[1] National Register Nominations: Bethel A.M.E. Church, Marion County, 12-19-90, Elisabeta Goodall, Author, 7.
[2] B.R. Sulgrove, History of Indianapolis and Marion County (Philadelphia: L. H. Everts, 1884), 404-05.
[3] Earline Rae Ferguson, “In Pursuit of the Full Enjoyment of Liberty and Happiness: Blacks in Antebellum Indianapolis, 1820-1860,” Black History News and Notes, no. 32 (May 1988), 7.
[4] B.R. Sulgrove, History of Indianapolis and Marion County (Philadelphia: L. H. Everts, 1884), 404-05.
[5] Ferguson, “In Pursuit of the Full Enjoyment of Liberty and Happiness: Blacks in Antebellum Indianapolis, 1820-1860,” 6.
[6] Stanley Warren, “The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church,” Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, 19 no. 3 (2007), 33.
[7] Ibid, 34.
[8] Sulgrove, History of Indianapolis and Marion County, 405.
[9] National Register Nominations: Bethel A.M.E. Church, Marion County, 12-19-90, Elisabeta Goodall, Author, 9.
[10] Aboard the Underground Railroad. “Bethel AME Church”. National Park Service.
[11] National Register Nominations: Bethel A.M.E. Church, 9-10.
[12] Warren, “The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church,” 35.
[13] Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Indiana Historical Bureau. Accessed January 29, 2020.
[14] Warren, “The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church,” 35.
https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/p16797coll9/id/2456/rec/109 |
Its founders, ten African American students at Indiana University, first organized the fraternity (originally named Kappa Alpha Nu until 1915) in January 1911[2]. The men often gathered at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bloomington before they had their own fraternity house. The original motto, “Achievement in every field of Human Endeavor” formalized their goal of helping members to attain high “intellectual, moral and social worth”.[3] Kappa Alpha Psi gave African American men at Indiana University a way to participate in campus social events. In Indiana University in the 1910s, African Americans were not allowed to reside in campus housing, were denied use of university facilities, and could not participate in contact sports, leaving only track and field as athletic options.[4]
Kappa Alpha Psi, like many other Greek organizations across colleges and universities in the United States, has evolved over time. Over the years, Kappa Alpha Psi has sponsored national programs under its name feeding the homeless, funding youth and after-school programs, providing scholarships, and sponsoring other philanthropic efforts.[5] It now has over 700 chapters and 125,000 collegiate members worldwide.[6] Kappa Alpha Psi takes pride in the fact that their Constitution has never included any language that “either excluded or suggested the exclusion of a man from membership merely because of his color, creed, or national origin”.[7] Notable Kappa Alpha Psi members include Hollywood director John Singleton (University of Southern California), former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (University of Nevada), author and television personality Marc Lamont Hill (University of Pennsylvania), political author on race relations Charles Blow (Grambling State University) [8], and former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Dennis Hayes (Indiana University).[9]
The alpha Kappa Alpha Psi chapter at Indiana University dedicated its fraternity house as the Elder Watson Diggs Memorial in 1961, honoring founder and first Grand Polemarch Elder W. Diggs. In 2008, the Indiana Historical Bureau and Indiana University installed a historical marker on the site of the Elder Watson Diggs Memorial chapter house. The marker commemorates the formation of Kappa Alpha Psi and the role it played in race relations and civil rights in Indiana.[10]
]]>Greek life and its associated activities is a dominant thread in many college students’ lives. Kappa Alpha Psi was one of the first African American social fraternities in the United States.[1] The fraternity was founded in 1911 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, a predominantly white institution at a time when racism and prejudice were high. Kappa Alpha Psi has since dedicated their efforts to an equal brotherhood, bound only by a willingness to succeed and not by skin color, race, or background.
Its founders, ten African American students at Indiana University, first organized the fraternity (originally named Kappa Alpha Nu until 1915) in January 1911[2]. The men often gathered at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bloomington before they had their own fraternity house. The original motto, “Achievement in every field of Human Endeavor” formalized their goal of helping members to attain high “intellectual, moral and social worth”.[3] Kappa Alpha Psi gave African American men at Indiana University a way to participate in campus social events. In Indiana University in the 1910s, African Americans were not allowed to reside in campus housing, were denied use of university facilities, and could not participate in contact sports, leaving only track and field as athletic options.[4]
Kappa Alpha Psi, like many other Greek organizations across colleges and universities in the United States, has evolved over time. Over the years, Kappa Alpha Psi has sponsored national programs under its name feeding the homeless, funding youth and after-school programs, providing scholarships, and sponsoring other philanthropic efforts.[5] It now has over 700 chapters and 125,000 collegiate members worldwide.[6] Kappa Alpha Psi takes pride in the fact that their Constitution has never included any language that “either excluded or suggested the exclusion of a man from membership merely because of his color, creed, or national origin”.[7] Notable Kappa Alpha Psi members include Hollywood director John Singleton (University of Southern California), former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (University of Nevada), author and television personality Marc Lamont Hill (University of Pennsylvania), political author on race relations Charles Blow (Grambling State University) [8], and former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Dennis Hayes (Indiana University).[9]
The alpha Kappa Alpha Psi chapter at Indiana University dedicated its fraternity house as the Elder Watson Diggs Memorial in 1961, honoring founder and first Grand Polemarch Elder W. Diggs. In 2008, the Indiana Historical Bureau and Indiana University installed a historical marker on the site of the Elder Watson Diggs Memorial chapter house. The marker commemorates the formation of Kappa Alpha Psi and the role it played in race relations and civil rights in Indiana.[10]
[1] Kappa Alpha Psi. “A Brief History.” Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. https://kappaalphapsi1911.com/page/History. Accessed February 7, 2020.
