Archives Online at Indiana University

Call Number
83-049

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 60 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Harrah-Conforth, Jeanne

Access Status

Open

Naomi Anderson discusses her life history in Indianapolis, Indiana.

• Keywords
• • Place Names
  • Indianapolis, Indiana

Call Number
83-026

Physical Description

22 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 30 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Elbert Birdsong, born August 31, 1900 and died March 31, 1990. He was born in Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, where his father worked in the phosphate mines. At the age of seventeen Mr. Birdsong moved to Kentucky to work in the coal mines. From there he travelled from place to place, working as a general laborer in Tennessee, Chicago, Illinois, and Florida. After he married his wife, Selonia Sloss, he moved to Indianapolis to be with her family. They built a home in Brightwood on Martindale Street where many of his friends and co-workers were living. While in Indianapolis Mr. Birdsong first worked for International Harvester where he belonged to the union. He then got a position driving a truck for the Indianapolis Parks and Recreation Department, where he worked until retirement in 1966. His wife worked for a housing finance company as a custodian until she was too ill to continue. He attended the Missionary Baptist church off and on for many years. Mr. Birdsong remembers some racial discrimination throughout the years, but does not feel it has affected him personally.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation
  • International Harvester Company
• • Place Names
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • Florida
  • Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Mount Pleasant, Tennessee
  • Providence, Kentucky
  • Pulaski, Tennessee
• • Occupation Names
  • coal miner
  • contractor
  • laborer
• • Personal Names
  • Sloss, Selonia
• • Subjects
  • African-Americans
  • black lung disease
  • coal mines
  • Great Depression
  • housing discrimination
  • phosphate mines
  • road construction
  • unions
  • World War I
  • World War II

Call Number
83-025

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 38 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Lopez, Consuelo

Access Status

Restricted: permission of interviewee is required to use quotations in publications

Lenora Boshura, born in 1901, discussed her life history, family, and career.

• Keywords
• • Place Names
  • Indianapolis, Indiana

Call Number
83-010

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 72 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Cornish, Erin

Access Status

Open

Georgann Bradford, born January 18, 1911, tells about her life in Mississippi, her migration to St. Louis, Missouri and finally to Indianapolis, Indiana.

• Keywords
• • Mississippi
  • St. Louis, Missouri

Call Number
83-004

Physical Description

65 pages; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 80 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Wolford, John

Access Status

Open

Clara Florence Brooks, born March 25, 1916 and died July 2, 1999, discusses her early life with her family in Giles County, Tennessee as tenant cotton farmers. After her father died, her family moved to Indianapolis to join two older brothers who had already moved there. Her son, who died of appendicitis at the age of 9, was born shortly after she moved to Indianapolis in 1936. Over the years, Mrs. Brooks worked a variety of jobs including general labor and sewing. In order to raise her daughter, she sometimes had to work two jobs and seven days a week. Mrs. Brooks also speaks of the Brightwood neighborhood where she lived for many years. Although it was mostly a white neighborhood when she first arrived, more African- Americans have moved in. She comments on the race relations in her neighborhood, in her working life, and in the schools. Finally she discusses her love of Indianapolis, Indiana's culture, people and overall atmosphere.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Arsenal Technical High School
  • Indiana State Fairgrounds
  • International Harvester Company
  • Mouver Foundry
  • United States Army
• • Place Names
  • Giles County, Tennessee
• • Occupation Names
  • laborer
  • seamstress
• • Subjects
  • African-Americans
  • appendicitis
  • baseball
  • basketball
  • divorce
  • epilepsy
  • Primitive Baptist church
  • race relations
  • racial discrimination
  • railroad workers
  • school integration
  • spousal abuse
  • tenant farming
  • welfare
  • World War II

Call Number
83-031

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 81 minutes; no index; February 1982 copy of Citizen's Forum, Inc. newsletter; article by Elmo G. Coney; brochure about the Citizens Forum; article about interviewee and husband

