AUSTIN, Texas — Sixty-five acres along Lady Bird Lake have been renamed in honor of Volma Overton Sr., an icon in Austin's civil rights movement.
The Austin City Council voted in January to rename Lamar Beach at Town Lake Metro Park to Volma Overton Sr. Shores at Town Lake Metro Park.
The park's new name honors Volma Overton Sr., who was the cousin of beloved Austinite Richard Overton and a renowned Austin civil rights leader. The city council voted to rename the park "to recognize the civil rights leader’s legacy and his contributions toward creating a more equitable and inclusive Austin."
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In the 1960s and '70s, Volma Overton Sr. served as president of Austin's NAACP. He also went on to fight against racial segregation in Austin schools and won. He filed a federal lawsuit in the '70s, and it took 13 years before a federal court finally declared Austin ISD desegregated.
Overton died in 2005 and is buried next to his cousin, Richard Overton, at the Texas State Cemetery in East Austin.
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