Signage went up outside of Fenway Park on Thursday, officially completing the transition of Yawkey Way back to its original name of Jersey Street.
Boston city officials voted on April 26 to reinstate the original name of the road that runs outside of the oldest ballpark in the country. It was renamed Yawkey Way in 1977 to honor Tom Yawkey, who had owned the Red Sox from 1933 until his death in 1976.
Under Yawkey's ownership, the Red Sox were the last major league team to sign an African-American player to its active roster.
"I am still haunted by what went on here a long time before we arrived," current Red Sox principal owner John Henry told the Boston Herald last year.
An official statement from Red Sox officials after the city voted to rename Yawkey Way to Jersey Street read as follows: "We recognize we have a long way to go, but remain committed to building a spirit of diversity, inclusivity, and openness within our front office and our ballpark. We look forward to working with the business and civic leaders of Boston to continue to bring about social change in our community."
The Yawkey Foundation, named after Tom and his wife, Jean, released a statement condemning the switch back to Jersey Street.
"As we have said throughout this process, the effort to expunge Tom Yawkey's name has been based on a false narrative about his life and his historic 43-year ownership of the Red Sox," the organization said. "The drastic step of renaming the street, now officially sanctioned by the city of Boston (and contradicting the honor the city bestowed upon Tom Yawkey over 40 years ago), will unfortunately give lasting credence to that narrative and unfairly tarnish his name."