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Mattie M. Coney, born May 30, 1909 and died August 1988, touches upon her childhood growing up in Tennessee and working her way through college. Her experiences as an Indianapolis, Indiana public school teacher led her to form the Citizens Forum, Inc., a neighborhood improvement program. Mrs. Coney discusses the goals of the Citizens Forum and her experiences as its director.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Citizens Forum, Incorporated
  • Lilly Endowment
• • Occupation Names
  • teacher
• • Personal Names
  • Coney, Elmo G.
• • Subjects
  • African-Americans
  • civic responsibility
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • neighborhood block clubs
  • Sagamore of the Wabash

Call Number
83-011

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 37 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Cornish, Erin

Access Status

Open

James Cecil Dinkins, born August 31, 1913 and died September 1, 1998, discusses his life in Kentucky and Indianapolis, Indiana, working in factories and under unions.

• Keywords
• • Place Names
  • Kentucky
• • Occupation Names
  • factory worker
• • Subjects
  • unions

Call Number
83-038

Physical Description

45 pages; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 70 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Throughout the interview Downey lists famous African- Americans from Indianapolis, including the Ink Spots, singer Dink Watson, race car driver Charles Wiggins, and Sam Cooke. She comments on the segregation and then integration of the Indianapolis school system during her tenure as a teacher. She mentions the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, the Black Muslims, and the Black Panthers, and their influence on politics during the Civil Rights Movement.

Virtea Downey, born in 1913 in Indianapolis, Indiana, attended Crispus Attucks High School and then A & I State College (later Tennessee State College) in Nashville, Tennessee. She then moved back to Indianapolis, Indiana and married. She worked in various factories during World War II after her husband was drafted. She then attended Butler University and the Jordan Conservatory of Music to receive a teaching degree honored by Indiana schools. She spent her teaching career in the Indianapolis Public School System, first teaching in elementary classrooms and then changing to special education.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • A & I State College
  • Butler University
  • Cato Tabernacle
  • Crispus Attucks High School
  • Fisk University
  • Ink Spots
  • Jordan Conservatory of Music
  • Ku Klux Klan
  • National Council of Negro Women
• • Place Names
  • Nashville, Tennessee
• • Occupation Names
  • teacher
  • musician
• • Personal Names
  • Cooke, Sam
  • Watson, Dink
  • Watson, Anna
  • Wiggins, Charles
• • Subjects
  • African-Americans
  • car racing
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • land grant colleges
  • racial segregation
  • school integration
  • special education
  • World War II

Call Number
83-028

Physical Description

39 pages; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 94 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Although Mr. Golder himself was not involved with the Civil Rights Movement in Indianapolis, he discusses some of the people he remembers as leaders. Mr. Golder also touches upon the political situation in Indianapolis, and the fact that many African-Americans in Indianapolis belong to the Republican Party in contrast to the rest of the nation. Mr. Golder ends the interview discussing the charismatic Christian movement, and the differences between apostolic Christians and Pentecostal Christians.

Morris E. Golder, born January 23, 1913 and died July 22, 2000, was born in Indianapolis and attended Crispus Attucks High School. He then moved to St. Louis, Missouri to pastor a congregation for 13 years. When he returned to Indianapolis he founded the Grace Apostolic Church, of which he was still the pastor. Mr. Golder discusses his experiences with school segregation and housing discrimination in Indianapolis.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Crispus Attucks High School
  • Grace Apostolic Church
  • Republican Party
• • Place Names
  • St. Louis, Missouri
• • Occupation Names
  • pastor
• • Personal Names
  • Richardson, Henry
  • Brokenburr, Robert Lee
• • Subjects
  • African-Americans
  • apostolic church
  • charismatic Christian movement
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • housing discrimination
  • Indianapolis automobile manufacturing
  • Pentecostal church
  • racial segregation
  • racial discrimination

Call Number
83-037

Physical Description

69 pages; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 68 minutes; no index; article by interviewee; article about Martin Center College; flyer from Martin Center College; article about African-American Catholics; copy of Afro-American Journal

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Father Hardin discusses the philosophy of the Martin Center College, where he is currently president. He touches upon segregation and then the desegregation of schools. He discusses racial discrimination in the clergy, both toward African-American parishioners and African-American clergymen. He talks about issues he is concerned about in Indianapolis, such as poverty, police brutality, and abortion. He also discusses the influence of African-Americans in Indianapolis politics.

