BLACK HISTORY NEWS & NOTES

AUGUST 1996______NUMBER 65 W. E. B. DuBois at Your Public Library by Arthur S. Meyers

William Edward Burghardt DuBois achieved prominence as a historian and sociologist, forged a biracial coalition into the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, edited its widely read publication The Crisis, worked tirelessly for Pan Africanism, and created the framework for the liter­ ary and artistic flowering of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. We should be thankful for one more contribution by DuBois. He saved a huge amount, if not all, of W. E. B. DuBois (standing and center) Indianapolis Recorder Collection, IHS his correspondence and other docu­ C7044. ments. From an Arizona farmer’s inquiry about agricultural possibili­ use at a public library. The index is Muncie. Other correspondents in­ ties in Haiti to the scholar-activist’s limited, comprising mostly promi­ cluded Hale Woodruff (artist and own medical report, from civil nent people and major activities in Indianapolis Young Men’s Christian rights complaints throughout the DuBois’s life. It does not reveal cor­ Association membership secretary); United States to exchanges with respondence with a wide range of A. D. Whitlock in Gary concerning leaders in all comers of the globe, individuals—that information can a photograph and biography for use DuBois's life and work are before o.nly be obtained by exploring the in The Crisis', Lillian Atkins in us. microfilm reels. Elkhart regarding a talk in that city; DuBois always responded to his The reels covering 1925 and 1926 Ella Clay, 828 N. Capitol Avenue correspondents promptly, briefly, contain a treasure trove of Indiana in Indianapolis about a lecture; and clearly, keeping a carbon copy. letters. There is correspondence Flossie Baker Alexander in Gary; His correspondence is preserved on with F. E. DeFrantz on a possible Elizabeth Bradshaw in Brazil con­ microfilm at the University of Mas­ lecture in Indianapolis; W. Cook, cerning a lecture; G. N. T. Gray, 431 sachusetts at Amherst. The result is 1828 Broadway in Gary (thanking N. Blackford Street in Indianapolis 80 reels of correspondence and him for his hospitality, perhaps as a regarding a possible speech; and an original documents and a printed result of a speech); Alva Taylor of Indiana University professor seek­ index of The W.E.B. DuBois Papers the Church of Christ in Indianapo­ ing funds for a student. are accessible through interlibrary lis; National Association of Negro Still other letters discuss possible loan. Musicians; Lionel Artis, 450 Sen­ appearances in Wabash, French Once the year(s) of interest has ate Avenue in Indianapolis (sent a Lick, New Albany, East Chicago, been determined through the printed fictional sketch for DuBois’s re­ index, the reels can be borrowed for view); and D. E. McGoodwin in (Continued on page 8)

BHNN_1996-08_NO65 conference will be held at the Historical Happenings Francis Marion Hotel, 387 King Street, Charleston, SC 29403. For additional information, please con­ tact ASALH, 1407 14th Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. 20005; Tele­ Call for Papers ASALH Conference phone #: 202-667-2822. The National Association of Af­ The Association for the Study of rican-American Studies (NAAAS) Afro-American Life and History is accepting abstracts, not to exceed (ASALH) will sponsor its 81st an­ AAHGS Conference two pages, for sessions, panels, and nual conference from 2-6 October The Afro-American Historical individual papers, relating to Afri­ 1996 in Charleston, South Carolina. and Genealogical Society, Inc. will can-American experiences in the This year’s theme, “African-Ameri­ host its annual conference from 31 United States and abroad. Papers can Women: Yesterday, Today and October to 2 November 1996 in from all disciplines are encouraged. Tomorrow,” will be addressed in Washington, D. C. The conference Papers will be read at NAAAS’s several sessions including the hotel will be the Marriott at the national conference to be held 11- Thursday afternoon plenary session Metro Center (Telephone #: 800- 15 February 1997 in Houston, entitled “Southern Black Women’s 228-9298). There will be computer Texas. Individual papers must be History,” and sessions on Mary sessions, vendors with genealogical presented in no more than twenty- McLeod Bethune’s social and po­ wares, and a book mart. A State of five minutes. Send abstracts to litical influence, invisible history of the Society address and a reception Lemuel Berry, Jr., Executive Direc­ black women, and free black women are scheduled for Thursday evening; tor, NAAAS, Morehead State Uni­ during the slave era. Other session a sharing dinner on Friday; and a versity, 212 Rader Hall, Morehead, topics include Indiana University banquet on Saturday. For informa­ KY 40351-1689; Telephone, 606- and the Blacks in the Diaspora Se­ tion about conference sessions, 783-2650 and Fax, 606-783-5046. ries, miscegenation, civil rights, re­ please contact AAHGS at P. O. Box The deadline for abstracts is 5 De­ form leaders, and using technologies 73086, Washington, D. C. 20056- cember 1996. in African-American Studies. The 3086.

