The site of the park, on E. Broad Street and Cleveland Avenue, is adjacent to the city's First Congregational Church.

[1] The park is named for Washington Gladden, an early leader of the Social Gospel and Progressive movements, and minister of the First Congregational Church for 36 years.

The park also has a governing board, appointed by the church council, also made up of a mix of churchgoers and community members.

[3] The people depicted on the central mural included:[3] The park also features a sculpture titled Our Single Garment of Destiny, designed by Adriana and Julian Voss-Andreae.

The work was designed with Portland, Oregon activists as models, and was dedicated in a virtual ceremony (due to COVID-19) on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2021.

The park was built from March to October 2018 at a cost of $3.7 million, begun by a 2016 donation by Nancy Jeffrey.