At the city council meeting last night, Barbara Van Auken requested that the publisher of the Peoria Times-Observer be allowed to present his suggestion for a tribute to Betty Friedan. He suggested renaming Pioneer Parkway “Betty Friedan Parkway” because it’s a major thoroughfare and Friedan was a “pioneer” in the women’s rights movement.
I’m not really a proponent of renaming streets. It used to be that you honored a person by putting up a statue to them in a prominent place. Peoria has several statues; to name a few: Abraham Lincoln (Peoria County Courthouse), Robert Ingersoll (Glen Oak Park), and Christopher Columbus (Uplands neighborhood). Why not put up a statue to Friedan and leave the street names alone?
Betty Friedan detested Peoria. She always denigrated Peoria in every interview she ever gave. Why should we honor her now?
Peoria was no friend to her either.
Let’s see, Peoria basically despises anyone who leaves here to find success elsewhere (see Pryor, Friedan, many others)
A n d . . .
It also hates those who stay and try to change the place for the better.
What did they say about never being able to be a prophet in your own town? The story is the same 2000 years later…