. Black History News and Notes is a quarterly publication of the Indiana Historical Society Library. Intended in part to highlight the activities of the library’s Black History Program, it is issued during the months of February, May, August, and November. Essential to the Black History Program’s success is community involvement and commitment to the study of Indiana’s African-American heritage. Along with Black History News and Notes, membership also includes the quarterly Indiana Magazine of History, published at Indiana University; The Bridge, the Indiana Historical Society’s bi-monthly newsletter; and many of the special publications as they are issued —all for only $30.00 a year. To become a member or for further information, write the Indiana Historical Society, 315 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, Indiana

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION (Please make membership in one name only) Name ______Address ______City ______State______Zip______Occupation______Membership Categories (Check One) 0 Student $10 (Under 26 years old) 0 Annual $30 0 Sustaining $50 1 wish to receive the following publications (please check all those that you wish to receive): ____ Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, a popular history magazine. ____ Indiana Magazine of History, a scholarly journal ____ The Hoosier Genealogist, a family history publication ____ Black History News & Notes, a Hoosier African American history newsletter

Signature______Date______

2 Indianapolis and the Great Migration, 1900-1920 by Carolyn Brady

Introduction every ten years, does not provide in­ African-Americans arriving from In the first decades of the twenti­ formation on when migration to In­ the South in the early 1900s found eth century, the number of African- dianapolis peaked between census an established black community Americans in Indianapolis more years, but the city’s African-Ameri­ with churches, businesses, and so­ than doubled, growing from 15,931 can population increased by 5,885 cial organizations. Indianapolis had in 1900 to 34,678 in 1920. This in­ between 1900 and 1910 and by three black-run weekly newspapers crease was a result of the Great Mi­ 12,862 between 1910 and 1920. by 1900, the Freeman, the Recorder, gration, the movement of large num­ The rate of growth of the black and the World. In 1901 the Recorder bers of African-Americans from the population between 1900 and 1910 published a directory of African- South to the North in search of work (37 percent) was comparable to the American businesses in its Christ­ and opportunity. Indianapolis did growth of the city’s overall popula­ mas issue. The listing included res­ not see as great an influx of new ar­ tion in this decade (38 percent), but taurants, hotels, and grocery stores, rivals as did cities such as Detroit the increase of the black population as well as barbers, physicians, den­ and Chicago, but the growth of the between 1910 and 1920 (59 percent) tists, lawyers, dealers in coal, ice, black population would change life was significantly greater than that oil, and junk, and a clairvoyant. in the Hoosier capital.1 of the city population as a whole (35 The relatively high percentage of African-Americans in southern percent).3 African-American residents in In­ states heard about opportunities in Proportionally this growth was dianapolis also gave black voters a the North through labor recruiters, not as dramatic a change as was wit­ certain amount of political clout. black-run newspapers, relatives, and nessed by other northern cities Ray Stannard Baker, one of the pio­ friends. Besides the lure of jobs in where the African-American popu­ neers of “muckraking” journalism the North, a number of factors lations more than doubled in the during the Progressive Era, visited pushed many African-Americans to decade around World War I. Large the city in the early 1900s while re­ leave the South. Between 1900 and cities attracted more newcomers, searching race relations in the 1920 natural disasters in the South, and Chicago’s black population in­ United States because he “had heard such as floods, drought, and boll creased by over 65,000 (148 per­ so much of the political power of weevils, destroyed the crops that cent). Detroit, which offered jobs the Negroes there.”6 African- many African-American farmers de­ in the auto industry, had its black American candidates participated in pended on for their livelihood. Al­ population grow by over 35,000 city elections, and at least two black though racial segregation and dis­ (611 percent) between 1910 and residents, John A. Puryear and crimination existed in northern 1920.4 Sumner A. Fumiss, were elected to states like Indiana, the Jim Crow In contrast to many northern cit­ the city council. Puryear, a busi­ laws of the South and the decline of ies the black population of Indi­ nessman who ran a transfer and black political power after Recon­ anapolis had grown steadily since moving company, held office from struction made the situation in the the end of the Civil War. In 1866, 1892 to 1897, and Fumiss, a doc­ North seem an improvement by the state supreme court voided the tor, served form 1917 to 1921.7 comparison.2 The following article article of the 1851 state constitution Before elections the black news­ looks not so much at the reasons that that had prohibited African-Ameri­ papers filled up with political cam­ brought African-Americans to cans from settling in Indiana, and paign advertisements. Successful Indianapolis, but at the general cir­ the number of black residents in­ politicians could offer jobs in return cumstances they would have en­ creased by nearly 500 percent be­ for electoral support. For example, countered in the early twentieth cen­ tween 1860 and 1870. By 1900, nearly Edward G. Sourbier, a white Repub­ tury. 16,000 African-Americans lived in lican candidate for county treasurer Between 1900 and 1920 the great­ Indianapolis, comprising almost 10 in 1916, reminded readers of the est influx of black migration in percent of the city’s population.5 At Recorder that he many northern cities occurred when the beginning of the twentieth cen­ had appointed Miss Daneva W. World War I stopped the flow of tury about one in ten residents of Donnell as one of the stenogra­ European immigration and northern Indianapolis was black, compared to phers in his office, the first Col­ industries began to recruit southern much larger cities such as New York ored woman in the State of Indi­ labor (both African-American and and Chicago, where the proportion ana to be appointed in a public white). The federal census, taken was about one in fifty. office. That the 9,000 Negro

