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Whitney Dotson is born in Louisiana.
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Whitney Dotson moves to Parchester Village with his family at age 5.
Parchester Village was Richmond's first subdivision in which African-Americans could buy a home. It was developed by Fred Parr, who promised the residents of Parchester Village that they would always have a view of the bay and access to open space nearby. -
Whitney Dotson begins to explore the marsh with his friends.
Whitney Dotson shared, “We’d be gone the whole day exploring, looking for tadpoles or picking blackberries...our parents knew it was safe, and coming from rural traditions in the South, they were comfortable with us experiencing the environment, the nature out here.” Having never heard the word for "marsh," they simply called it "over the [train] tracks." -
Fred Parr sells Parchester Village to Gerald Breuner, who plans to build on the marsh and other open space.
With the sale, Parr's promise of neighborhood access to open space was broken. During the 1970's, Breuner illegally filled in much of the wetlands for development, and planned to build a small airport called Breuner Field. Other proposals for development on what was then called Breuner Marsh included housing developments and an industrial park. The Dotson family and their neighbors fight to keep the shoreline next to Parchester Village accessible as public open space. -
Rev. Richard Daniel Dotson (Whitney's father) and other activists succeed in preserving part of the shoreline open space as a park.
The land was acquired by EBRPD and became the site of Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, which is now the largest shoreline park in the entire Bay Area. The marsh, however, was not protected yet. -
Whitney Dotson moves to Louisiana.
In an effort to reconnect with his family roots, Whitney moved to his mother's hometown in Louisiana. There he worked for a nonprofit health center serving low-income, mostly African-American communities. He was struck by the extreme poverty, overt segregation and disproportionate toxic burden faced by poor black communities he witnessed there and was inspired to work toward a healthy environment for all. -
After 13 years in the South, Whitney Dotson moves back to Parchester Village to care for his father.
Based upon his experiences in Louisiana, he made the connection between Richmond's public health issues (asthma, heart disease, diabetes) and its lack of open space. He earned a master's degree in public health administration from U.C. Berkeley and became involved with groups advocating for open space. He made a plan for Breuner Marsh that would, "[address] health concerns by giving the community a place to walk and exercise.” (Whitney Dotson) -
Breuner Marsh is acquired by East Bay Regional Park District, to be preserved as a public park.
The hard work of advocates like Whitney Dotson and his Parchester Village neighbors finally paid off. After three years of legal battles, the Park District was able to acquire the marsh, protecting it from development and restoring it as habitat. Whitney Dotson shared, "Everybody neglects the need of low-income communities...everyone should have a place like this to go." -
East Bay Regional Park District adopts a plan to restore the marsh.
The plan called for improved public access and habitat restoration in Breuner Marsh. The restoration would transform the marsh into a self-sustaining ecosystem that improves Richmond's resilience by providing habitat for native plants and threatened and endangered species, filtering polluted runoff, buffering sea level rise, and providing essential physical and mental health benefits for residents to enjoy. -
Breuner Marsh is renamed to Dotson Family Marsh.
The name change reflects Whitney's family's legacy of environmental advocacy. Whitney Dotson shared, “This is a tremendous honor. This beautiful marsh is an asset not just for Richmond residents but the entire Bay Area.” -
The newly restored Dotson Family Marsh opens to the public.
Whitney Dotson shared, “It’s very important to save areas like this. We’re always thinking about habitat for species of animals, but also we have habitat needs ourselves. This is one of the places we can come and enjoy the openness of the place itself. And that’s very important for our psychological well-being to be able to have places that we can retreat to.” -
Whitney Dotson passes away.
Richmond Planning Commissioner Andrew Butt remarked, “It was my great honor to have known him, shared his friendship, and served for several years with him on the TRAC (Trails for Richmond Advocacy Committee) steering committee. He will be deeply missed, and his legacy long remembered. Richmond needs more people like Whitney Dotson.”
