I ran into a guy with a metal detector, and we struck up a conversation about what we were both doing, me with a camera, him with a metal detector.  We chatted for ~ 10 minutes on the history of the park and the neighborhood.  He has been in Wells Goodfellow since the 1960s and told some great stories.  He said there was a large population of Jewish and Italian Americans living around the park leading up to the 1950s.  They started to leave in the 60s and that's when black folks settled in (the 2010 Census data indicates 98% black population).  This part of the city is bleeding residents.  People can't get out fast enough as 28% of the residential base took off for greener pastures from 2000-2010.