3 dresser was not a guest herself, she had no right to use the hotel’s el­ F O R ...... evator. In a similar decision in 1920, For County Treasurer the Appellate Court ruled that an ice cream parlor was not technically an a “eating place” and so was not cov­ ered by the civil rights law.13 Republican Many African-Americans did not have the money or time to fight dis­ He asks your kindly consideration and suffrage on .March 7th . far. Sourbier baa a pointed Miss Daneva W. Donnell as one ojf crimination in court, and newcom­ itenographers in his office, the first Colored woman in the Stattj of ers probably learned through expe­ rience and word of mouth what t dept, of the Treasu places in the city to avoid. The growth of the black population cre­ ated a base of clientele for African- Stands for Reduction of Tax Rate American entrepreneurs to open IEMEMBER: Sourbier has kept Faith with YOU their own stores, restaurants, and theaters that would provide the ser­ votes in Marion County will be ist views of their southern counter­ vices refused their customers by solid for Sourbier as a token of parts. Baker found that many white many white-run businesses. When sincere appreciation is a fore­ residents in Indianapolis were con­ the Columbia Theater opened on gone conclusion.8 cerned about the growing black Indiana Avenue in 1910, the Re­ African-American voters often population. He wrote: corder reported that “Indianapolis found that white politicians courted One of the first white men with now boasts of two such amusement their support during elections and whom I talked... said to me with places run by colored men and both then ignored them afterwards. Af­ some impatience: “There are too filling a long felt need.” The pro­ ter the Civil War, most black voters many Negroes up here; they hurt prietor promised that “every care is in Indianapolis supported the Re­ the city.” being taken for the comfort of its publican party, the “party of Lin­ Another told me of the increas­ patrons.”14 coln,” and this would remain true ing presence of Negroes in the Black community leaders and until the 1920s, when the Ku Klux parks, on the streets, and in the newspapers encouraged such ven­ Klan dominated the Republican or­ street cars. He said: “I suppose tures because they often created ganization in Indiana.9 sooner or later we shall have to more jobs for African-Americans in For many African-Americans adopt some of the restrictions of management, sales, and clerical newly arrived from the South, Indi­ the South.”12 work, areas usually not open to them anapolis and other northern cities Although some white-owned in white-owned businesses. The may at First have seemed places of businesses did solicit black custom­ Recorder celebrated Henry Sanders’s great equality. For example, the ers by advertising in the Recorder, success as a merchant of “ladies and ubiquitous signs “FOR WHITE” many other white storekeepers and gentlemen’s furnishings” and a and “FOR COLORED,” symbols of restaurant and theater owners re­ manufacturer of uniform jackets and a visible “color line,” were missing fused to serve African-Americans or coats and pointed out that at from public places.10 Some new­ attempted to drive them away by Sanders’s business “[tjwenty young comers probably arrived with ide­ rude treatment or inflated prices. colored men and women are em­ alistic expectations, like the man in Indiana’s civil rights law of 1885 ployed in the various departments Mississippi who told Ray Stannard stated that places of public accom­ for clerical work and the manufac­ Baker that he was moving to Indi­ modation had to serve all people “re­ turing department.”15 By the early anapolis because gardless of color or race,” but Afri­ 1900s a small class of black profes­ They're Jim Crowin’ us down can-Americans who tried to chal­ sionals, such as doctors, lawyers, here too much. . . . I hear they lenge discriminatory practices in and teachers, had also become es­ don’t make no difference up court could lose when judges re­ tablished in the city. there between white folks and sorted to very literal interpretations African-Americans in Indianapo­ coloured, and that a hard-work­ of the law. For example, in 1900, a lis, however, could often only find ing man can get two dollars a black hairdresser sued an Indianapo­ work at low-paying, unskilled jobs. day.11 lis hotel when she was not allowed Families had moved north so their Those who moved north hoping to to use the elevator to reach the room children could have a better educa­ escape the Jim Crow laws of the of her customer. The Marion tion, but many black teenagers fin­ South found that white residents of County Superior Court accepted the ished school to find few job oppor­ northern cities often shared the rac­ argument that because the hair­ tunities other than as laborers and