[2] "Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity." Original People. January 24, 2014. Accessed April 12, 2019.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Kappa Alpha Psi. “A Brief History.” Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. Accessed February 7, 2020.
[5] Kappa Alpha Psi. “A Brief History.” Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. Accessed February 7, 2020.
[6] "Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity." Original People. January 24, 2014. Accessed April 12, 2019.
[7] Kappa Alpha Psi. “A Brief History.” Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. Accessed February 7, 2020.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Kappa Alpha Psi to make a historic 'pilgrimage' to IU Bloomington to mark its centennial. Indiana University, IU News Room. Accessed February 10, 2020.
[10] Indiana Historical Bureau, Indiana Historical Markers. Accessed February 10, 2020.
Theodore Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana, also known as Gary Roosevelt, can trace its origins to 1908 when the Gary school board issued the segregation of all public schools. The first school for African American children in Gary was built that same year. As the population grew, African American students were also educated in other segregated schools and in portable classrooms, and by 1921, those portable classrooms were located at the present location of Gary Roosevelt.[1] Public school segregation remained in effect, but a few African American students were allowed to enroll in white schools (in segregated classes) if space existed. Under this plan, 18 African American high school students were transferred to white Emerson School in 1927. In protest, over 600 white Emerson students conducted a four-day walkout known as the Emerson Strike.[2] The strike was ended when the Gary City Council agreed to allocate funds to create an African American high school, to be named after President Theodore Roosevelt.[3]
Theodore Roosevelt High School was built in 1930 exclusively for African American students. The Gary Roosevelt building features design elements inspired by Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Additional classroom wings were added in 1946 and 1968.[4] The physical design of the Gary Roosevelt building supported what was known as the Gary System of Education or the Gary Plan. Developed by Dr. William A. Wirt, the city’s first superintendent of schools from 1907-1938, the Gary Plan was a Progressive Era educational concept, with some elements of the system playing a role in how schools function today.[5] The Gary Plan emphasized both vocational training and college preparatory classes, a lengthened school day that kept students “off the streets”, and emphasized “work-study-play” incorporating academics, vocational, and recreational activities into each school day. The Gary Plan maximized the utilization and capacity of the building, and even advocated students attending school on Saturday.[6]
Although the official school board policy of public school segregation ended in 1947[7], Gary Roosevelt, like virtually all of Gary public schools, remained segregated by the adjustment of school district and individual school boundaries. The school district boundaries were based on the racial mix of the various neighborhoods.[8] Wirt’s Gary Plan was mostly abandoned in favor of more mainstream educational ideas and in response to severe overcrowding due to a post-WWII population explosion in Gary. Adherence to segregation enforced by neighborhood racial boundaries, no matter the amount of population growth, meant that for almost 20 years, Gary Roosevelt students attended classes in rented portable classrooms or attended half-day sessions in an effort to ease the extreme overcrowding.[9]
Teachers at Gary Roosevelt have educated generations of African American children for nearly a century. The school is now known as the Theodore Roosevelt College and Career Academy, a charter school for grades 7-12. The building formerly known as Theodore Roosevelt High School is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural importance, its role in the Progressive Era in education, and the integral part it played in Gary's segregated public school system.[10]
The 1920s marked a great resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, which pressured for segregated education. There was much pushback from African Americans regarding Crispus Attucks being segregated. The Better Indianapolis League, as well as African American churches such as the Bethel AME Church in Indianapolis, strongly opposed segregating the school.[2] Despite this, the school board voted unanimously on segregation. African American students who had previously attended integrated Indianapolis high schools, such as Arsenal Technical, Washington, and Shortridge, moved to Crispus Attucks upon the school’s opening, and were no longer allowed to attend any other public high school in the city. The Indianapolis Recorder reported on this incident, stating: “About two dozen of boys and girls who appeared at Shortridge, Manual and Technical High Schools...were refused admission...The Negro citizens are now faced with the circumstance, voiced by opponents of a Negro High School in the past. The great establishments as Technical, Manual, and Shortridge, offer subjects or works, and facilities that Negro boys and girls will never have at the Attucks High School, some parents declare.”[3]
Many Crispus Attucks’ teachers held master’s degrees or PhDs, which was unusual for a high school at the time. Richard Pierce in Polite Protest states, “By 1934, seven years after opening its doors, the sixty-two-member faculty held nineteen master’s degrees and two Ph.D.s. The percentage of advanced degrees held by Attucks’s faculty far exceeded that of any other high school in the city.”[4] With the amount of highly educated faculty, Attucks provided quality education despite the lack of quality resources compared to the city’s white high schools. The school also found success in sports. In the 1950s, the Attucks Tigers won two consecutive state basketball championships. The 1955 championship made the Tigers the first segregated black high school team in US history to win a state title.[5] Notable athletes who played on the team included future NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.[6]
Statewide desegregation was enacted into law by the Indiana General Assembly in 1949, five years before the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. However, Crispus Attucks continued to be a segregated African American high school. In 1965, the president of the NAACP requested an investigation into why Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) were still segregated. In 1968, the Department of Justice “directed IPS to begin taking voluntary steps toward actual integration.” IPS ignored this directive, which was met with protests from the African American community, and from whites who refused to let their children attend Attucks High School. The school would remain segregated until September 7, 1971 “under court-ordered desegregation”.[7]
Recognized for both its architecture and its role in African American education and civil rights, Crispus Attucks High School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. In 1992, the Indiana Historical Bureau erected a historical marker in front of the school, recounting its history and its importance to the Indianapolis African American community.