Father Boniface Hardin, born November 18, 1933, grew up in Bardstown, Kentucky and Indianapolis, Indiana attending Catholic schools. He then attended St. Meinrad monastery and became a monk. In the nineteen sixties he requested a post working with a congregation. He worked in an Indianapolis Catholic church. After being involved in protesting a police shooting of an African-American youth and almost being recalled by St. Meinrad monastery, he founded the Martin Center College, a four-year institution for returning students, especially African- Americans.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Afro-American Journal
  • Catholic Youth Organization
  • Ku Klux Klan
  • Martin Center College
  • St. Meinrad Monastery
• • Place Names
  • Bardstown, Kentucky
• • Occupation Names
  • college president
  • priest
• • Subjects
  • abortion
  • Affirmative Action
  • African-Americans
  • African-American Catholics
  • Benedictine monks
  • police brutality
  • racial segregation
  • white supremacists

Call Number
83-005

Physical Description

37 pages; 3 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 138 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Wolford, John

Access Status

Open

Mr. Hawkins comments on the difficulty in finding a house for his family when they first moved to Indianapolis. He discusses the consequences of crime, prison conditions, and prisoner quality of life as he observed it as a visitor. He also describes unemployment as being the most pressing problem facing Africa-Americans in Indianapolis today, especially when compared to the ease with which he was able to find work when he first moved to Indianapolis.

Thomas Potter Hawkins, born December 5, 1898 and died November 29, 1989, was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He started working at the age of ten on farms as a general laborer. While in Kentucky he worked mostly on tobacco farms and lived in tenant farm houses. After a bad series of crops impoverished his family, they moved to Indianapolis, Indiana in search of better paying jobs. While in Indianapolis, Mr. Hawkins worked as a trackman on the railroad, handled muratic acid at a foundry, worked as a custodian at a bank, and finally as a bellhop at Stouffer's Inn.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Stouffer's Inn
• • Place Names
  • Bowling Green, Kentucky
• • Occupation Names
  • bellhop
  • laborer
• • Subjects
  • African-Americans
  • prison life
  • railroad workers
  • tobacco farming
  • tenant farming
  • unemployment

Call Number
83-006

Physical Description

31 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 60 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Wolford, John

Access Status

Open

Mrs. Heilman discusses the racial makeup of the neighborhood and the gradual decline of the appearance of the neighborhood over the years. She discusses the more recent problems of high school dropouts and lack of steady work for them, which she feels contributed to the increase in vandalism and other crimes. She also discusses the death of her husband from a massive stroke.

Helen Iris Hull Heilman, born November 11, 1983 and died March 28, 1992, grew up in North Vernon, Indiana on a farm. As a child she suffered from rheumatic fever, which effected her health for the rest of her life. She moved to Indianapolis originally to gain independence from her family and to become a nurse. She did not finish the course work and instead became the caretaker of an older woman. She married in 1941 and moved into the house she still lives in.

• Keywords
• • Place Names
  • North Vernon, Indiana
• • Occupation Names
  • caretaker
• • Subjects
  • high school dropouts
  • rheumatic fever

Call Number
83-044

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 120 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Arbie Jamerson, born February 11, 1940, discusses his experiences as a young African-American growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana in the nineteen fifties and sixties.