4 maids. One African-American resi­ that read “The guarantee ... agrees other in 1900.23 dent complained, for himself, his heirs and assigns, The majority of residents, both What shall we do? Here are our not to sell or lease to colored black and white, listed in the cen­ young people educated in the people.”20 When African-American sus in 1900 had moved out of this schools, capable of doing good newcomers arrived in Indianapolis neighborhood by 1910, a population work in many occupations where they had to look for housing in turnover comparable to that in the skill and intelligence are re­ neighborhoods that already had city as a whole. In Ransom Place, quired. . . . They don’t want to black residents, and the growing however, as white residents moved dig ditches or become porters or black population remained in the out they were more likely to be re­ valets any more than intelligent older parts of the city, while white placed by black residents moving in, white boys.16 residents could spread out to the and by 1910 the neighborhood’s Skilled trades were generally suburbs. All the wards of Indi­ population was 66 percent African- unionized, and most white unions anapolis had African-American resi­ American. By 1920, 96 percent of did not choose to admit black mem­ dents, but by 1920,48 percent of the the residents were black. The popu­ bers. A few predominantly black population of Ward Five (bounded lation of the six-block historic dis­ unions did exist in Indianapolis, in­ roughly by Tenth, West, and Wash­ trict grew from 740 in 1900 to 870 cluding the Hod Carriers' and Shov- ington streets and the White River) in 1920. Many of the new dwell­ elers’ unions. Baker reported that was African-American compared to ings built in the neighborhood be­ “the hod-carriers’ industry was al­ less than 5 percent of the popula­ tween 1910 and 1920 were small, most wholly in the hands of Negroes tion in several outlying wards.21 In two-story, wood-frame flats or who have a strong union, with a many northern cities, the housing rental units that might house three large strike fund put aside.”17 In open to African-Americans was of­ or four families. While the neigh­ 1901, when the Labor Day Commit­ ten older and in poor condition, yet borhood was still predominantly tee invited the Hod Carriers’ Union because black renters had limited working class, a contingent of black to march in the annual parade, de­ choice in where they could live they professionals had also moved into bate arose because the African- often had to pay higher rent than the area. More likely to be American band that the hod carri­ white renters. Baker reported see­ homeowners, this emerging middle ers had hired for the event did not ing: class included doctors Sumner A. belong to the musicians’ union. The a double house built for white Fumiss, Henry L. Hummons, and Recorder pointed out that the band people just on the edge of a Ne­ Joseph Ward and attorneys Freeman had made “repeated attempts to join gro neighborhood and held at a B. Ransom, Robert L. Brokenburr, the musicians’ union but without rental of $18 a month, but not and James H. Lott.24 success,” having been charged an being able to secure white tenants The city’s growing black popula­ exorbitant fee for membership,“a the landlord rented to Negroes tion alarmed many white residents, subterfuge for direct refusal.”18 for $25 a month.22 who tried a variety of tactics to dis­ Most black workers had little job At the beginning of the twentieth courage African-Americans from security, and as a minority in the century, some downtown neighbor­ moving into their neighborhoods. In city’s population, many black new­ hoods were racially integrated, re­ 1920 when Lucien B. Meriwether, comers also found themselves com­ flecting the “walking city” of the an African-American dentist, peting with white workers for jobs nineteenth century where residents bought a house in the 2200 block of traditionally dominated by African- lived close to where they worked. North Capitol Avenue, his white Americans in the South, such as ser­ Within two decades, however, the neighbors, with the help of the Capi­ vants and laborers. Newspaper ad­ population of neighborhoods like tol Avenue Protective Association, vertisements could specify what the area that is now the Ransom built a twelve-foot high “spite race the employer preferred, offer­ Place Historic District (named in fence” on either side of his property. ing positions for a “good colored honor of Freeman B. Ransom) In 1921 a Superior Court judge or­ girl” or a “good white girl” to do would have a black majority. In dered that the fences eitl^r be re­ housework.19 1900 Ransom Place, adjacent to In­ moved or replaced by fences no Similarly, advertisements for diana Avenue, was a predominantly higher than six feet.25 housing sometimes specified race, working-class neighborhood where Some white residents also re­ and African-Americans were gener­ 14 percent of the population was sorted to intimidation and violence. ally excluded from the newer sub­ black. Census data cannot tell us In the first decade of the twentieth divisions springing up in the out­ how neighbors got along, but the century, race riots against African- skirts of the city. For example, in manuscript census records do show Americans erupted in northern cit­ Emerson Heights, platted in 1910, that black and white households in ies, including Evansville, Indiana houses had a clause in their deeds Ransom Place lived next to each (1903); Springfield, Ohio (1904,

