Edmund renamed Lena Smith Blvd

The streets signs on Edmund Boulevard were officially switched over to Lena Smith Boulevard on Nov. 1, 2025 at its intersection with E 36th St. Over 100 people attended the event. This name change honors Minnesota’s first Black woman attorney and housing rights activist. The name change was the culmination of over five years of community organizing and engagement efforts led by Reclaiming Edmund Boulevard, a group of neighborhood residents. This group formed during the summer of 2020, after Longfellow resident Mark Brandt discovered the story of Edmund Walton and his infamous legacy on Mapping Prejudice’s website. This connection was originally unearthed by Mapping Prejudice’s Penny Petersen, who documented that Walton named this street after himself after blanketing the Longfellow neighborhood in racial covenants. "We are grateful for the grassroots organizing, the city leaders and the public servants who have helped usher in a new era, one that honors the legacy of the remarkable Lena Olive Smith," stated Mapping Prejudice in its newsletter on Nov. 14.