]]>Crispus Attucks High School, located in Indianapolis, Indiana, opened in 1927. Originally, it was to be named after President Thomas Jefferson. However, the idea of a school built explicitly for African American students named for a white slave owner invoked multiple petitions from the African American community. The name changed to Crispus Attucks to honor the runaway slave who is said to have been the first person to die in the American Revolution, during the Boston Massacre.[1]
The 1920s marked a great resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, which pressured for segregated education. There was much pushback from African Americans regarding Crispus Attucks being segregated. The Better Indianapolis League, as well as African American churches such as the Bethel AME Church in Indianapolis, strongly opposed segregating the school.[2] Despite this, the school board voted unanimously on segregation. African American students who had previously attended integrated Indianapolis high schools, such as Arsenal Technical, Washington, and Shortridge, moved to Crispus Attucks upon the school’s opening, and were no longer allowed to attend any other public high school in the city. The Indianapolis Recorder reported on this incident, stating: “About two dozen of boys and girls who appeared at Shortridge, Manual and Technical High Schools...were refused admission...The Negro citizens are now faced with the circumstance, voiced by opponents of a Negro High School in the past. The great establishments as Technical, Manual, and Shortridge, offer subjects or works, and facilities that Negro boys and girls will never have at the Attucks High School, some parents declare.”[3]
Many Crispus Attucks’ teachers held master’s degrees or PhDs, which was unusual for a high school at the time. Richard Pierce in Polite Protest states, “By 1934, seven years after opening its doors, the sixty-two-member faculty held nineteen master’s degrees and two Ph.D.s. The percentage of advanced degrees held by Attucks’s faculty far exceeded that of any other high school in the city.”[4] With the amount of highly educated faculty, Attucks provided quality education despite the lack of quality resources compared to the city’s white high schools. The school also found success in sports. In the 1950s, the Attucks Tigers won two consecutive state basketball championships. The 1955 championship made the Tigers the first segregated black high school team in US history to win a state title.[5] Notable athletes who played on the team included future NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.[6]
Statewide desegregation was enacted into law by the Indiana General Assembly in 1949, five years before the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. However, Crispus Attucks continued to be a segregated African American high school. In 1965, the president of the NAACP requested an investigation into why Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) were still segregated. In 1968, the Department of Justice “directed IPS to begin taking voluntary steps toward actual integration.” IPS ignored this directive, which was met with protests from the African American community, and from whites who refused to let their children attend Attucks High School. The school would remain segregated until September 7, 1971 “under court-ordered desegregation”.[7]
Recognized for both its architecture and its role in African American education and civil rights, Crispus Attucks High School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. In 1992, the Indiana Historical Bureau erected a historical marker in front of the school, recounting its history and its importance to the Indianapolis African American community.
As part of her master’s thesis in the late 1930s, Harris sent out 500 questionnaires to African American elementary school officials throughout the Unites States, asking whether they had access to materials that highlighted the importance of African American culture, African American people of high achievement, or showed African American families. Only a handful of schools had materials that presented African Americans accurately and fairly. In response, she began writing the first of many editions of “Stories for Little Tots”, published in 1940, which was a collection of biographies of important African American individuals, specifically targeted for school-aged children. During this time, she was befriended by Dr. George Washington Carver who helped her promote “Stories for Little Tots”, which featured a biography of Carver.[3]
Harris Merriweather also wrote “A History of Eminent Negroes”, highlighting accomplished African American individuals. Each of her books, including her three-part “The Family” elementary reader series and “Stories for Little Tots”, went on to become highly useful educational tools for African American schools across the nation. Her books were an unprecedented form of literature designed for African American young people. According to Terre Haute resident James Flinn, “All the reading material at that time was written by whites for whites about whites.”[4] In fact, most of the authors writing about African American culture at the time were white as well, creating a skewed perspective and fostering African American stereotypes amongst their readers.
The small number of African American children literature authors in the 1940s had a limited reach and a very small audience, contributing to the prejudice and the self-fulfilling prophecies of the African American children who read of themselves mostly in a negative stereotypical light and portrayed by white authors.[5] One of Merriweather’s former students, Carolyn Roberts, who became a elementary teacher herself, remarked on the importance of Merriweather’s readers. “The first time to open up a book and see an African-American, and see what they had done, was so important.”[6] It was writers such as Harris Merriweather that greatly contributed to the shift in African American children’s literature and education, from harmful prejudiced views to those that inspired hope and motivation amongst young African American readers.
