DeKalb County renames Ellenwood Park as Alice White Bussey Legacy Park, honoring trailblazer, community advocate

DEKALB COUNTY, GA –Community leaders, residents, and family members gathered on Thursday, Aug. 7, to celebrate a woman whose impact reached far beyond DeKalb County, her hometown. DeKalb County officially renamed Ellenwood Park as the Alice White Bussey Legacy Park, honoring the late trailblazer, who broke barriers in business, government, and community service.

Dr. Bussey passed away on March 7, 2025. The Decatur resident was 77.

The 46-acre park, located at 4100 River Road in Ellenwood, was renamed to recognize Bussey’s decades of advocacy that helped bring vital resources to the park itself and the Ellenwood Library to the County Line/Ellenwood area, where her family’s roots span six generations.

Over $2 million was allocated for the park including a new playground, improved access and upgrades to a retention pond as part of Phase One of the project, launched in July 2023. When completed, the park will feature an intergeneration facility. 

The improvements were championed by former District 3 DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson in partnership with the DeKalb County Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs and continued by current District 3 Commissioner Nicole Massiah, who secured additional funding though park bonds and the county’s capitol improvement plan. Both leaders were among several who spoke at Thursday’s celebration, which drew more than 100 attendees, and included the unveiling of a historic marker in honor of Bussey.

Bussey was remembered as a series of historic firsts. She was the first African American FTD florist in Atlanta, transforming Bussey’s Florist along with her husband, James, into an international enterprise. 

Before becoming a florist, Alice Bussey completed undergraduate and graduate school in California while working concurrently for the U.S. Department of Labor. After college, Bussey returned to Georgia to serve as the Labor Department’s first federal representative of the state. She also was the first Federal Women’s Program manager for the eight-state, Southeastern Region.  She became the first woman elected as president of the Atlanta Business League in 1985. 

Together, Bussey and her husband traveled extensively developing business markets throughout the USA, Europe, and Africa. They were members of former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young’s historic trade mission to Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados—cementing her reputation as both a local champion and global connector.