• Keywords
• • Occupation Names
  • factory worker
• • Subjects
  • African-Americans

Call Number
83-042

Physical Description

80 pages; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 103 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Mrs. Edna L. Johnson, born March 1, 1918 and died October 15, 1999, discusses her involvement throughout her life in the Civil Rights Movement and the labor movement. She discusses her time at National Malleable and Steel Castings in Indianapolis, Indiana where she helped vote in the UAW-CIO labor union. Later she became president of the local chapter. The union combatted both racial and sex discrimination in the workplace, advocating equal pay for equal work and desegregation of the work areas. During this time Mrs. Johnson was also an active member of many different civil rights organizations in Indianapolis. She discusses her political involvement as a lobbyist and poll worker for many years. She touches upon her work as a real estate broker. She initially struggled to find a sponsor to get a license to become an agent. She also had to overcome discrimination from other real estate brokers and agents, banks, mortgage lenders, and house sellers and buyers. She describes the problems of unemployment and police brutality in Indianapolis. Mrs. Johnson closes the interview by summing up her lifelong struggle to gain equal rights for African-Americans.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Crispus Attucks High School
  • National Malleable and Steel Castings
  • National Labor Relations Board
  • UAW-CIO, Local 761
  • NAACP
  • Indiana Civil Rights Commission
  • Human Rights Commission
  • Progressive Party
• • Place Names
  • Haughville, Indiana
• • Occupation Names
  • factory worker
  • real estate broker
  • union president
• • Personal Names
  • Hayes, Earl C.
  • Jones, Jim
  • Ransom, Willard B. "Mike"
  • Wallace, Henry A.
• • Subjects
  • African-Americans
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • Great Depression
  • housing discrimination
  • labor movement
  • police brutality
  • racial discrimination
  • racial segregation
  • unemployment
  • unions

Call Number
84-034

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 84 minutes; no index; brochure about Indianapolis Urban League; resumé of interviewee; issue of June/July 1981 Dollars & Sense magazine

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Sam H. Jones, Sr., born March 3, 1928, discusses his experiences as an African-American professional. He discusses his career as a social worker and his involvement as president of the Indianapolis Urban League.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Indianapolis Urban League
• • Occupation Names
  • social worker
• • Subjects
  • African-Americans

Call Number
83-050

Physical Description

46 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 60 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Harrah-Conforth, Jeanne

Access Status

Open

Merle Jordan, born September 16, 1920 and died July 31, 1999, was born and raised in Indianapolis as an only child. He discovered at an early age he was proficient at mathematics and decided after high school to become an accountant. He attended Butler University through a special program allowing him to work as a groundskeeper in exchange for free tuition. He finished a few semesters but was unable to continue for financial reasons and so got a full time job while finishing up the degree part time. Mr. Jordan worked a variety of jobs over the years as a taxi cab driver, an accountant at RCA, and an agent for the Internal Revenue Service. He took an early retirement from RCA and spends his days socializing with friends, taking long walks with his dog, reading, and occasionally doing some accounting work for friends and neighbors.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Butler University
  • Internal Revenue Service
  • RCA
• • Occupation Names
  • accountant

Call Number
83-051

Physical Description

43 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 60 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Harrah-Conforth, Jeanne

Naomi Lilly, born March 7, 1924, was born and raised in Kentucky, where her father worked in coal mines. In the nineteen fifties she and her husband came to Indianapolis, Indiana in search of better paying jobs. She first worked in a laundry, but then got a position in a nursing home as a nurse's aide. She worked there for about ten years before retiring. Three years after the death of her first husband, Mrs. Lilly met and married Arnold Lilly. Mrs. Lilly quilts and does applique and fabric painting on shirts. Mr. Lilly enjoys oil paint-by-numbers.

