could you be looking for this?

http://www.waltwhitman.org/Index.asp
Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site and Interpretive Center
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Contact Us

Walt Whitman Birthplace Association
246 Old Walt Whitman Road
West Hills, NY 11746-4148
Phone: 631-427-5240
Fax: 631-427-5247

General Information and Museum Shop
wwba@optonline.net
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: stephenh-ga on 31 May 2005 05:13 PDT
 
Thank you all for the information which you have provided me so far. 
I guess that I am still looking for that exact thing.  Some kind of
proclamation that declares that the park at 20th and E street is a
park.  Is there anything more that you could find for me about this
small park in Washington DC.  Can you look around and let me know. ? 
Anything you could find would be greatly apprecaited.  I would be
willing to give bonus if you can find out more. I don't know if the
"comment" people (as you are in this question) can get the money or
not. If you can maybe we can work something out.  Anything would be
greatly apprecaited.

Thank you.
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: myoarin-ga on 31 May 2005 08:09 PDT
 
Stephen,
This site shows that it existed already in a plan made by the Nat.
Capital Park Commission:

http://www.ncpc.gov/publications_press/2m/2Msummary.pdf

This site gives background :  

http://www.washingtonwatchdog.org/documents/usc/ttl40/ch3/sec289.html

Got to rush off.
Myoarin
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: stephenh-ga on 31 May 2005 11:11 PDT
 
nyoarin-ga

Thank you for the information that you sent me.  However it isn't what
I am looking for.  I am basically looking for some kind of document
that would prove to me that it really does exist as a park on some
kind of list or document.  If you could look some more, I really would
apprecaite it.

Thank you,  Stephen-ga
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: myoarin-ga on 31 May 2005 13:34 PDT
 
HI stephen, back from rowing.
Sorry, I gave the wrong name to that organiziation, it is the
"National Capital Planning Commission", and the first site mentioned
is a draft of its
"MEMORIALS AND MUSEUMS MASTERPLAN", complete with maps and drawing.
On page 22, it explains the practical details of the masterplan,
listing planned sites for future "memorials and museums", and on p. 23
as no. 11 lists
Walt Whitman Park, with the streets.
If these people call it a park, that's good enough for me.

The other link was to the District of Columbia Code, or something
similarly named, the "code" for the government of DC.  I expect that
if one studies it, one will find something that may help find a site
that shows the commissioning or naming of that block in DC "Walt
Whitman Park.
If you want that, maybe a researcher will like to look for.

As a commenter, I cannot get paid, but thanks for your generous
thoughts in that direction.  Of course, I am curious about why it is
so important.

Myoarin
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: stephenh-ga on 01 Jun 2005 04:29 PDT
 
Good Morning myoarin-ga,

Thank you for the information that you provided me so far.  If you
would like to dig into this a little further, I would be willing to
pay for your time. I would even be willing to repost it and have you
work on it for me.  Do you think this is something that you might be
interested in doing ?  Please do let me know.

I got interested in this as I saw it on a listserver website and it
kind of just stuck in my head as something interesting to know more
about.  I live in the greater Washington DC area.

Thank you.
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: myoarin-ga on 02 Jun 2005 04:19 PDT
 
Stephen and Nenna-ga,
My apologies, Nenna, for my remarks in the comment that was removed. 
I am pretty sure I know what was out of order.  Sorry!

Stephen, if you didn't see it, all the better.  If you did, you will
have seen my suggestions about possible ways to pin down more specific
information about the park, including Nenna's to call the dept. of
parks.  It also occurred to me, that there might be a plaque in the
park that tells when it was established.

Regards to you both, Myoarin
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: stephenh-ga on 02 Jun 2005 05:45 PDT
 
Myoarin,

If I post this question again (I am thinking about it) would you be
willing to continue to research this question for me ?  I don't know
if you think that we have just reached the end of what can be found on
the internet about this.  Just do let me know.

Thank you
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: myoarin-ga on 02 Jun 2005 07:04 PDT
 
Hi Stephen,
The W.W. Park in DC is not a national park, at least it does not
appear on lists of such, as Nenna-ga pointed out.

Here is a document the mentions the park's being established or preserved:

http://www.gwu.edu/gelman/spec/collections/manuscript/committee100.pdf

There is also a html version.  Scroll down to section 2.4. for
reference to the park.  Further down it is also mentioned again in the
reference to where docs are stored.

Following is a section from the "code" for DC, mentioning the transfer
of functions relating to park administration over the decades.

All other functions, powers, and duties of the National Capital
Park and Planning Commission, including those formerly vested in
the Highway Commission established by the Act of March 2, 1893 (27
Stat. 532) (D.C. Code, Sec. 7-107 et seq.), and those formerly
vested in the National Capital Park Commission by the Act of June
6, 1924 (43 Stat. 463) together with the personnel, records,
property, and unexpended balances (available or to be made
available) of appropriations, allocations, and all other funds,
including trust funds, of the National Capital Park and Planning
Commission, are transferred to the Commission.

I hope this information is adequate.
Regards, Myoarin
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: stephenh-ga on 02 Jun 2005 08:41 PDT
 
I just wanted to let you know that my search for the answer I had been
looking for relating to the Walt Whitman Park is over. After calling a
few numbers I got a contact person at the National Park Service to
help me.  The man faxed me some information about the park.  IT IS a
national park.  The prosposal for it went to the secretary of the
interior on Mary 23, 1966 and he approved it June 2nd 1966.  I wish
that I could share the letter which you which declared it a park but
(as we know) that isn't aloud on this message board.

But a big "THANK YOU" to you for all the work you did for me.  I wish
that I could award you but I know that I can't do that on the comment
section of this board.   Again, "thank you" fo much for all your
wonderful help.
Subject: Re: Walt Whitman Park.
From: myoarin-ga on 02 Jun 2005 13:05 PDT
 
Congratulations!  
And thanks for telling us.
Myoarin

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