Erma Bridgewater Way and Park

Erma Bridgewater Way and Park

Image Credit:
Above: Champaign County Historical Archives at The Urbana Free Library │Below: Champaign Park District

Erma Bridgewater was a local civil rights leader who dedicated much of her life to improving the community and advocating for change. Among her many accomplishments, she was an Assistant Director at the Lawhead U.S.O. and worked as the Assistant Director, and then Director, of the Douglass Center from 1939 to 1964. The Champaign Park District dedicated a pocket park in her honor on July 8, 1992. The park is located at 1115 N. Market Street. On June 4, 2013, the Champaign City Council designated Washington Street, between Fourth Street and Wright Street, as Honorary Erma Bridgewater Way.