BLACK HISTORY NEWS & NOTES

INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY LIBRARY February, 1982 No. 8 ) Black History Now A Year-round Celebration A new awareness of black history was brought forth in 1926 when Carter Woodson in­ augurated Negro History Week. Since that time the annual celebration of Afro-American heritage has grown to encompass the entire month of February. Now, with impetus from concerned individuals statewide, Indiana residents are beginning to witness what hope­ fully will become a year-round celebration of black history. During the weeks and months immediately ahead a number of black history events have been scheduled. The following is a description of some of the activities that will highlight the next three months. Gaines to Speak Feb. 2 8

An Afro-American history lecture by writer Ernest J. Gaines on February 28 is T H E A T E R Indiana Av«. being sponsored by the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library (I-MCPL). Gaines BIG MIDNITE RAMBLE is the author of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and several other works ON OUR STAGE pertaining to the black experience. The lecture will be held at 2:00 P.M. at St. Saturday Night Peter Claver Center, 3110 Sutherland Ave­ OF THIS WEEK nue. Following the event, which is free DECEMBER 15 1UW l\ M. and open to the public, Gaines will hold Harriet Calloway an autographing session. Additional Black QUEEN OF HI DE HO History Month programs and displays are IN offered by I-MCPL. For further informa­ tion call (317) 269-1700. DIXIE ON PARADE WITH George Dewey Washington “Generations” Set for March Danny and Eddy FOUH PENNIES COOK and BROWN A national conference will be held JENNY DANCER FLORENCE EDMONDSON in Indianapolis March 25-27 focusing on SHORTY BURCH FRANK “Red” PERKINS American family life. "Generations— The SEW FEATURE PICTURE A D M IS S I O N 4 0 c SEW FEATURE PICTURE Family in American Life: A Dialogue with the Community" will take place at the (Photo courtesy of Duncan Schiedt) Sheraton-Meridian Hotel (formerly S n u ­ ffer1 s). Scholars and other citizens, adults and young people, parents and This 1930s poster reproduction will be children— families— all are invited and included in an Indiana Historical Society encouraged to participate in this unusual exhibit on Indianapolis' Indiana Avenue program. The conference is being organ­ neighborhood. A forum on the future of ized by the Indiana University-Purdue the Avenue area will be held at the exhi­ University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Center bit opening, April 18. Story on page 2.

BHNN_1981-11_NO8 John Weston Nolcox family, Lyles Station, Gibson County, Indiana. The history of Lyles Station, a black farming community, is among the topics to be considered at "Indiana's Black Heritage Conference." Story on page 3. for American Studies, the Children's Utilizing historic photographs, memo­ Museum, and the Indiana Historical Bureau. rabilia, and other display materials, the The core of "Generations" will be exhibit will trace the background and de­ 1^ days of concurrent sessions in which velopment of the Avenue from 1821 through nearly forty scholarly papers (written in the present. Included in the display will layman's language) will be delivered. be materials pertaining to Madame C.J. Presentations concerned in varying degrees Walker, Lockefield Gardens, Crispus Attucks with Afro-American life will be included. High School, the Avenue jazz scene, the Lively and wide-ranging discussions will Walker Building, churches, businesses, follow the papers. Three keynote addresses community groups, and General (now Wishard) and a number of related activities are also Hospital. planned. For details and further informa­ The exhibit opening will provide a tion contact Dorane Freland, IUPUI Center forum to discuss future plans and visions for American Studies, 925 W. Michigan St., of the Indiana Avenue neighborhood. The Indianapolis, IN 46202 (317) 264-3759. program will begin with brief comments from representatives of four groups that Indiana Avenue Exhibit, have strong interests in the development of the Avenue area: Ravenell Fields, Program at IHS in April director of the Midtown Economic Develop­ An exhibit focusing on the history ment and Industrial Corporation (MEDIC), of Indianapolis' Indiana Avenue neighbor­ a community service organization located hood will be on display at the Indiana on Indiana Avenue; Bernard McCullough, Historical Society, 315 W. Ohio Street, vice-president of the Walker Urban Life Indianapolis, from mid-April through the Center, a group currently renovating the end of July. A panel discussion on the Avenue's noted Walker Building; Robert future of "the Avenue" area will be fea­ Baxter, special assistant to the vice-pres­ tured at the exhibit opening, Sunday, ident, Indiana University-Purdue University April 18. Indianapolis; and an unnamed spokesman for the Department of Metropolitan Development, Studies Program, with the support of the City of Indianapolis. A question and Indiana Historical Society and the Indi­ answer period will follow the speakers' ana Historical Bureau. comments. All individuals interested in Indi­ Further details of the Indiana Avenue ana black history are encouraged to exhibit and its April 18 opening will be attend the meetings. According to Monroe sent to Black History News and Notes sub­ Little, conference coordinator, two pri­ scribers at a later date. mary benefits are expected from the gathering. "First it will provide. . . the most up-to-date information on black Indiana and American history. Second, Two Day “Black Heritage” and perhaps most importantly, 'Indiana's Black Heritage' will establish a much Meeting Has Much to Offer needed dialogue between professional "Indiana's Black Heritage Confer­ historians, school teachers and admini­ ence," an event which may become the strators, and the public about the his­ largest black history gathering ever held torical achievements, progress, and in the state, is scheduled for April 23-24 problems of blacks and the methods which at Indiana University-Purdue University can be successfully employed to compile, Indianapolis (IUPUI). Eight sessions study, and disseminate information about featuring more than a dozen talks and black Indiana and American history." presentations are planned. The conference A program for the conference appears is sponsored by IUPUI's Afro-American elsewhere in this issue.