Access Status

Open

• Keywords
• • Place Names
  • Kentucky
• • Occupation Names
  • nurse's aide
• • Personal Names
  • Lilly, Arnold
• • Subjects
  • coal mines
  • nursing homes
  • quilting

Call Number
83-023

Physical Description

25 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 25 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Cornish, Erin

Access Status

Open

Lois Aletha Monroe, born September 3, 1911 and died December 19, 1995, discusses her life in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was born in Columbus, Indiana, but she moved to Indianapolis at an early age with her family. She left high school at the age of 16 to find work to help support her family. She worked at Blocks Department Store in various positions for over forty years. She met her husband there, and stayed with him even through a bout with alcoholism until he died of a stroke at the age of 61. Her two sons finished high school and are living in different states. As a retired woman, Mrs. Monroe took care of her mother until her death. Currently Mrs. Monroe enjoys reading and visiting the senior citizen's center.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Block's Department Store
• • Subjects
  • alcoholism

Call Number
83-019

Physical Description

19 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 23 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Cornish, Erin

Access Status

Open

Cammie Morgan, born November 14, 1983 and died September 12, 1993, grew up in Kentucky where her family worked as tenant farmers. She married at the age of 16. She and her family moved to Indianapolis before the Great Depression in search of better paying jobs. Her husband worked a variety of jobs including with the light company, with the Works Progress Administration, and with a canning factory. Mrs. Morgan got a job at Goodwill Industries after her husband died in 1942, where she stayed until she retired. Although Mrs. Morgan initially did not like Indianapolis, she has become settled in her home and enjoys visiting Fletcher Place, a community center for senior citizens.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Fletcher Place
  • Goodwill Industries
• • Place Names
  • Kentucky
• • Subjects
  • senior citizens
  • tenant farming

Call Number
83-020

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 34 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Lopez, Consuelo

Access Status

Open

Hilda S. Padilla, born June 1, 1958, was born in Honduras and immigrated to Indianapolis, Indiana. Mrs. Padilla currently works as a secretary and is enrolled in an English as a second language (ESL) class. She enjoys interior decorating.

• Keywords
• • Place Names
  • Honduras
• • Occupation Names
  • secretary
• • Subjects
  • ESL class
  • interior decorating

Call Number
83-007

Physical Description

59 pages; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 65 minutes; index

Interviewer
Wolford, John

Access Status

Open

Admiral Duarey Parker, born February 14, 1904, was born in Georgia where his parents owned a farm. He and his family moved to Indianapolis in search of better work after boll weevils destroyed their cotton crop. Over the years Mr. Parker has held a variety of jobs in construction, in saw mills, and on farms. Mr. Parker currently lives with his niece.

• Keywords
• • Place Names
  • Georgia
• • Occupation Names
  • laborer
• • Subjects
  • adultery
  • African-Americans
  • boll weevils
  • cotton farming

Call Number
83-022

Physical Description

25 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 28 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Cornish, Erin

Access Status

Open

Berniece Price, born January 6, 1900, discusses her life history. Her family moved to Indianapolis from a small farming community in southern Indiana in 1910 in search of better paying jobs. Mrs. Price left school at thirteen and began work at a glove factory. She worked until she married at the age of seventeen. After a few years she divorced her first husband and went back to work. When she married a second time she quit work and became a full-time mother. After her second husband's heart attack, she worked at the Murat Shrine as a caterer until she retired. Mrs. Price is a member of the Baptist church, has eight children, and enjoys quilting.

• Keywords
• • Occupation Names
  • homemaker
• • Subjects
  • quilting

Call Number
83-015

Physical Description

30 pages; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 75 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Wolford, John

Access Status

Open

Mrs. Pointer touches upon the racial make-up of the neighborhoods in Indianapolis, which she feels has gone from mostly segregated to integrated. She also comments on the quality of the public school system, which she feels has not improved over the years. She talks about the Indianapolis Police Department, which she feel protects her area pretty well. She does not think police brutality is a big problem. Mrs. Pointer discusses housing discrimination, especially about the eviction notice that was given to her foster daughter in 1982, which she feels was due to discrimination.

