Currently there is an effort underway spearheaded by AOH JFK Division 5 and the IAUC to officially rename the park bordering Massachusetts Ave and 24th Street NW in Washington, DC in honor of Irish Patriot Robert Emmet. The parks chief feature in in fact an impressive statue of Robert Emmett that was erected 50 years ago on April 22, 1966 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Rising, it is only fitting that we as Hibernians now finish the job for the 100th. The park is currently named “US Reservation number 302” by the U.S. National Park Service, a banal identifier no one will miss. Robert Emmet was the quintessential Irish patriot; he was the inspiration for Clarke, Pearse and Connolly. It is only fitting that he should be honored here in America given that the inspiration for he and the United Irishmen was our own American Revolution and his brother Thomas Addis, a founder of the United Irishmen, immigrated to this country and began a second life as a distinguished Irish American. Renaming “Reservation number 302” to “Robert Emmet Park” should be a political “no brainer”, but the Brothers need your help to get this on the floor and cut through the bureaucratic red tape that Washington is famous for. Representative Joe Crowley has introduced H.R. 4564 to re-designate the site as “Robert Emmet Park.” Contact your Representative and ask him/her to contact Rep. Joe Crowley’s office to sign on as a co-sponsor to H.R. 4564 at (202) 225-3965 or email his Deputy Chief of Staff, Jeremy Woodrum, at jeremy.woodrum@mail.house.gov