Oriental Band of Persian Temple #46, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Indianapolis, 1952. This photograph was recently loaned for copying by Herman Slaughter, India­ napolis. Social and fraternal groups have played an impor­ tant role in the development of Indiana's Afro-American heritage. The Society Li­ brary is interested in col­ lecting both written and visual records of such or­ ganizations.

Black History News and Notes is a free quarterly publication of the Indiana Historical Society Library. Intended in part to highlight the activities of the Society Library's Black History Program, it is issued during the months of February, May, August, and November. Additions to the newsletter's mailing list are made upon request.

Editor...... Steve Vincent Editorial Assistant ...... Gwen Crenshaw Contributors...... Errol Stevens, Coy Robbins Typesetter...... Barb McCurdy Printing...... Indiana Historical Bureau Print Shop

Correspondence concerning Black History News and Notes may be sent to Steve Vincent, Editor, Black History Newsletter, Indiana Historical Society Library, 315 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis IN 46202.

/ Hoosier History Revisited: Flanner House Editor's note: A paramount concern of those interested in Indiana's Afro-American heritage is the seeming absence of historical documentation. Generally, little attempt has been made to record the myriad stories of people and events that have shaped the black Hoosier experience. Those aspects of Afro-American history in the state that have been documented, meanwhile, often have gone unnoticed by the general public. Over the coming month this column will address the latter problem by reviewing a number of little known histories, biographies, and other studies concerning Indiana black history. Particular attention will be given to the history each work provides, as well as to its potential for future scholarship.

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"The Indianapolis Study: Flanner House." Cl21Hp., prepared for Indianapolis Foundation, Indianapolis, 1939. Unpublished study. Mimeographed. Includes graphs, tables, maps.

By the mid-1930s Flanner House, a black Indianapolis community service organization, was facing the most crucial period in its then forty-year history. The Great Depression was placing tremendous strains on the swelling numbers of blacks in the city, and Flanner House, despite a wide range of successful self-help programs, was increasingly losing ground to the demand for its services. Adding to its woes were overcrowded and dilapidated offices on North West Street, wholly inadequate to house the work of such an active and vital organization.