Gladys Sadler Pointer, born March 10, 1917 and died April 11, 2001, speaks of her life growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was born in Kentucky where her father was a farmer. She, her mother, and siblings moved to Indianapolis to live with a grandmother in 1923 after her father died. Mrs. Pointer's mother got a job as a laundress for the Boatright family, who were connected to the Ankrun Ice Cream Company. The entire family worked as janitors in the offices during the Depression. Eventually Mrs. Pointer's mother made enough money to purchase property on the west side of Indianapolis, where Mrs. Pointer and her sister still live today. Mrs. Pointer never had children, but she was the foster mother of three children who were removed from abusive homes. Mrs. Pointer's husband, Casey Green, was a cement contractor who belonged to Cement Workers Local #532 for many years. In the nineteen sixties, Mr. Green felt the calling to go into the ministry and started the New Life Baptist Church. Mrs. Pointer has been active in a few different churches over the years through music, signing in choirs, and playing the organ. She also has strong religious beliefs that guide her in her everyday life. When Mrs. Pointer was younger she was employed in the foundry at International Harvester. She was an active member of the union there and was the union's secretary for five years.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Ankrum Ice Cream Company
  • Crispus Attucks High School
  • International Brotherhood of Cement Workers Local 532
  • International Harvester Company
  • Magnolia Baptist Church
  • New Life Missionary Baptist Church
  • Shiloh Baptist Church
  • Village Temple Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
• • Family Names
  • Boatright
• • Place Names
  • Detroit, Michigan
  • Prospect, Kentucky
• • Occupation Names
  • factory worker
  • organist
• • Personal Names
  • Green, Casey
  • Pointer, Howard
• • Subjects
  • African-Americans
  • cement masons
  • child abuse
  • foster parents
  • Great Depression
  • housing discrimination
  • police brutality
  • school segregation
  • unions

Call Number
83-036

Physical Description

61 pages; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 97 minutes; index; biographical data of interviewee; article in July 26, 1982 Indianapolis Magazine about interviewee

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Mr. Ransom touches upon the issues of housing discrimination and school segregation in Indianapolis over the years. He talk about the history of his family and speaks of his father's work as an African- American lawyer in Indianapolis. He also discusses his idea for an organization for African-Americans that promotes economic development . He sees the widening gap between the African-American upper middle class and lower classes as one of the biggest problems facing African-Americans today.

Willard B. "Mike" Ransom, born May 17. 1916 and died November 7, 1995, was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, attended Crispus Attucks High School, and then Talladega College. In the late nineteen thirties he attended Harvard Law School. After graduating he returned to Indianapolis to practice law with his father, but instead was drafted into the United States Army during World War II. During the war he was first an Army pilot at the Edgewood Arsenal. He was then moved to the Tuskeegee Airbase to the chemical warfare division. He finished out the war in France and Belgium in the judge advocate general's office. Upon returning to Indianapolis in 1946 he joined his father's law firm once again and became involved in the early Civil Rights Movement and left-wing politics. Mr. Ransom was heavily involved with the Progressive Party, and even ran for Congress on the Progressive Party's ticket, earning him the distinction of being the first African-American to run for Congress in Marion County. He was also a member of the NAACP, serving as the president for the Indiana chapter for five years. As an attorney Mr. Ransom and his father handled the accounts of the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company. Mr. Ransom also worked on many bills dealing with civil rights issues for the Indiana legislature. He helped try a case of racial discrimination involving a mortgage loan denied to an African-American couple by the Railroad Federal Savings and Loan Association.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Black Business League
  • Crispus Attucks High School
  • Columbia Law School
  • Communist Party
  • Democratic Party
  • Edgewood Arsenal
  • Eli Lilly and Company
  • Galyans
  • Harvard Law School
  • Indiana Civil Rights Commission
  • Ku Klux Klan
  • Madame C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company
  • Marion County Bar Association
  • NAACP
  • People United to Serve Humanity
  • Progressive Party
  • Socialist Worker's Party
  • Talladega College
  • Tuskegee Army Air Base
  • UAW-CIO
  • United States Army
  • United States Army Judge Advocate General Corps
• • Occupation Names
  • attorney
• • Personal Names
  • Brokenburr, Robert Lee
  • King, Martin Luther, Jr.
  • Ransom, Freeman B.
  • Richardson, Henry
  • Walker, Madame C. J.
  • Wallace, Henry A.
• • Subjects
  • African-American economic development
  • African-American upper middle class
  • African-Americans
  • chemical warfare
  • civil rights legislation
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • congressional candidacy
  • football
  • Great Depression
  • housing discrimination
  • McCarthyism
  • military discrimination
  • racial discrimination
  • school segregation
  • United States Army pilots
  • World War II

