M-NCPPC acquired the 1/5-acre park in 1992. The park was renovated in 2022 and includes community open space with a labyrinth, multi-level playground, nature play, gathering terrace with a ping-pong table, accessible walkway and boardwalk.
History: A Principled Educator and Civil Rights Leader
Born at the height of the Jim Crow era, Edith Throckmorton was raised in West Virginia and educated in Pennsylvania. There she was spared the segregation pervasive in classrooms below the Mason-Dixon Line. She moved to Montgomery County in 1939 and taught in segregated schools. In 1950 she was promoted to principal at the new Emory Grove Consolidated Colored (Longview) Elementary School.
When schools were integrated, leadership asked Ms. Throckmorton to take a teaching position under a white principal. In 1959, she resigned in protest, ending her 25 years in public education.
In retirement, Ms. Throckmorton expanded her drive for equality from education to a wider community purpose. In 1962, she began her 16-year tenure as president of the Montgomery County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She directed her energies to issues of fair housing, equal employment opportunities, and voter rights. After her death in 1982, the Ken-Gar Civic Association dedicated this park in her honor.