Fortunately, energy and innovative need for such a move. The resulting 1939 leadership were Flanner House hallmarks. "Indianapolis Study" is an impressive Realizing that new headquarters were es­ sociological analysis of black life in the sential, the group's board of directors city. Based upon questionnaires and inter­ sucessfully sought a grant from the Indi­ views completed by 1,501 black families, anapolis Foundation to demonstrate the the study focuses on population growth,

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Flanner Guild, later re­ named Flanner House, was organized in 1898 through the beneficence of Frank W. Flanner, an Indiana­ polis mortician. Origi­ nally located a few blocks south of Indiana Avenue on land that would become Lockefield Gardens, Flanner House began as a settle­ ment house for the city's black residents. The rapid influx of Afro- Americans into Indianapolis after 1914 increased the demand for Flanner House services. Despite moving to more spacious quarters on West Street in 1918, the group found itself in need of larger facilities within a few years. economic status, living and health condi­ Earn more tions, educational and cultural back­ grounds, community participation, crime, and problems of social disorganization. Forty-seven statistical tables and excerpts from hundreds of interviews are included. Although intended to assist Flanner House in the evaluation of its goals and purposes, the Indianapolis Study nonethe­ less provides a great deal of insight into twentieth century black history in Indiana­ polis. It describes a community that was largely (76 percent) born in the South and that was comprised of a group of people who "stated they came to Indianapolis to secure work, to be with relatives or friends, to Cattain3 better living conditions, and a smaller precentage. . .to secure better educational opportunities." According to the study, tremendous problems had re­ sulted from this movement into the city. Rather than finding a better world, many found themselves confronted by an unfamil­ iar, inhospitable environment— a northern city which did not want and could not readily absorb large numbers of black immigrants. With the additional misery and‘dislocation of the depression, life itself had become threatened: the study points out that deaths outnumbered births within the black community during 1937. The Indianapolis Study proposes specific ways for Flanner House to meet the needs of the city’s black residents. Stressing the group's long-standing philosophy of "helping people help them­ Much of Flanner House's success since selves," the report outlines a number of World War II may be traced to the impetus programs designed to overcome hardships through community-oriented action. Areas given by the Indianapolis Study. Funda­ mental education and dance classes are of emphasis include economic betterment, child care and guidance, health education, shown above. counseling, and recreation. Many of the proposed activities had been sponsored by Flanner House prior to the Indianapolis k •,k A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A Study, albeit on a modest scale. With the immediate need for these services now clearly demonstrated, however, significant expansion of the group's programming could be planned. Offices appropriate to the acclaim. From canning vegetables to build­ needs of the restructured Flanner House ing new homes, Flanner House seemingly were built in 1942. offered something for everyone. Much of It is perhaps not surprising to the background for the institution's suc­ many Indianapolis residents that the group's cess from the late 1930s through the pre­ study was begun shortly after Cleo Black­ sent may be found in the Indianapolis Study. burn had been appointed superintendent of Its carefully considered evaluations and the organization. During Blackburn's proposals reflect the work of a group with long and prosperous tenure Flanner House a vision— and the skills and determination would gain increasing recognition for its to nurture that vision into a reality. innovative and effective community action projects— ultimately attracting national Steve Vincent INDIANA’S BLACK HERITAGE Friday, April 23 and Saturday, April 24, 1982 Indiana University-Purdua University Indianapolis

FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1982 SATURDAY, APRIL 24,1982 Registration: 9:00- 10:00 A.M. Session V: 9:00 - 10:30 A.M. Public School Curriculum Development Session I: 10:00 - 11:30 A.M. on Black History and Culture Black Labor and Black Economic Development “The Ethnic Heritage Studies Project for Boston Youth” “Black Steel Workers in Gary, Indiana, Robert Hayden, M.I.T. and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1900-1964” Dennis Dickerson, Williams College “The Inclusion of Black History in Indiana Public School Curricula: Prospects and Problems” Luncheon: 12:00 Noon - 1:30 P.M. Patricia Harris, Public Schools, Gary, Indiana Keynote Address: Representative Hurley C. Goodall Indiana House of Representatives Session VI: 10:45 - 12:00 Noon Reconstructing the History of Blacks in Marion County Session II: 2:00 - 3:30 P.M. “The Marion County Black History Project” Black Art and Cultural Expression Leone Little, Public Schools, Indianapolis, Indiana “Unsung, But Not Unseen: Indiana Black Visual Artists, 1900-1981” Session VII: 1:00 - 2:30 P.M. William Taylor, IUPUI Black Migration and the Development of Black Rural Communities Session III: 3:45 - 5:00 P.M. “A History of Lyles Station, Indiana” Black Urban Development Carl Lyles, ISU, Evansville “Occupational Structure, Employment Patterns and Social Mobility in the Evansville, Indiana “The Development of Rural Black Communities in Kansas, Black Community, 1880-1930” Mississippi and Oklahoma After Reconstruction” Darrel Bigham, ISU, Evansville Kenneth Hamilton, Ohio State University

