An Allentown park in the middle of a historically Black neighborhood has been renamed after a well-known barber, father, grandfather, mentor and friend to many in the city and beyond.

Roughly six dozen people, including family, friends and government officials, attended a Thursday ceremony to rename Valania Park at Sixth and Union streets to Clyde E. Bosket Sr. Park.

Born in 1929 in South Carolina and raised alongside 16 siblings, Bosket began cutting hair at 9 years of age before he moved to Philadelphia. He served in the Army during the Korean War, became a certified barber in 1953, moved to Allentown in 1956 and opened barbershops across Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, according to his obituary.

Bosket taught barber and cosmetology students and provided haircuts to hospital patients, nursing home residents, incarcerated people and migrant workers. He also was a member of the NAACP in Allentown and participated in the March on Washington in 1963.

“Above all, he believed in people and he lifted them up,” said Lucinda Wright, the deputy director of parks and recreation, who called Bosket a man who “always expected the best, but he modeled it.”

Bosket died in 2023 at the age of 94.

Wright said that the park, “used and loved by so many Black and brown families, was not always equally invested in, and many felt that the name did not reflect the voices or heritage. Today, by renaming it, we are saying that representation matters. We are choosing to honor a leader who embodies the spirit of community.”

Valania Park was built in 1976 and named after former Allentown School District principal John Valania. It received $1.8 million in renovations that included a redesigned basketball court, permanent bathroom facilities, access for people with disabilities and improved seating.

“Naming things sometimes seems silly,” state Rep. Pete Schweyer said. “Sometimes it seems trite, and there are times where cynics will say naming things is just a cheap political ploy. It’s not. It’s an opportunity for us to sit back and reflect on and learn about those individuals who came before us to help build the community that we live in.”

Bosket’s son, Dan, spoke of Bosket’s character Thursday, including his religious devotion, his willingness to teach people in barber work regardless of their background or identity, his educating of others, his willingness to simply give away his businesses to those who earned them, and his dedication to his family.

“To show the dedication that he had to his family: When he was 92 years old and we were having a family reunion down at his hometown in Saluda, South Carolina, one of the things that was on his mind that he had to do was to get a tombstone for his parents, my grandparents,” Dan Bosket said. “And so he led the project to actually design, create, install and then have a ceremony at the site where his parents — our grandparents — were actually buried. That’s the kind of dedication to family that he had.

“So once again, I want to thank all of you for coming out today. Thank you for honoring our father. We feel that the park belongs to us, to the community,” he said.

Several more speakers praised Bosket, his legacy and the renaming of the park.

“I met Mr. Clyde — Deacon Clyde Bosket — when I was 14,” G&A Barbershop owner Andrew Jones said. “I’m now 52, and he taught me a lot. He taught me how to represent as a man, as a business, and he taught me how to create my own foundation off of his. And I’m truly, truly, truly grateful.”

The Rev. Benjamin T. Hailey Sr., senior pastor at Union Baptist Church in Allentown, said the naming was “right on time” because it represents a legacy of a historic Black neighborhood.

Allentown City Council unanimously voted to rename Valania Park after Bosket on Wednesday night, and the room was packed with friends and family. Before the vote, several City Council members testified to his historic legacy in the community.

“He was a proud man of God and his impact in this community cannot be measured,” council Vice President Cynthia Mota said. “Having a park named after him will be such a beautiful way to honor him and make sure that generations to come will never forget him.”

“The fact that he was a businessman, a Black man in the city of Allentown during … I mean, there has always been discrimination but I mean, back then, whoa,” Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach said. “He was born in 1929. And we know what this nation was like back then, so just to think of the adversities that he had to overcome just to make it, and he had a loan to provide the opportunities to others, we owe him for the ability to even be in this room.”

On Thursday, Mayor Matt Tuerk said Allentown is a better place due to Bosket’s legacy.

“We must recognize him for his contributions to building this city … ,” Tuerk said. “It’s a place where you feel welcomed wherever you come from, whether it’s South Carolina or Philadelphia or Dominican Republic. Wherever you’re coming from, you feel welcome in this city, and it’s in part because of the impact that he had on the people who live here, and the people who make this city a special place, that make it the beating heart of the Lehigh Valley.”

https://www.mcall.com/2025/09/18/clyde-bosket-park-renaming-allentown/