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Black History News & Notes BLACK HISTORY NEWS & NOTES AUGUST 1995 NUMBER 61 1984 proclamation from Indianapo­ Birdie Lee Whiteside Collection lis Mayor William Hudnut III and certificates of appreciation are in The Birdie Lee Whiteside Collec­ The volunteer organization grew box 1, folders 1, 2, and 8. There are tion (M 658) was donated to the In­ to also include institutions and shut- also certificates honoring Whiteside diana Historical Society during the ins in counties adjacent to Marion and/or the organization throughout Black Women in the Middle West County. As a result of the organi­ the nine scrapbooks in boxes 2-4. Project (BWMWP), a collecting ef­ zation’s work, it along with White- Program booklets are in box 1, fort to gather primary source mate­ side has received numerous com­ folder 9 and newsclippings about the rials of African-American women in mendations and awards. work of Guiding Light Christian Illinois and Indiana. Spearheaded by A longtime member of 25th Service, Inc. are in box 1, folder 10. Darlene Clark Hine of Purdue Uni­ Street Baptist Church, Birdie L. (Additional program booklets and versity, the project was conducted Whiteside joined Messiah Baptist newsclippings are located in the in three phases from 1977 to 1985. Church in 1970. Her church activi­ collection’s scrapbooks.) The BWMWP records are located ties have included choir, missionary Birdie Whiteside’s interest in par­ at five repositories within the two societies, the Baptist Training liamentary procedures can be deduced states including the Indiana Histori­ Union, and Sunday School. White- from her association with the Hoosier cal Society (also houses the project’s side has been affiliated with several Roundtable Unit of the National As­ administrative records), Calumet organizations including Church sociation of Parliamentarians and the Regional Archives, and the North­ Women United, Council ofWomen, Parliamentary Practice Club of India­ ern Indiana Historical Society in In­ Three Sisters Nursing Home, and napolis. Collection materials related diana and the Chicago Historical So­ the Juvenile Center Auxiliary. to these organizations are located in ciety and the Illinois State Histori­ Scope and Content box 1, folders 11-16. cal Society in Illinois. The collection consists of four A descriptive list of each scrap­ Historical Sketch manuscript boxes and spans from book in the collection follows: Birdie Mary Lee Whiteside the years 1944 to 1986. There are Scrapbook #1 (1944-1986) Corre­ (1911- ) was bom in Hopkinsville, nine scrapbooks and 16 folders that spondence, photographs, program Kentucky. After receiving a Bach­ contain correspondence, photo­ booklets, and newsclippings. Pho­ elor of Missions degree from graphs, program booklets, certifi­ tograph of Pastor J. B. Carter (25th Simmons University in Louisville in cates of appreciation, and Street Baptist Church in Indianapo­ 1949, she returned to Indianapolis, newsclippings, mostly pertaining to lis) and Birdie L. Whiteside; 25-year having lived in the city prior to go­ Birdie L. Whiteside and her work service program booklet of the ing to the university. with the Guiding Light Christian Guiding Light Christian Service, In 1953, Whiteside founded the Service, Inc. (GLCS). The organi­ Incorporated; and 1983 and 1984 Guiding Light Christian Service, a zation, founded by Whiteside to take Ivy Award Luncheon (sponsored by tape ministry designed to take re­ tape recorded religious programs to the Volunteer Action Center of the corded religious sermons to the sick the sick and shut-in, was incorpo­ United Way) program booklets. and shut-in. The organization was rated in 1958. Original incorpora­ Scrapbook #2 (1948-1982) Cor­ incorporated in Indianapolis in tion papers are in scrapbook #8 (box respondence, photographs, certifi­ 1958. During the 1950s, Whiteside 4, folder 2); a photostat copy is in cates of appreciation, and began preparing and delivering Eas­ box 1, folder 5. newsclippings. Photograph of ter baskets and Christmas socks/ Whiteside has received many Birdie L. Whiteside singing at the stockings, as part of the organi­ honors for her work with the Guid­ zation’s service. ing Light Christian Service, Inc. A (Continued on page 8) 1 BHNN_1995-08_NO61 Diamond Foundation. This year, three of the fellows will be in resi­ Historical Happenings dence at the Schomburg Center for one full year and two fellows will Huggins-Quarles Committee on the Status of be funded for six months. Minority Historians and Recipients of the National En­ Award Minority History dowment for the Humanities Fel­ lowships and their project topics are: Named for Benjamin Quarles and Organization of American Histo­ Ralph LeRoy Crowder, Assistant rians the late Nathan Huggins, two out­ Professor, Department of History standing