5 1906); Greensburg, Indiana (1906); Taylor, the African-American cy­ Men of Ransom Place and Springfield, Illinois (1908).26 clist from Indianapolis who defeated Indianapolis never had a riot on the leading European racers in France. scale of that in Springfield, Illinois, Another reported that the manage­ where white rioters lynched two ment of the city’s Grand Hotel had black men and burned out black announced its decision to discharge businesses and homes, but the threat the African-American barbers on of racial violence still hung over the staff and hire white barbers to re­ Hoosier capital’s African-American place them. The hotel had replaced residents. the black bellhops several weeks In the summer of 1901, a gang of earlier. young white men, referred to in the In neighborhoods like Ransom press as “bungaloos,” gathered in Place, black and white families lived Fairview Park in suburban Indi­ next door to each other as the cen­ Freeman B. Ransom Attorney anapolis and attacked African- tury began, but by 1920, most of the 1882-1947 American visitors. The Recorder re­ black residents of Ransom Place had ported an incident in August 1901, no white neighbors. By the 1920s, the second riot that summer, when some white residents of Indianapo­ over 150 “bungaloos” gathered in lis would also make it clear that they Fairview, divided up into smaller did not want any black neighbors. groups, and then began to chase A city ordinance passed in the spring African-American visitors out of the of 1926 made it illegal for a person park. At least a dozen black people to move into a neighborhood whose were injured, including a Mr. Har­ current residents were primarily of ris, whose arm was broken, and a different race without the consent George Dawson, who was beaten of a majority of residents of the op­ with clubs and rocks. The park’s posite race. In November 1926 the police force could not control the Marion County Circuit Court de­ mob, and the city police had to be clared the legislation unconstitu­ 1874-1953 called. Only three men were ar­ tional.29 After the court decision, rested; one was fined twenty-five the Recorder noted that “[qjuite a dollars, and the other two were ac­ few white persons also are to be quitted. Other incidents such as this thanked and congratulated for moral led to the establishment of segre­ and financial assistance” in over­ gated parks in 1920, but even be­ turning the ordinance, indicating fore that some parks had already be­ that not all white residents of Indi­ come segregated in practice.27 Ray anapolis supported segregation.30 Stannard Baker, in describing his In Indiana during the 1920s the visit to the city, referred to the Ku Klux Klan rose to power, gain­ “bungaloos,” writing, ing widespread support and politi­ Although no law prevents Ne­ cal influence. Active Klan recruit­ Dr. Henry L. Hummons groes from entering any park in ment began in the state in 1921, and 1873-1956 Indianapolis, they are practically by 1925, more than 25 percent of excluded from at least one of the native-born white men in Marion them by the danger of being as­ County had become members.31 saulted by these gangs.28 Throughout the early twentieth cen­ As the twentieth century began, tury African-Americans living in African-American newspapers in Indianapolis remained aware of the Indianapolis both celebrated the threat of racial violence not only in progress made since the Civil War the city, as shown by incidents such and reported on the inequities still as the attacks at Fairview Park, but faced by “the Race.” The front page also across the state and the coun­ of the Indianapolis Recorder often try. In response to prejudice and offered contrasting articles. In the racism, many African-Americans Robert L. Brokenburr issue for 27 April 1901, one para­ did their best to create a positive State Senator graph touted the victory of “Major” environment for themselves and 1886-1974