“Blacks in Midwestern Urban Communities, 1877-1915: Session VIII: 2:45 - 4:15 P.M. A Comparison” Current Historiography and Opportunities for Thomas Cox, Middlebury College Historical Research “Recent Trends in Black Historiography: A Reappraisal” Session IV: 7:00 - 9:30 P.M. David McBride, Sangamon State University Film Program “Home of the Brave” “So Many Particulars, So Many Questions: The Past, Present Featuring James Edwards and Future of Historiography on Blacks in Indiana” Commentary by Phyllis Klotman, IU Bloomington Monroe Little, IUPUI

THE IHS LIBRARY’S BLACK HISTORY PROGRAM. . .

is an ongoing collecting and educational effort to promote the study of Indiana’s Afro-American heritage. Essential to the program’s success is community involvement and input. Please contact us with your ideas concerning the promotion of black history in the state or if you know someone who would like to be added to the mailing list for Black History News and Notes.

The Library attempts to further a better understanding of Indiana’s Afro-American past by collecting and preserving historically related materials such as photographs, letters, diaries, church and organization records, documents, and manuscripts. Through such items historians and the general public gain a more accurate awareness of the past. If you would like to donate or share your historical materials please call or write the Library. Our atmospherically controlled storage area and professionally trained conser­ vation staff ensure the longevity of deposited materials. The Library also has access to microfilm and photocopying equipment to duplicate material when owners wish to retain originals.

Please be sure to contact the Library, 315 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis 46202 (317) 232-1879 with any suggestions or comments you have concerning the Black History Program. Book Review

Big Steel: Black Politics and Corporate Power in Gary, Indiana. By Edward Greer, (New York and London: Monthly Review Press, 1979. Pp. 287. Charts, notes.)

Richard Hatcher took office as mayor of Gary in January 1968. Along with Carl Stokes of Cleveland, he was one of the first two black mayors of a large northern city. Over the past fourteen years, his administration and his city have been scrutinized relentlessly in newspaper and magazine articles, scholarly and popular books, and even doctoral disserta­ tions. The boqk which is the subject of this review, Big Steel: Black Politics and Cor­ porate Power in Gary, Indiana by Edward Greer was published in 1979. The U.S. Steel Corporation laid out Gary in 1906 to house employees of its mammoth new mill on the shores of Lake Michigan. Blacks did not begin to arrive in Gary in large numbers until the 1920s and it was not until recently that they became a majority of the city’s popula­ tion. In 1960, Gary was 39 percent black. By 1980 that figure had increased to 71 percent. By the 1960s, the Democratic machine which had ruled the city since the 1930s had begun to weaken, partly because of the exposure of widespread corruption in city government and partly because so many of its constituents had fled to the suburbs. Hatcher launched the first major black challenge against the machine in the 1967 primary, narrowly winning the mayoral nomination. In violation of all past pre­ cedent, the Democratic machine refused to back Hatcher and, in a racist and red- baiting campaign, supported the Republican candidate. In an election supervised by federal agents and the police and with national guard standing by, Hatcher won by 40,000 to 38,000 votes. Ninety-six percent of black voters supported the new mayor. Greer, formerly a special assistant to Hatcher, has two purposes in his book. The first is "to show how political power actually works in the city of Gary, Indiana." His second purpose is theoretical. He sets out to show that both the pluralist and power elite models of political behavior are inadequate for understanding politics in Gary and, by ex­ tension, in the rest of urban America. Instead, he argues that Marxist theory in the tradition of Antonio Gramsci "comes closest to providing an explanation of political power in this country." Greer’s book is at its best as he relates some of the problems of Hatcher’s first administration. He paints a depressingly convincing picture of the obstacles blocking the path of reform. His book focuses on four areas: the police department, housing reform, tax policies, and environmental regualtion. Although he was able to get more blacks on the force and to reduce police brutality, the mayor’s policies did little to reduce crime. Despite good intentions, Hatcher also found it virtually impossible to enforce minimal housing codes against recalcitrant landlords. His urban renewal programs actually reduced the number of housing units available to the poor. Despite the virtual certainty that U.S. Steel’s property tax valuation was too low, the lack of cooperation from state and township officials blocked Hatcher's efforts to raise the assessment. Incredible as it may seem, U.S. Steel refused to allow any public official to examine its books to arrive at an accurate evaluation of its properties. City and federal efforts to regulate air and Lick Creek Settlement

An Early Black Community in Orange County by Coy D. Robbins

Editor's note: The following is the first in a two-part series.

