Ezekiel Gillespie

Mayor Tom Barrett’s HOME GR/OWN Initiative, Walnut Way and the Walnut Way Housing Committee chose this site to build a new sustainable park. The site formerly consisted of 2 vacant lots and a vacant home, torn down prior to construction. The park was designed & constructed by HOME GR/OWN, UWM’s Community Design Solutions, Simon Landscaping, the Energy Exchange & Walnut Way’s Blue Skies Landscaping, employing residents from the neighborhood. Ezekiel Gillespie was a Milwaukee freedman, shopkeeper and a founder of St. Mark’s A.M.E Church. Gillespie is most known for suing the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the 1860’s for the right to vote… and won, giving African American men the right to vote in Wisconsin for the first time. More about this project >