Evangeline suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 57, while still in the prime of her writing, educational, and singing career. Her contributions to African American children’s literature and culture are memorialized by an Indiana Historical Bureau marker on the campus of Indiana State University (formerly Indiana State Normal School).[7]
]]>Evangeline E. Harris was born in 1893 and raised in Terre Haute, Indiana. She attended Oberlin College in Ohio, Columbia University, and was an accomplished opera singer at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, before earning her master’s degree in education from Indiana State Normal School, now Indiana State University, in Terre Haute. Harris was a school teacher and music supervisor at various elementary schools in the Terre Haute area.[1] In 1936, she married Charles Merriweather and they remained in Terre Haute. Harris Merriweather continued to teach elementary school and perform as an opera singer both locally and across the nation.[2]
As part of her master’s thesis in the late 1930s, Harris sent out 500 questionnaires to African American elementary school officials throughout the Unites States, asking whether they had access to materials that highlighted the importance of African American culture, African American people of high achievement, or showed African American families. Only a handful of schools had materials that presented African Americans accurately and fairly. In response, she began writing the first of many editions of “Stories for Little Tots”, published in 1940, which was a collection of biographies of important African American individuals, specifically targeted for school-aged children. During this time, she was befriended by Dr. George Washington Carver who helped her promote “Stories for Little Tots”, which featured a biography of Carver.[3]
Harris Merriweather also wrote “A History of Eminent Negroes”, highlighting accomplished African American individuals. Each of her books, including her three-part “The Family” elementary reader series and “Stories for Little Tots”, went on to become highly useful educational tools for African American schools across the nation. Her books were an unprecedented form of literature designed for African American young people. According to Terre Haute resident James Flinn, “All the reading material at that time was written by whites for whites about whites.”[4] In fact, most of the authors writing about African American culture at the time were white as well, creating a skewed perspective and fostering African American stereotypes amongst their readers.
The small number of African American children literature authors in the 1940s had a limited reach and a very small audience, contributing to the prejudice and the self-fulfilling prophecies of the African American children who read of themselves mostly in a negative stereotypical light and portrayed by white authors.[5] One of Merriweather’s former students, Carolyn Roberts, who became a elementary teacher herself, remarked on the importance of Merriweather’s readers. “The first time to open up a book and see an African-American, and see what they had done, was so important.”[6] It was writers such as Harris Merriweather that greatly contributed to the shift in African American children’s literature and education, from harmful prejudiced views to those that inspired hope and motivation amongst young African American readers.
Evangeline suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 57, while still in the prime of her writing, educational, and singing career. Her contributions to African American children’s literature and culture are memorialized by an Indiana Historical Bureau marker on the campus of Indiana State University (formerly Indiana State Normal School).[7]
The school included 22 classrooms, a gym, auditorium, sewing room, and other vocational training areas. However, the school did not contain a cafeteria. Compared to white schools at the time, Lincoln received less funding and students had decreased educational opportunities. Despite having a library, the school did not receive enough funding to purchase books. Lincoln’s first librarian, Mrs. Alberta K. McFarland Stevenson stocked the library shelves by collecting used books and monetary donations door-to-door from local residents.[4]
This was not the only inequality experienced by Lincoln students. Discrimination was rampant in Indiana high school sports in the 1930s and early 1940s, directly affecting the successful athletes at Lincoln. African American high school teams in Indiana were not allowed to compete in contact sports with white schools until 1943 when the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) was ordered by the Indiana legislature to open membership to all schools. This order was only six years before state law declared segregation of Indiana schools illegal.
Because Lincoln High School students were excluded from competing with white teams in Indiana, athletes traveled to Gary and Indianapolis to play teams from African American schools (Roosevelt and Crispus Attucks). They also traveled out of state to Dayton, Louisville, Missouri, Nashville, and St. Louis for athletic competitions. George Flowers, who was a member of the school’s track team, recalled “That’s the one time segregation was kind of a fun thing, because it allowed our young men to go to bigger cities.”[5]
Despite the lack of school funding, the teachers were held in high esteem for providing quality education and turning students into respectful young people. Dawn Whitticker, whose mother was a teacher at Lincoln, recounts “The teachers were excellent. They were really strong disciplinarians,” she said. “Even if you were a student who wasn’t as up to speed, they made sure you learned. We were all forced to stay together, even during our entertainment. My teacher would probably see my mother in the grocery store and the beauty shop.” This strong sense of community and the bond between African American residents and teachers created an atmosphere where students wanted to do well and created a Lincoln legacy that continues to this day.[6]
In 1949, Indiana state law opened the doors to all schools for African Americans. However, in many areas of the state there was no mechanism to promote integration while there many policies enacted to continue de facto segregation. Very few Lincoln students integrated to the previously all-white schools.[7] In 1962, the final solely African American class graduated from Lincoln High School, and the school was then converted into a K-8 facility as part of the school corporation’s integration plan.[8] The original Lincoln School building still stands and as of 2020, serves K-8 students.[9] The Lincoln Clark Douglass Alumni Association keeps the legacy of Lincoln High School alive, and as part of their mission they resolve to “encourage high culture, intellectual and moral standards among its members” and “to inspire such traits of character among the African American community members…. and throughout the community at large.”[10]
]]>Lincoln High School in Evansville was built as an exclusively African American high school in Evansville, Indiana.[1][2] When classes were first held in 1928, the Lincoln hosted grades K-12, with an enrollment of 300. Students were bussed in from surrounding Vanderburg, Posey, and Warrick counties to attend Lincoln, including the communities of Mt. Vernon, Rockport, Newburgh, and Grandview.[3]
The school included 22 classrooms, a gym, auditorium, sewing room, and other vocational training areas. However, the school did not contain a cafeteria. Compared to white schools at the time, Lincoln received less funding and students had decreased educational opportunities. Despite having a library, the school did not receive enough funding to purchase books. Lincoln’s first librarian, Mrs. Alberta K. McFarland Stevenson stocked the library shelves by collecting used books and monetary donations door-to-door from local residents.[4]
This was not the only inequality experienced by Lincoln students. Discrimination was rampant in Indiana high school sports in the 1930s and early 1940s, directly affecting the successful athletes at Lincoln. African American high school teams in Indiana were not allowed to compete in contact sports with white schools until 1943 when the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) was ordered by the Indiana legislature to open membership to all schools. This order was only six years before state law declared segregation of Indiana schools illegal.
