64th Anniversary of Oak Park Zoo being closed to keep out black residents.

 

2024: 125th Anniversary of Oak Park.

"Like all public facilities in Montgomery, the zoo was strictly segregated. But in the mid-1950s, pressure mounted on the zoo to provide equal access to its facilities for the city’s black citizens. In September 1958, a group of African Americans filed a lawsuit to desegregate the public parks. The Federal Court in Montgomery ruled that the city’s segregated facilities were unconstitutional the following year. 

In response, the city government closed all public parks and swimming pools rather than integrate them. Oak Park Zoo was closed on December 31, 1959, (64 years ago today).

 

Most of the animals were sold, but one of the lions went to the Birmingham Zoo."

Source HERE. 

Elsewhere: An interesting study of the segregation of Oak Park is HERE.