New construction and progress on Pratt Avenue in Five Points is bringing new apartments to the area adding population base for businesses downtown. But, there is a dark side.
Immediately adjacent to the new apartment complex rests Goldsmith-Schiffman Field. An iconic football field in East Huntsville for more than 50 years. However, some believe the rock and brick walls that surround the field were deliberately constructed to be a reflection of the courtyard of the Calhoun House located on Green St. downtown where John Meredith Calhoun, a prolific slave trader, kept his locally owned slaves.
It’s unfortunately true that institutional vestiges of racism and slavery still exist in Huntsville. Only two years ago the confederate sentry guarding the Madison County Courthouse downtown was moved to overlook confederate war dead in Maple Hill cemetery – a appropriate move but one that should’ve taken place years ago
©2023 – Jim Casey