Because Lincoln High School students were excluded from competing with white teams in Indiana, athletes traveled to Gary and Indianapolis to play teams from African American schools (Roosevelt and Crispus Attucks). They also traveled out of state to Dayton, Louisville, Missouri, Nashville, and St. Louis for athletic competitions. George Flowers, who was a member of the school’s track team, recalled “That’s the one time segregation was kind of a fun thing, because it allowed our young men to go to bigger cities.”[5]
Despite the lack of school funding, the teachers were held in high esteem for providing quality education and turning students into respectful young people. Dawn Whitticker, whose mother was a teacher at Lincoln, recounts “The teachers were excellent. They were really strong disciplinarians,” she said. “Even if you were a student who wasn’t as up to speed, they made sure you learned. We were all forced to stay together, even during our entertainment. My teacher would probably see my mother in the grocery store and the beauty shop.” This strong sense of community and the bond between African American residents and teachers created an atmosphere where students wanted to do well and created a Lincoln legacy that continues to this day.[6]
In 1949, Indiana state law opened the doors to all schools for African Americans. However, in many areas of the state there was no mechanism to promote integration while there many policies enacted to continue de facto segregation. Very few Lincoln students integrated to the previously all-white schools.[7] In 1962, the final solely African American class graduated from Lincoln High School, and the school was then converted into a K-8 facility as part of the school corporation’s integration plan.[8] The original Lincoln School building still stands and as of 2020, serves K-8 students.[9] The Lincoln Clark Douglass Alumni Association keeps the legacy of Lincoln High School alive, and as part of their mission they resolve to “encourage high culture, intellectual and moral standards among its members” and “to inspire such traits of character among the African American community members…. and throughout the community at large.”[10]
In their protest, white students pleaded that Froebel High School become a school designated for white students only, threatening to transfer schools if their demands were not met.[2] As a result of the ongoing protest, Gary African American ministers of all faiths banded together to form the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA) and defended the principal’s decision to maintain an integrated environment within the school.[3][4] The IMA released an appeal to Gary’s citizens, saying “It is indeed regrettable to note that after the nation has spent approximately 190 billion dollars, the colored citizens of Gary have sent about 4,000 of their sons, brothers, and husbands to battlefields around the world and have supported every war effort that our government has called upon us to support, in a united effort to destroy nazism and to banish from the face of the earth all that Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo stood for; to find in our midst those who are endeavoring to spread disunity, race-hatred, and Hitlerism in our community.”[5]
Despite the support of the IMA in favor of the school’s integration decision, otherschools joined the walkout. The Gary Post-Tribune reported that some members of the Froebel neighborhood supported the strike as they “feel their homes and churches have depreciated in value” with the influx of African American home-owners in the neighborhood.[6] The hate strike lasted well into November, but threats to continue the strike lasted into the following year. On August 27, 1946, the Gary Board of Education issued a policy technically ending segregation. However, in all practicality segregation within Gary schools continued to exist, supported by discriminatory policies. Lower grades at Froebel School more quickly adjusted to integration, while in 1948, African American students in grades 8-12 at Froebel still faced persistent discrimination when it came to the swimming facilities, band, theater, class offices, and other extracurricular activities.[7]
In 1951, Froebel School enrolled 56% African American students. After a transfer policy was enacted that allowed children to transfer to other schools for “better social adjustment”, Froebel School enrollment was 95% African American by 1961, while the district it served was 65% African American. The transfer policy in effect allowed segregation to continue. Other practices, such as offering fewer academic courses, hiring less qualified teachers, and overcrowding at predominately African American schools, coupled with school feeding patterns based on race, perpetuated de facto segregation.[8]
Due to declining enrollment and after several reductions of grade levels served, Froebel School finally closed in 1977 as part of district cost-cutting measures. The location of Froebel School and its role in school desegregation is commemorated with an Indiana Historical Bureau marker.[9]
]]>Built in 1912, Froebel High School was one of the first schools in Gary, Indiana to accept African American students, decades before most other schools were desegregated. By 1944, approximately 40% of the school’s students were African American. Despite being an integrated school, African American students were still expected to remain in certain areas of the building, could not participate fully in extracurricular activities, and were often disliked and mistreated by many of their white classmates. Tensions continued to rise, until September 18, 1945 when around 1,400 white students took part in a massive walkout protest against the integration policies of Froebel High School.[1]
In their protest, white students pleaded that Froebel High School become a school designated for white students only, threatening to transfer schools if their demands were not met.[2] As a result of the ongoing protest, Gary African American ministers of all faiths banded together to form the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA) and defended the principal’s decision to maintain an integrated environment within the school.[3][4] The IMA released an appeal to Gary’s citizens, saying “It is indeed regrettable to note that after the nation has spent approximately 190 billion dollars, the colored citizens of Gary have sent about 4,000 of their sons, brothers, and husbands to battlefields around the world and have supported every war effort that our government has called upon us to support, in a united effort to destroy nazism and to banish from the face of the earth all that Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo stood for; to find in our midst those who are endeavoring to spread disunity, race-hatred, and Hitlerism in our community.”[5]
Despite the support of the IMA in favor of the school’s integration decision, otherschools joined the walkout. The Gary Post-Tribune reported that some members of the Froebel neighborhood supported the strike as they “feel their homes and churches have depreciated in value” with the influx of African American home-owners in the neighborhood.[6] The hate strike lasted well into November, but threats to continue the strike lasted into the following year. On August 27, 1946, the Gary Board of Education issued a policy technically ending segregation. However, in all practicality segregation within Gary schools continued to exist, supported by discriminatory policies. Lower grades at Froebel School more quickly adjusted to integration, while in 1948, African American students in grades 8-12 at Froebel still faced persistent discrimination when it came to the swimming facilities, band, theater, class offices, and other extracurricular activities.[7]