6 their children by building a commu­ Emma Lou Thornbrough, En­ pedia of Indianapolis. nity that celebrated black achieve­ cyclopedia of Indianapolis 8. Political Advertisement for Ed­ ment through its newspapers, (Bloomington: Indiana Univer­ ward G. Sourbier, Indianapolis churches, and social organizations. sity Press, 1994). Recorder, 4 March 1916. The opening of Crispus Attucks 2. Carole Marks, Farewell— We ’re 9. Thornbrough, The Negro in In­ High School in 1927 would illus­ Good and Gone: The Great diana Before 1900, 395-96. trate the paradox faced by the Afri­ Black Migration (Bloomington: 10. Grossman, Land of Hope, 117- can-American community in Indi­ Indiana University Press, 1989), 19. anapolis. The growth of the Afri­ 1-18. Other works that discuss 11. Baker, Following the Color Line, can-American population since the effects of the Great Migra­ 112. 1900 had allowed black entrepre­ tion on midwestem cities include 12 .Ibid., 118. neurs to establish successful busi­ James R. Grossman, Land o f 13. Thornbrough, The Negro in In­ nesses serving a predominantly Hope: Chicago, Black Southern­ diana Before 1900, 260, 264n. black clientele, but this growth ers, and the Great Migration 14. Indianapolis Recorder, 9 April would also make the city school (Chicago: University of Chicago 1910. board’s proposal of a separate black Press, 1989); Richard W. Thom­ 15. Indianapolis Recorder, 3 March high school more feasible than such as, Life for Us Is What We Make 1900, 22 January 1910. a plan would have been twenty years It: Building Black Community in 16. Baker, Following the Color Line, earlier. Although the creation of an Detroit,1915-1945 (B loom ­ 131-32. all-black high school completed the ington: Indiana University Press, Xl.Ibid, 136-37. segregation of the city’s public 1992) ; and Joe William Trotter, 18. Indianapolis Recorder, 24 Au­ schools, black students would now Jr., Black Milwaukee: The Mak­ gust 1901. have African-American teachers ing o f an Industrial Proletariat, 19. For example, see classified ads who were often better qualified than 1915-1945 (Urbana: University in the Indianapolis News during their white counterparts, but could of Illinois Press, 1985). the 1910s. not get jobs in predominantly white 3. Carolyn M. Brady, “The Trans­ 20. William Guide, unpublished pa­ high schools.32 formation of a Neighborhood: per on the Emerson Heights The first two decades of the twen­ Ransom Place Historic District, neighborhood, Indianapolis. tieth century brought many changes Indianapolis, 1900-1920” (M. A. 21. U.S. Bureau of the Census, to Indianapolis. The growing preva­ Thesis, Indiana University, In­ Fourteenth Census of the United lence of the automobile allowed dianapolis, 1996), 25-26. States, 1920: Population (Wash­ many white residents to move out 4. United States Bureau of the Cen­ ington, D.C.: Government Print­ to the suburbs, while increasing resi­ sus, Negroes in the United ing Office, 1922), 111:308. dential segregation kept black resi­ States, 1920-1932 (Washington, 22. Baker does not specify the loca­ dents in the older parts of the city, D.C.: Government Printing Of­ tion of this example, but Marks closer to downtown. As the Afri­ fice, 1935; reprint, New York: places it in Indianapolis. Marks, can-American population grew, Greenwood Press, 1969), 55. F a rew ell— We’re Good and once integrated neighborhoods be­ 5. Emma Lou Thornbrough, The Gone, 145; Baker, Following the came predominantly black. By the Negro in Indiana Before 1900: Color Line, 113. 1920s, African-Americans found A Study of a Minority (India­ 23. Brady, “The Transformation of themselves increasingly excluded napolis: Indiana Historical Bu­ a N eighborhood,” Chapter 2: from other parts of Indianapolis, but reau, 1957; reprint, Blooming­ Residential Population Change. they also had a portion of the city, ton: Indiana University Press, Population data came from centered on Indiana Avenue, that 1993) , 229n, 265. manuscript federal census they could claim as their own. The 6. Ray Stannard Baker, Following records. many African-American newcom­ the Color Line: American Negro 24. Brady, “Transformation of a ers including Madam C.J. Walker Citizenship in the Progressive Neighborhood,” 28, 42-47, 60- and Freeman B. Ransom, would Era (Doubleday, Page & Co., 62, 80-82. contribute to the flourishing of the 1908; reprint, New York: Harper 25. Indianapolis World, 6 M ay black community, visible through its and Row, 1964), 111. 1921. buildings, organizations, and busi­ 7. “Noted Leader in Medicine and 26. Roberta Senechal, Sociogenesis nesses. Masonry Passes,” obituary for of a Race Riot: Springfield, Illi­ Sumner A. Fumiss, Indianapo­ nois in 1908 (Urbana: University Endnotes lis Recorder, 24 January 1953; of Illnois Press, 1990), 2. 1. Population figures from “Over­ “Puryear, John A.” and 27. Indianapolis Sentinel, 26 August view: African-Americans,” by “Furniss, Sumner A.,” Encyclo­ 1901; Indianapolis Recorder, 31

