{"id":683,"date":"2017-08-08T16:10:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T21:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/nfldhist\/?p=683"},"modified":"2018-12-10T12:30:15","modified_gmt":"2018-12-10T18:30:15","slug":"the-central-park-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/nfldhist\/the-central-park-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Central Park Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Central Park Controversy<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

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Leslie Moore<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

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In 1948, in response to the town\u2019s growing population, the Northfield Board of Education voted to close College Street and convert Central Park\u2014originally designed by the town\u2019s founder, John W. North\u2014into a playground for the adjacent high school (now Carleton College\u2019s Weitz Center).<\/p>\n

The Northfield Improvement Association opposed the plan. Led by Leal Headley, the group filed suit with the Minnesota Supreme Court seeking to preserve the park as it was. A Carleton alumnus from the class of 1907 who had returned to the college to teach philosophy, Headley spearheaded the charges against the school district. Nevertheless, every day of the trial, Headley picked up school superintendent Erling Johnson so that they could drive to the St. Paul courtroom together.<\/p>\n

At the trial, the Northfield Improvement Association argued that John W. North had donated the land to the town of Northfield in 1856 with the intended purpose of it being a \u201cpublic square.\u201d The Supreme Court ruled that Central Park had been given to the town for the common use of the entire Northfield public, and that the high school\u2019s changes would alter and limit that purpose.<\/p>\n

Though College Street was eventually closed to make room for an addition onto the high school (since razed), Central Park\u2019s crisscrossing paths and benches look much as they did when the park was originally designed.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Photograph\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>

Leal Headley<\/h3>

Professor Headley was also the author of Carleton College: The First Century, which chronicles the major events and character of the college in its first 100 years.\n\nSource\nThe Voice: 1965<\/p><\/div>

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Leading the Academic Procession<\/h3>

As one of the longest-serving members of the faculty in 1951, Headley had the honor of leading the staff on the way to commencement.\n\nSource\nThe Voice: 1965<\/p><\/div>

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Central Park<\/h3>

This photo of Central Park taken in 1910 was turned into a postcard. It was, and remains today, a beloved and well-recognized spot in Northfield.\n\nSource\nCarleton College Digital Archives<\/p><\/div>

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Aerial View<\/h3>

A helicopter flew over Central Park and took this picture sometime in the 1940s. The high school can be seen on the left; the largest building across the street is Parish House.\n\nSource\nNorthfield Historical Society Digital Archives.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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