In 1951, Froebel School enrolled 56% African American students. After a transfer policy was enacted that allowed children to transfer to other schools for “better social adjustment”, Froebel School enrollment was 95% African American by 1961, while the district it served was 65% African American. The transfer policy in effect allowed segregation to continue. Other practices, such as offering fewer academic courses, hiring less qualified teachers, and overcrowding at predominately African American schools, coupled with school feeding patterns based on race, perpetuated de facto segregation.[8]
Due to declining enrollment and after several reductions of grade levels served, Froebel School finally closed in 1977 as part of district cost-cutting measures. The location of Froebel School and its role in school desegregation is commemorated with an Indiana Historical Bureau marker.[9]
As one of the last Northern states to officially desegregate public schools, Indiana has a long history of racial inequality in its educational systems. The move to integrate public schools came in 1949, only five years preceding the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, when the Indiana General Assembly passed the Indiana School Desegregation Act in 1949.[2] Although the law required schools to start integrating, segregation persisted throughout the state due to residential zoning. South Bend’s public school system had never officially been segregated; however, the city enforced extremely discriminatory housing practices that made it very difficult for African Americans to become property owners, forced African American families into segregated neighborhoods, and perpetuated unofficial segregation in public schools.[3]
Even in school buildings that were officially integrated, African American students were often denied access to recreational facilities and discouraged from participating in school teams and clubs in South Bend.[4] These discriminatory practices caused African American students to feel unrepresented in their schools and culminated in a large public protest at Washington High School. In its coverage of the 1968 Washington High School walkout, The Reformer reported that one student demonstrator said, “We’ve been given frustration in place of equal representation.”[5] Despite the large African American population at Washington High School, African American students felt unable to participate fully in their school community. Marching out of the all-school pep assembly, over 200 students mobilized in order to upend the school’s prejudiced operations.
The year 1968 saw many school walkouts staged by students seeking to promote civil rights. The largest and most influential demonstration was the East Los Angeles School walkouts of March 1968.[6] It is likely that the 200 students who walked out of Washington High School on September 20, 1968 were inspired by this and similar walkouts earlier in the year.
]]>On September 20, 1968, 200 African American students staged a walkout at Washington High School in South Bend, Indiana. The walkout was a protest of the lack of representation of African Americans students in the school’s sports teams and extracurricular activities. The center of the conflict revolved around the fact that there was not a single African American cheerleader on Washington High School’s “all white” cheerleading squad. The walkout was organized and carried out by the Student Organization for Unity and Leadership (S.O.U.L.), a student-run organization that advocated for the representation of African American students in all areas of student life at Washington High School. Prior to the walkout, S.O.U.L. held two meetings to plan the demonstration at the LaSalle Park Center on Western Avenue. The pep assembly walkout involved many students and gained the attention of the South Bend African American newspaper The Reformer, where it made the front page of the September 29, 1968 edition.[1]
As one of the last Northern states to officially desegregate public schools, Indiana has a long history of racial inequality in its educational systems. The move to integrate public schools came in 1949, only five years preceding the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, when the Indiana General Assembly passed the Indiana School Desegregation Act in 1949.[2] Although the law required schools to start integrating, segregation persisted throughout the state due to residential zoning. South Bend’s public school system had never officially been segregated; however, the city enforced extremely discriminatory housing practices that made it very difficult for African Americans to become property owners, forced African American families into segregated neighborhoods, and perpetuated unofficial segregation in public schools.[3]
Even in school buildings that were officially integrated, African American students were often denied access to recreational facilities and discouraged from participating in school teams and clubs in South Bend.[4] These discriminatory practices caused African American students to feel unrepresented in their schools and culminated in a large public protest at Washington High School. In its coverage of the 1968 Washington High School walkout, The Reformer reported that one student demonstrator said, “We’ve been given frustration in place of equal representation.”[5] Despite the large African American population at Washington High School, African American students felt unable to participate fully in their school community. Marching out of the all-school pep assembly, over 200 students mobilized in order to upend the school’s prejudiced operations.
The year 1968 saw many school walkouts staged by students seeking to promote civil rights. The largest and most influential demonstration was the East Los Angeles School walkouts of March 1968.[6] It is likely that the 200 students who walked out of Washington High School on September 20, 1968 were inspired by this and similar walkouts earlier in the year.
Most historically African American colleges and universities, such as Tuskegee University and Bethune-Cookman University, were established in the mid-to-late nineteenth century to provide valuable knowledge and skills to African Americans in order to promote equality and provide opportunities for formerly enslaved people. Although Martin University was established a century after many of these historical institutions, it was founded on the same values of freedom. Established in 1977, during a time when educational opportunities were limited for African Americans who lived in the inner city of Indianapolis, the original mission of the University was “to serve low-income, minority, and adult learners” in the Indianapolis community.[2]
Martin University is known for its home-like atmosphere, supportive staff, and dedication to service. The institution has produced over 1,500 alumni, many of whom have become recognized leaders in Indianapolis. Notable Martin University graduates include “a former Deputy Mayor for the City of Indianapolis, an Administrator for the Pike Township Fire Department, a former Marion County Sheriff, a Marion County Chaplain, a McDonald's Franchise Owner, a Pastor of a 16,000 member church, clergymen, social workers, daycare workers and owners, police officers, and published authors.”[3]
Co-founder Boniface Hardin was the first president of Martin University and led the institution from 1977 until he retired thirty years later in 2007. Under Hardin’s leadership, the small university earned accreditation and became a fixture in Indianapolis. Following Hardin’s retirement, Martin University went through a period of unstable leadership, as three presidents passed through the institution in a five-year period. The university had also been struggling with funding for many years, even during Hardin’s presidency, and by 2013, Martin University was in danger of closing.[4] The university desperately needed a strong and dedicated leader to restore its finances and credibility.
