Posted in: Editorial This Moment is History in the Making

image: from The Recorder Collection, Indiana Historical Society  HistoricIndianapolis.com was conceived to contribute to the local community by creating new points of connection from old places, people and events. Since this website primarily focuses on the...

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Posted in: General Madam CJ Walker

1998 U.S. Postage stamp, honoring Madam C. J. Ever wonder who your role models’ role models are? I do. What made Harriet Tubman know she could withstand any possible retribution to help other slaves escape?...

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Posted in: Then & Now Then & Now: “Colored” Knights of Pythias, 701-703 North Senate

While many people consider Indiana Avenue the epicenter of early black culture in Indianapolis, few may realize how far from “The Avenue” it stretched. Bordering the Cultural Trail at Walnut Street and Senate Avenue is a...

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Posted in: Historic Miscellania Rufus Cantrell, Intruder in the Dust

In 1935, the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges weighed in on what mathematicians later called chaos theory: the results of some phenomena are simply impossible to predict, control, or even explain.  Take the freak reasoning of...

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Posted in: Indianapolis Collected Indianapolis Collected: D.C. Stephenson’s revenge

On July 4, 1923, an aspiring Republican politician from the east side of Indianapolis stood before an estimated crowd of 10,000 people at Malfalfa Park in Kokomo and delivered an impassioned speech that touched on...

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Posted in: Misc Mondays Misc Monday: African American and Catholic in Early Indianapolis

Two Daughters of Charity with African American children at St. Ann’s School, probably in the 1930’s. (Source: Saint Rita Church, Indianapolis, Indiana: Golden Jubilee, 1919–1969. South Hackensack, NJ: Custombook. 1969.) Did Indiana’s first — and...

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Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Adverts: The Freeman Newspaper

In July 1888, Edward Elder Cooper, originally from Florida, founded The Freeman, the first illustrated African-American newspaper in the United States.  Cooper was born in 1859, and arrived in Indianapolis at age nineteen.  He was...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Sissle-ing Talent!

A Pioneering Singer, Bandleader, Composer: Noble Lee Sissle Born in Indianapolis in July of 1889, Noble Sissle was destined to travel the world on his musical genius, which he came by honestly; his mother, Martha, was a school teacher who loved...

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Posted in: What’s in a Name? What’s in a Name: Flanner House

Flanner House Location: Near Northwestside, 2424 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. St. Frank Flanner, Indianapolis mortician and civic leader Flanner was born in a Quaker village in Ohio in 1854 and moved to Indianapolis when...

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Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Adverts: The Indianapolis Recorder

Many of the businesses featured in this column met unfortunate ends, whether it be from the death of the founder, or economic circumstances.  The Indianapolis Recorder is not one of those – founded in 1895,...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Louisa Magruder’s House, 564 N. Highland Avenue

An early resident of what is now Cottage Home neighborhood was an elderly black woman named Louisa Magruder (ca. 1808-1900), whose home stood at 564 N. Highland Avenue just south of Pogue’s Run. Born into...

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Posted in: Indianapolis Collected Indianapolis Collected: The Last of the Civil War Soldiers

During the summer of 1949, an elderly man named Joseph Clovese bought a new pair of shoes.  Made of kangaroo leather and reportedly “soft as a kitten’s fur,” the shoes were purchased specially for Clovese to...

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Posted in: What’s in a Name? What’s In a Name: Oscar Robertson Boulevard

Oscar Robertson Blvd. Oscar Robertson, Hall of Fame Basketball Player Oscar Robertson, who grew up in Indianapolis and graduated from Crispus Attucks High School, is one of the greatest high school, college, and professional basketball...

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Posted in: Historic Miscellania Landmark for Peace Memorial, MLK Park

The Landmark for Peace Memorial at Martin Luther King Jr. Park – Photo by Ryan Hamlett While HistoricIndianapolis.com is by no means a platform from which to editorialize on current events whether they be they...

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Posted in: Sunday Prayers Sunday Prayers: 143 W. 40th (Capitol Avenue Christian Church)

Dedicated in 1922 as Capitol Avenue Christian Church, 143 W. 40th St. is also a former Masonic Lodge. (photo by Dawn Olsen) They stared up at me, dressed in their Sunday best. They, the old...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then & Now: 500 Block of Indiana Avenue

Indiana Avenue, the diagonal street angling northwest from the heart of the city, has historically been known as Indianapolis’s African-American business and cultural hub. The first black-owned businesses appeared in the 500 block of Indiana...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Madame Walker Theatre

It’s one of the few standout flatiron buildings the city has left and is located just outside the northwestern most corner of the “Mile Square.” Built in 1927 and designed by the architectural firm, Rubush...

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