historians of the African 112 North Bryan Street and African American Studies and American past, the Huggins- Bloomington, IN 47408-4199 Research Center, Purdue Univer­ Quarles award is given annually to The Committee on the Status of sity— “Street Scholars: The Contri­ minority graduate students at the Minority Historians and Minority bution and Struggle of Self-trained dissertation research stage of their History will evaluate the applica­ Black Historians and Stepladder Ph.D. program. To apply, the stu­ Radicals, 1880-1945” and Irma tions and announce the results by the dent should submit a brief two-page Watkins-Owens, Assistant Profes­ abstract of the dissertation, along March meeting of the OAH, to be sor, African American Studies Insti­ with a one-page budget explaining held in Chicago, IL, 28-31 March tute and Social Sciences Division, the travel and research plans for the 1996. Fordham College at Lincoln Center, funds requested. The amount re­ “Migration and Community: Afri­ quested should not exceed $1,000. Schomburg can American Women in New York Each application must be accompa­ City, 1890-1940.” nied by a letter from the dissertation Fellowship Recipients of the Aaron Diamond adviser attesting to the student’s sta­ Five scholars have been awarded Foundation Fellowships and their tus and the ways in which the fellowships for 1995-96 through the project topics are: Carla Kaplan, As­ Huggins-Quarles Award will facili­ Scholars-In-Residence Program at sistant Professor, Department of tate the completion of the disserta­ the Schomburg Center for Research English, affiliate appointments in tion. All entries should be clearly in Black Culture, Howard Dodson, African-American and Women’s labeled “1996 Huggins-Quarles Chief of the Schomburg Center, has Studies, Yale University, “The Twenties in Black and White: Award.” Six copies of each appli­ announced. The fellowships are Modernism’s Undesirable Desire;” cation should be submitted by 8 funded by the National Endowment January, 1996 to: for the Humanities and the Aaron (Continued on page 7) 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 $20.00 a year. To become a member or for further information, write the Indiana Historical Society, 315 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202 (317) 232-1882. Correspondence concerning Black History News and Notes should be addressed to Wilma L. Gibbs, Editor. _______ __ INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION (Please make membership in one name only) Name Address City State Zip_____ Occupation Membership Categories (Check One) d Annual $20 d Sustaining $30 d Contributing $50 d Life $500 I wish to join the following interest groups. Limit choice to two. d Family History d Medical History d Black History d Archaeology Signature Date 2 UPDATING THE AFRICAN AND NATIVE AMERICAN LEGENDS IN THE ROBERTS GENEALOGY Coy D. Robbins [Adapted from a talk presented on Those families of color who came cans. Lord Roberts died at some 1 July 1995 at the Roberts Chapel westward traveled by way of Ken­ unknown time without any family Annual Homecoming in Jackson tucky and Ohio into Indiana and or heirs, and, according to your leg­ Township, Hamilton County, Indi­ other developing states in the North­ end his African valet quietly as­ ana. Speaker Coy Robbins was ad­ west Territory. By the time the early sumed the Roberts surname and dressing descendants of the Roberts Roberts families had reached Indi­ took possession of the real estate and Settlement.] ana, however, there were a number personal property. After he married of free African communities thriv­ an anonymous Cherokee woman, Introduction ing in the southern counties of Clark, they had several children who were Some in this audience may not re­ Dearborn, Floyd, Gibson, Franklin, among your pioneer African ances­ alize that other settlements of free Harrison, Jefferson, Knox, Washing­ tors in Hamilton and Rush counties. people of color existed in Indiana ton, and Wayne—plus, the Lick Once bitten by the “genealogy long before this one. Furthermore, Creek Settlement in Orange County bug,” family researchers find it hard many pioneer African settlements in and the Lost Creek Settlement in to stop digging into their history for Indiana were already flourishing Vigo County.3 Roberts family mi­ more ancestors. This is where the before any persons with the Roberts grations never occurred at the same family legends are extremely impor­ surname are known to have resided time. Instead, new families from tant to provide some direction for in this state. And, for the record, North Carolina and other states con­ these genealogical efforts. To use your ancestors in Rush and tinued to arrive in Indiana well into the legends effectively in family or Hamilton counties were not among the 1840s.
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