Deep in the heart of what is now the ness which swept through the small coun­ Hoosier National Forest located a few try community toward the end of the nine­ miles southeast of the county seat, Paoli, teenth century, or could it have been that Indiana, there is a cemetery which con­ Black survivors drifted away from south­ tains the graves of some Black Hoosiers ern Indiana to more fertile parts of the who lived in the area over one hundred state and the United States when these years ago. Identified today as the "Little areas began to offer better social, Africa Cemetery", it was almost forgotten economic, and educational opportunities until ten years ago when members of a to Black Americans? local Boys Scout troop made the restora­ The beginning point for obtaining tion of the cemetery one of their special answers to some of these questions turn­ projects.1 ed out to involve a persual of the two It has been a long time since any standard writings about the history of Blacks lived in the vicinity of this Black Americans in Indiana. John W. Lyda, cemetery. Local legend states that its a Black historian, in his book The Negro former residents were freed slaves who in the History of Indiana, in the section came into Indiana by the Underground on early Black settlements in Indiana, Railroad, and that they were permitted made only the following reference to this by friendly Quakers to settle in small southern community: "The other families numbers throughout the parcel of land in composing the caravan stopped in Orange South East Township known long ago as County, Indiana, where they remained three "Paddy’s Garden."2 The legend emphasizes years before coming to Lost Creek."3 And further that these Blacks stayed more or historian Emma Lou Thornbrough, in her less to themselves, and that suddenly 1957 writing The Negro in Indiana Before around 1890 for some mysterious reason the 1900 was equally as concise with this surviving members of this Black community brief reference to the settlement: "In disappeared. Orange County Quakers settled around Or­ This intriguing legend and the leans and Chambersburg, and near them were possibility that the history of persons several colored families. There were also buried in this cemetery might represent several Negroes in Paoli Township."4 an important part of Black Hoosier This information contributed little legacy stirred this writer’s curiosity to to answer questions raised by finding the try and learn more about the former "Little Africa Cemetery" data, and so for African-American community. Some of the the past year, this writer spent some of research questions which came readily to his spare moments locating and studying mind involved wanting to know answers to public documents in an effort to learn the following: When did Black people more about Black history in Orange County. first settle in this area of Indiana? This writing represents an attempt to How many persons were involved and where summarize briefly some of the historical did they come from? Were the former findings to date. slaves escaping into Indiana from the Census reports were checked initial­ South as the legend indicated? Why were ly to discover possible population figures these former Black inhabitants so cultur­ for the community as well as for a deter­ ally conscious of their African heritage mination about when the first settlers so as to name their Indiana community might have come to this Black community. "Little Africa"? And finally, what ever A study of Federal Census reports from happened to the residents? Did they die, 1820 to 1860 indicated that free Blacks as some present-day local white residents were reported as living in Orange County suspect, from an epidemic disease of ill­ in each decennial enumeration, and that the total number of Blacks in the county and if they, or their descendants ever during the period of time under consider­ lived in the vicinity of Chambersburg and ation ranged from 96 persons in 1820 to the "Little Africa" area. 260 persons in I860.5 Such findings The first public documentation which about the size of the Black population definitely substantiates that free Black in Orange County a long time ago were families lived in the Chambersburg area interesting indeed, but they failed once involve land records dating to 1824. In i again to contribute very much to answer the that year, both Benjamin and Ishmael questions about when Black people first Roberts, free persons of color from came to the county and whether they were Chatham County, North Carolina purchased former slaves or free Negroes. farm land in the South East Township of Another source of information about Orange County, Indiana— near the area the 1820 Federal Census for Indiana was where the "Little Africa Cemetery" is located and a careful study of the free now located.7 Negroes listed by name as living in Not too much yet has been found about Orange County disclosed that there were either one of these Black men. Benjamin at least eleven households of free Roberts purchased his forty acres on May Blacks enumerated there in 1820. Compris­ 5, 1824, according to the deed record. ing a total of sixty-three males and fe­ Freedom papers for the same Benjamin Roberts males, the following family group names were made out at Chatham County, North were found for Orange County: Jonathan Carolina on November 6, 1824: and, these Broady, Lewis Burnett, Judah Canon, Darkis papers stipulated that he, his wife Sally, Constant, David Duggard (Dugged?), Charles and their three children— Sabina, Ishmael, Goings (Goins?), Clabourn Goings, and Archibald— were born in North Carolina Simeon Goings, Richard Potridge, and and always known there as free persons of Bryant Thomas.6 Unfortunately, the color "before removing to Indiana."8 census information does not tell where Ishmael Roberts, on the other hand, these free Black families came from, has been a bit more difficult person to

