Baltimore renames former Confederate statue site after Harriet Tubman

A section of a Baltimore park that once held Confederate statues has been renamed after Harriet Tubman.

Wyman Park Dell used to host statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, as well as a monument to Confederate women and a statue of Roger B. Taney, the justice who wrote the opinion in the Dred Scott Supreme Court case.

But the portion of the park where the statues were located was officially renamed Harriet Tubman Grove on Saturday, local CBS affiliate WJZ reported.

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People gathered in Wyman Park Dell today for the dedication of Harriet Tubman Grove, the first former confederate statue site in #Baltimore to be rededicated. @cbsbaltimore #WJZ #HarrietTubmanDay pic.twitter.com/odC6oURptU

— Tracey Leong (@TraceyWJZ) March 10, 2018

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh (D) had the statues removed from the park in the middle of the night in August, after the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

The city held a celebration on Saturday — Harriet Tubman Day — to mark Tubman’s life and the grove’s new name. 

The famed abolitionist Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland, before escaping to freedom and helping other slaves escape on the Underground Railroad.

“It helps bring the community values to important places and helps to weave together the community,” Baltimore Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said, according to WJZ. “This place is really interesting. Since the statues were removed, it has become a gathering place.”

Confederate statues were removed from cities across the U.S. following the Charlottesville rally, which was held to defend a Confederate statue.