Dr. Eugene White, former superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools and friend of Boniface Hardin, came out of retirement to assume the position of president of Martin University in August 2013. Under his stable leadership, the institution put a strategic plan in place to get out of debt and improve its standing with the government and local community. While the first years of White’s presidency were very challenging, with the cutting of programs and revaluation of everything from curriculum to budget, White found inspiration in the dedication of Martin University’s staff. Between 2013 and 2016, White’s strategic restoration plan successfully restructured the school and saved it from the brink of closure.[5]
Martin University celebrated the fortieth anniversary of its founding in 2017, a triumph made even greater by the institution’s recent rejuvenation. Dr. Sean L. Huddleston, former Vice President and Chief Equity & Inclusion Officer for the University of Indianapolis, succeeded Dr. Eugene White as president of Martin University in 2019.[6] The institution is currently working toward expanding its catalog of degree programs, providing salary increases to staff, and increasing its student population.[7] Martin University has long-served Indianapolis as an urban educational center of excellence and is on the path for continued growth in the coming years.[8]
]]>Martin University is Indiana’s only predominately African American institution of higher education. Founded by Reverend Father Boniface Hardin and Sister Jane Shilling in 1977, the private, non-for-profit university is named after two influential “Martins”: Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and St. Martin de Porres, a Peruvian saint who dedicated his life to serving the poor and became the first bi-racial Catholic saint. Originally located at 35th Street and College Avenue, Martin University is now situated on North Sherman Drive in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood of Indianapolis, Indiana.[1]
Most historically African American colleges and universities, such as Tuskegee University and Bethune-Cookman University, were established in the mid-to-late nineteenth century to provide valuable knowledge and skills to African Americans in order to promote equality and provide opportunities for formerly enslaved people. Although Martin University was established a century after many of these historical institutions, it was founded on the same values of freedom. Established in 1977, during a time when educational opportunities were limited for African Americans who lived in the inner city of Indianapolis, the original mission of the University was “to serve low-income, minority, and adult learners” in the Indianapolis community.[2]
Martin University is known for its home-like atmosphere, supportive staff, and dedication to service. The institution has produced over 1,500 alumni, many of whom have become recognized leaders in Indianapolis. Notable Martin University graduates include “a former Deputy Mayor for the City of Indianapolis, an Administrator for the Pike Township Fire Department, a former Marion County Sheriff, a Marion County Chaplain, a McDonald's Franchise Owner, a Pastor of a 16,000 member church, clergymen, social workers, daycare workers and owners, police officers, and published authors.”[3]
Co-founder Boniface Hardin was the first president of Martin University and led the institution from 1977 until he retired thirty years later in 2007. Under Hardin’s leadership, the small university earned accreditation and became a fixture in Indianapolis. Following Hardin’s retirement, Martin University went through a period of unstable leadership, as three presidents passed through the institution in a five-year period. The university had also been struggling with funding for many years, even during Hardin’s presidency, and by 2013, Martin University was in danger of closing.[4] The university desperately needed a strong and dedicated leader to restore its finances and credibility.
Dr. Eugene White, former superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools and friend of Boniface Hardin, came out of retirement to assume the position of president of Martin University in August 2013. Under his stable leadership, the institution put a strategic plan in place to get out of debt and improve its standing with the government and local community. While the first years of White’s presidency were very challenging, with the cutting of programs and revaluation of everything from curriculum to budget, White found inspiration in the dedication of Martin University’s staff. Between 2013 and 2016, White’s strategic restoration plan successfully restructured the school and saved it from the brink of closure.[5]
Martin University celebrated the fortieth anniversary of its founding in 2017, a triumph made even greater by the institution’s recent rejuvenation. Dr. Sean L. Huddleston, former Vice President and Chief Equity & Inclusion Officer for the University of Indianapolis, succeeded Dr. Eugene White as president of Martin University in 2019.[6] The institution is currently working toward expanding its catalog of degree programs, providing salary increases to staff, and increasing its student population.[7] Martin University has long-served Indianapolis as an urban educational center of excellence and is on the path for continued growth in the coming years.[8]
Since Gary’s founding by the United States Steel Corporation in 1906, the city’s public schools had been segregated by residential boundaries and school board policies. As the African American population began to grow during the 1920s, African American families were sequestered into crowded, low-income neighborhoods. “The Patch,” later named Midtown, was one such neighborhood. The only school in The Patch, located on Virginia Street, could not meet the needs of its many students and was overcrowded by the late 1920s. In an effort to alleviate the school and push educational reform, Superintendent Wirt decided to allow 18 African American honor roll students to transfer to Emerson High School.[4]
On September 19, 1927, the 18 African American students entered Emerson High School for the first time. Superintendent Wirt did not expect the strong backlash that quickly followed. Within the first week, the new students began receiving harsh threats from their white classmates. According to former student Hazel Bratton Sanders, “the white students would line up on both sides of the sidewalk and stretch their arms over us.” As the African American students were forced to walk under them like an arch they yelled insults like “'Go away, darkies. This isn't your school.'”[5] The students were also subject to verbal abuse, and many were pushed and spit on by white students.[6]
