Stuart Nelson Park Gets Historic Marker Thursday

The City of Paducah invites everyone to a dedication ceremony at noon on Thursday, August 4 at Stuart Nelson Park. The ceremony will honor the park’s namesake, Dr. William Stuart Nelson, with the unveiling of a Kentucky Historical Society marker.   

Mayor Gayle Kaler began working to raise money for the marker earlier this year after reading a local newspaper editorial. She worked with the Paducah Board of Commissioners, the McCracken County Fiscal Court, the Parks Services Department, the board of the W.C. Young Community Center, the Paducah chapter of the NAACP, the Paducah Human Rights Commission, local ministers, and other interested parties to collect donations and submit an application to the Kentucky Historical Society to make placement of the marker a reality.

Mayor Kaler said, “I felt that it was important to recognize the accomplishments of our one of most important citizens. Everyone can now understand the importance of Dr. William Stuart Nelson to the community’s history and honor him as a great man of Paducah.”

The marker reads:

Dr. William Stuart Nelson
1895-1977
Lincoln Grad Had Global Footprints

Dr. Nelson was born in Paris, Ky. and graduated from Lincoln High School in Paducah.  During World War I he served in combat as a 1st lieutenant.  Returning to his studies, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard University in 1920 and a divinity degree from Yale in 1924.  
A professor of religion at Howard, Nelson studied at the Sorbonne in France in 1925 and was the first black president of Dillard and Shaw Universities. Returning to Howard, he served as dean & vice president. He marched with Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and wrote several books and papers on non-violent resistance. This park was named for him in the 1940s.

Stuart Nelson Park is located west of Noble Park off Park Avenue, at the end Stuart Nelson Park Road. The park is home to the disc golf course, a playground, four lighted softball fields, and the Paducah Dog Park. The Greenway Trail connects the park to Noble Park. 

To view a database of Kentucky historical markers and their text, visit http://history.ky.gov/markers .