Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Burney Park at American Beach was named for Isadore Horace Burney II, a native of Athens, Georgia. After graduating from Atlanta University in the mid-1930s, Burney began his life-long career as an agent in Athens for the Afro-American Life Insurance Company. He later came to manage several branches of the company, including ones in Savannah, Tampa, and Atlanta. In 1954, he moved to Jacksonville to serve as Vice-President-Secretary of the "Afro." In 1967, Burney became president of the company, a position he held until his retirement in 1976. During his lifetime, Burney was a civic leader. He served on the boards of several organizations, including the YMCA, St. Vincent's Hospital, and the Boys Club. He was also a trustee of Jacksonville University. Burney’s community service helped him promote and fulfill the goals and aspirations of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company and the American Beach Community. After frequent visits to American Beach, beginning with their honeymoon in 1936, Isadore Burney and his wife, Miriam Cunningham Burney, built a vacation home on American Beach in 1965. Burney Park was dedicated October 1990, the first park named for a person of color in Nassau County.