Fearing that the admittance of the African American students would lead to more integration, white students and families planned a mass demonstration. On September 26, 1927, approximately 600 white students staged a school walkout at Emerson High School and refused to return until the African American students were removed. Protests continued for multiple days, and by Wednesday, over 1350 participants were involved.[7] Superintendent Wirt attempted to threaten the strikers, but the all-white school board sided with the demonstrators. The protests ended when the school board struck a deal with white protesters. Rather than integrating Emerson High School, the city would build an all-African American school and send the African American students back to their old school in “The Patch.”[8]
Three students appealed the decision to gain re-admittance into Emerson High School, but their appeal was denied. The new school for African American students, Theodore Roosevelt High School, was built in the center of Midtown and opened in 1931. For the students mistreated at Emerson in 1927, Roosevelt High School came too late. Although Roosevelt was a beautiful facility with many amenities, the decision to build the all-African American school in favor of integrating existing schools perpetuated the segregation of Gary public schools.[9]
Emerson High School was officially integrated in 1948, but the trauma sustained by the African American students never faded.[10] Due to Superintendent Wirt’s pioneering work in educational reform, Emerson High School has been deemed historically significant and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.[11] Declining enrollment in the 1970s, was the impetus for the transition into a magnet school in the early 1980s. With inadequate funds to maintain the building, the school board made the difficult decision to close Emerson School for the Visual and Performing Arts in 2008, just one year shy of the building’s centennial anniversary. Since its closure, the historic school has stood empty, quickly decaying due to the weather and vandalism.[12] While the building is listed under the National Register, there are currently no plans to restore the Emerson High School.[13]
]]>Ralph Waldo Emerson High School was the first high school built in Gary, Indiana. Emerson High School was constructed in 1909 by St. Louis architect William Ittner.[1] William A. Wirt, superintendent of Gary school systems, played a large part in designing the building. Desiring to implement his innovative “Work-Study-Play” philosophy of education, in which students took vocational and athletic classes along with traditional high school courses, Wirt required the building to contain amenities such a foundry, large gymnasium, and printing shop. The three-story school building was intended to be a “total learning environment,” separated physically from the growing industrial city by a park and surrounding athletic fields.[2] While the design and teaching methods employed at Emerson were cutting edge for the time period, the school largely failed to provide for the educational needs of Gary’s growing population. Upholding policies of segregation, the school prevented most African Americans from joining the student body. In 1927, when 18 African American students transferred to Emerson High School, tensions boiled over, and white students staged a school walkout to protest the admittance of their African American classmates.[3]
Since Gary’s founding by the United States Steel Corporation in 1906, the city’s public schools had been segregated by residential boundaries and school board policies. As the African American population began to grow during the 1920s, African American families were sequestered into crowded, low-income neighborhoods. “The Patch,” later named Midtown, was one such neighborhood. The only school in The Patch, located on Virginia Street, could not meet the needs of its many students and was overcrowded by the late 1920s. In an effort to alleviate the school and push educational reform, Superintendent Wirt decided to allow 18 African American honor roll students to transfer to Emerson High School.[4]
On September 19, 1927, the 18 African American students entered Emerson High School for the first time. Superintendent Wirt did not expect the strong backlash that quickly followed. Within the first week, the new students began receiving harsh threats from their white classmates. According to former student Hazel Bratton Sanders, “the white students would line up on both sides of the sidewalk and stretch their arms over us.” As the African American students were forced to walk under them like an arch they yelled insults like “'Go away, darkies. This isn't your school.'”[5] The students were also subject to verbal abuse, and many were pushed and spit on by white students.[6]
Fearing that the admittance of the African American students would lead to more integration, white students and families planned a mass demonstration. On September 26, 1927, approximately 600 white students staged a school walkout at Emerson High School and refused to return until the African American students were removed. Protests continued for multiple days, and by Wednesday, over 1350 participants were involved.[7] Superintendent Wirt attempted to threaten the strikers, but the all-white school board sided with the demonstrators. The protests ended when the school board struck a deal with white protesters. Rather than integrating Emerson High School, the city would build an all-African American school and send the African American students back to their old school in “The Patch.”[8]
Three students appealed the decision to gain re-admittance into Emerson High School, but their appeal was denied. The new school for African American students, Theodore Roosevelt High School, was built in the center of Midtown and opened in 1931. For the students mistreated at Emerson in 1927, Roosevelt High School came too late. Although Roosevelt was a beautiful facility with many amenities, the decision to build the all-African American school in favor of integrating existing schools perpetuated the segregation of Gary public schools.[9]
Emerson High School was officially integrated in 1948, but the trauma sustained by the African American students never faded.[10] Due to Superintendent Wirt’s pioneering work in educational reform, Emerson High School has been deemed historically significant and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.[11] Declining enrollment in the 1970s, was the impetus for the transition into a magnet school in the early 1980s. With inadequate funds to maintain the building, the school board made the difficult decision to close Emerson School for the Visual and Performing Arts in 2008, just one year shy of the building’s centennial anniversary. Since its closure, the historic school has stood empty, quickly decaying due to the weather and vandalism.[12] While the building is listed under the National Register, there are currently no plans to restore the Emerson High School.[13]