Orange County Courthouse, Paoli, Indiana. page 9 learn about, mainly due to the fact that izens. For example, free Blacks in several persons in North Carolina and North Carolina were declared free by the Indiana had this same name which apparently law of the land, having the right to was a quite popular first name for members own their own homes, to receive wages of the Roberts family. Nevertheless, it is for their labor, to have churches and known that an older man by the name of a measure of education. But, also in Ishmael Roberts, who was probably a North Carolina, free Negroes could not brother to Benjamin Roberts, lived also vote, not sit on a jury, nor testify in Chatham County, North Carolina, that against a white man— but they could pay he was a Revolutionary War veteran having taxes.11 served for one year as a private with the After 1822 when Denmark Vesey, a Shepards Company, 10th North Carolina free Black man, led an insurrection Regiment9, that he acquired government land of slaves in Charleston, South Carolina, in Orange County, Indiana around 1824, and the state of North Carolina passed more that later one acre of this land was con­ restrictive laws against its free Black tributed for the location of a Methodist citizens— beginning with the year 1826 Church. when free Negroes were prohibited from And, so it appears that free Black coming into the state under penalty of families which formed the nucleus of the five hundred dollars. These laws cul­ Black community in Orange County, Indiana minated in those adopted between 1831 dated at least to 1824 when members of and 1840 which (1) forbade free Negroes the Roberts family were established there the right to trade in certain articles, from North Carolina. (2) deprived them of the right to preach, It was not until the early 1830s (3) excluded them from public schools, that greater numbers of free persons of (4) denied them the right to vote after color started migrating from North Caro­ 1835, and (5) declared void any marriages lina, and eventually some of them settled between whites and free people of color in several parts of Indiana. The pre­ after 1838.12 Tensions between the races sence of a rather sizeable population in North Carolina were increased by the of free Blacks living before the Civil constant fear of slave rebellions, and War in the southern states of North the famous Nat Turner slave rebellion Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland is very which occurred during 1831 in nearby well documented.10 And, prior to 1826, Virginia led ultimately to the passage free Blacks living in North Carolina of North Carolina legislation which held a special status in the white society, greatly restricted the former freedom enjoying certain rights and privileges and economic activities of the state’s denied those African-Americans held in free Black citizens. bondage, and yet failing to share in all the same freedom granted white cit­ (continued on page 12)

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REVIEW...continued from page 7 water pollution from the mill were met with evasion and footdragging from the corporation. Although some progress has been made in this area, Gary remains one of America's most polluted cities. Big Steel is less satisfactory on the theoretical level. Greer's summaries of plural­ ist and power elite theories are so simplified as to be little more than caricatures of these positions. More troubling is his assertion that Gary is a "microcosm of heartland industrial America." His chronicle of the failure of reform within the existing political structure of Gary is intended to show that it must fail elsewhere as well and that cap - italism itself is the leading obstacle to reform. This reviewer, at least, cannot accept Gary as representative of the rest of industrial America. Other cities may share many of the same problems as Gary, but in this Indiana city they have been raised to a level of magnitude seldom seen elsewhere. Within the present political and social context, Gary's problems may well be insoluble— although even this is not beyond dispute— but let us hope that the rest of urban America has not arrived at this point yet.— Errol Stevens, Indiana Guide Project, Indiana Historical Society. Questions/Requests

Requests for information or other assistance will be printed to aid those working on Indiana black history research. If you have a specific query please contact the Society Library.