7 DuBois The rich resource of the W. E. B. Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Continued from page 1 DuBois collection is available to all Indiana, 1921-1928 (Chapel Hill: University of North Caro­ and South Bend. DuBois expressed of us, no matter where we live. It lina Press, 1991), 49. appreciation for home hospitality makes original research into Afri­ 32. Stanley Warren, “The Evolution provided by Rabbi Samuel Mark­ can-American history possible through the local public library. of Secondary Schooling for owitz of Fort Wayne after a lecture Blacks in Indianapolis, 1869- at the Women’s Club in that city. Other microfilm collections may be just as accessible. 1930,”in Indiana’s African- In my search of the 1925 and American Heritage: Essays from 1926 microfilm, I found several Black History News and Notes, Arthur S. Meyers is Director of handwritten letters from Dr. Hedwig Wilma L. Gibbs, ed. (Indianapo­ the Hammond Public Library. He Stieglitz Kuhn of Hammond. The lis: Indiana Historical Society, discovered the W. E. B. DuBois Pa­ correspondence began with her re­ 1993), 29-50. minding DuBois that they had talked pers while researching the Open Forum movement in Hammond. A about his lecturing at the Beth-El Carolyn Brady has her M.A. in Open Forum in Hammond and she recent, related article, “Democracy Public History. She is Archivist/Col- was seeking to set the date. Several in the Making: Max Bretton and lections Manager for the Chinqua- letters they exchanged after his Feb­ Hammond’s Beth-El Open Forum, ” Penn Plantation in Reidsville, North ruary 1926 speech, “The Future of appears in Traces of Indiana and Carolina. the Colored Races,” conveyed the Midwestern History, Winter 1996. impact of his visit. Such letters to and from the scholar-activist are only the begin­ Migration ning for researchers. Microfilm cop­ Continued from page 7 Contributors Wanted ies of local newspapers or commu­ August 1901 and 14 September nity or church histories would con­ for Encyclopedia 1901. Frederick Doyle Kershner, firm if the proposed lectures took The historical Encyclopedia of Jr., “A Social and Cultural His­ place. Back issues of The Crisis can African American Associations is tory of Indianapolis, 1860-1914” sometimes help determine the out­ seeking scholars interested in con­ (Ph.D.dissertation, University of come of the event discussed. For ex­ tributing assigned entries. This Wisconsin, 1950), 172-73. ample, Kuhn’s appreciation to Fairview Park is now the site of single-volume reference work will DuBois for printing her essay led to Bulter University. include associations established by uncovering an article by “a white 28. Baker, Following the Color African-Americans and interracial woman” in The Crisis, April 1926. Line, 124. groups working in the interest of The writing style and the content, 29. Indianapolis Recorder, 27 No­ African-Americans. For a list of en­ in which a physician explores the vember 1926. tries or further information, please roots of prejudice and thereby frees 30. Indianapolis Recorder, 4 De­ contact Nina Mjagkij at the History herself, confirms the anonymous cember 1926. Department, Ball State University, piece is by her. 31. Leonard J. Moore, C itizen Muncie, Indiana 47306.

Indiana Historical Society Nonprofit Org. 315 W. Ohio Street U.S. Postage PAID Indianapolis, IN 46202 Indianapolis, Ind. Permit No. 3864

8