St. Mark A.M.E. Zion Church Choir, Indianapolis, 1924— an example of the photographic craftsmanship of J.C. Patton.

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J.C. Patton was probably the first and most prominent black photographer in India­ napolis during the first decades of the twentieth century. His photographs represent a unique visual record of local Afro-American history. During the late 1920s Patton appar­ ently left Indianapolis and moved to Chicago. The Black History Program would like to learn more about Patton and the fate of any photographs taken by him. Please contact Steve Vincent or Tim Peterson at the Society Library, 315 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis, IN 46204 (317) 232-1879.

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Zachary Cooper and Emilie Tari are studying the history of the Revels, Roberts, Waldron, and other free black families who came to Wisconsin before the Civil War. Many of these black pioneers had settled in Indiana before moving farther northward during the 1840s and 1850s. Individuals with in­ formation to share aoubt such families may write to Cooper at Dept, of Curri­ culum & Instruction, Teacher Education Bldg., 225 N. Mills St., Madison, WI 53706; or Tari at Old World Wisconsin, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State St., Madison, WI 53706. EARLY COMMUNITY...continued from page 10 5A Compendium of the Ninth Census (June 1, 1870) Compiled Pursuant to a Concurrent Resolution of Congress (Wash­ The exodus of free Blacks out of ington, 1872), 43; Eleventh Census: 1890 North Carolina came in the 1830s as I, pt. 1: 409. caravans of free people left the state 6Willard Heiss, 1820 Federal Census for the pioneer lands of the Northwest for Indiana (Indianpolis, 1966). The Territory in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and count includes all free Negroes listed in « later Michigan and Minnesota. Those hav­ Orange County except those living in white ing homesteads sold them, loaded their households. Individuals identified as household effects into two wheeled carts slaves were also excluded. and four wheeled covered wagons drawn 7"Land Records for Orange County," by oxen; left the land of their birth; IX: 21-27, 38. Unpublished index compil­ started on their tedious march over hills ed by Lost Creek Chapter, Daughters of and through corduroyed swamps "for the American Revolution, 1981. Available happy land far, far away, where no slav­ at Paoli Public Library, Paoli, Indiana. ery exists and all men are free."13 8Benjamin Roberts freedom papers, Deed Book D, 433. Located in Recorder's ENDNOTES Office, Orange County Courthouse, Paoli, 1 Wanda G. Williams, "Page in History Indiana. Papers dated November 6, 1824; is Uncovered; Little Africa Cemetery Found," filed January 7, 1833. Bloomington, Indiana Sunday Herald-Times 9Marking on Ishmael Roberts grave­ (Bedford edition), January 3, 1971,3. stone, Little Africa Cemetery, South Harlold Clements, Paoli, served as a East Township, Orange County, Indiana; member of the Scouting Committee, Boy Elias Roberts freedom papers, Deed Book Scout Troop 85, which restored the cem­ D, 432. Papers located in Recorder's etery. The writer is deeply indebted to Office, Orange County Courthouse. Papers Mrs. Pat Clements, who generously made dated February 23, 1823. available some of her late husband's re­ 10John Hope Franklin, The Free Negro search materials, thereby greatly aiding in North Carolina, 1790-1860 (Chapel Hill, this study. 1943). A complete listing of the writings 11 Carl Glennis Roberts, "Explanatory found on the Little Africa Cemetery tomb­ Notes." Unpublished manuscript located stones is available upon request from the in Roberts Settlement Collection, Library author, 502 Clover Terrace, Bloomington, of Congress, Washington, D.C. Photocopies Indiana 47401. of materials in Roberts Settlement Collec­ 2 Ibid. tion available at Indiana Division, In- 3John W. Lyda, The Negro in the His­ iana State Library, Indianapolis. tory of Indiana (Terre Haute, 1957), 19-28. 12Franklin, Free Negro, 62-80. 4Emma Lou Thronbrough, The Negro in 13Roberts, "Explanatory Notes." Indiana: A Study of a Minority (India­ napolis, 1957), 47.

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