Call Number
83-033

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 4 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 217 minutes; no index; issue of Summer 1970 Urban News; copy of protest against defeat of House Bill 114 presented by interviewee; newspaper article about interviewee; article from Indianapolis News about interviewee; letter to the editor from interviewee in December 23, 1982 Indianapolis News; Congressional Record proceedings from 93rd Congress session; booklet from ceremony honoring interviewee

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Henry Richardson, born June 21, 1902 and died December 1983, was an Indianapolis, Indiana attorney. He discusses African-American history to 1926, segregation in the South, and the Civil Rights Movement.

• Keywords
• • Occupation Names
  • attorney
• • Subjects
  • African-American history
  • African-Americans
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • racial segregation

Call Number
83-027

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 60 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Arkie Roark, born April 14, 1914 and died July 6, 1998, discusses life in Indianapolis, especially regarding unemployment.

• Keywords
• • Subjects
  • unemployment

Call Number
83-017

Physical Description

32 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 45 minutes; index

Interviewer
Cornish, Erin

Access Status

Open

Joann Schilling, born July 8, 1911 and died October 15, 1998, was put into a foster home at the age of three after her birth mother died. At the age of 17 her foster parents died, and she moved to Indianapolis to be with her birth family. She married soon after and raised three stepchildren. She divorced her first husband after 25 years due to his alcoholism. She married another man, whom she left after six weeks, again due to alcoholism. Mrs. Schilling thinks the police department does not do a good job of protecting her neighborhood, but she feels that the fire department is wonderful. They called an ambulance for her when she fell on the street and broke her hip a few years ago. Currently Mrs. Schilling enjoys her cat, quilting, crocheting and visiting and acquaintance in Brown County, Indiana.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Columbia Cleaners
  • Fletcher Place
  • Lane Bryant
  • U.S. Rubber Company
• • Place Names
  • Brown County, Indiana
  • Lagrange, Indiana
  • Shelbyville, Indiana
• • Occupation Names
  • nurse's aide
• • Personal Names
  • Patton, Billy
• • Subjects
  • alcoholism
  • church revivals
  • crocheting
  • divorce
  • Great Depression
  • foster children
  • Korean War
  • quilting
  • World War II

Call Number
83-009

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 40 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Cornish, Erin

Access Status

Open

Oma Shadowens, born January 30 ,1907, discusses her life on a small farm in Kentucky and her move to Indianapolis, Indiana.

• Keywords
• • Place Names
  • Kentucky

Call Number
83-043

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 120 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Frank Shobe, born December 1, 1913 and died June 12, 1988, discusses his job at International Harvester, United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 226, and race relations in Indianapolis, Indiana.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • International Harvester Company
  • United Auto Workers, Local 226
• • Occupation Names
  • factory worker
• • Subjects
  • racial discrimination

Call Number
83-018

Physical Description

13 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 22 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Cornish, Erin

Access Status

Open

Mr. Shortridge comments on the Urbington neighborhood in Indianapolis, Indiana where he has lived for many years. He also describes the achievements of some the younger members of his immediate and extended family.

Al "Hubert" Shortridge, born June 6, 1906, in Southport, Kentucky and moved to Indianapolis at the age of four with his family who were searching for better paying jobs. His father left the family a few years later, leaving his mother to raise twelve children on her own. Mr. Shortridge left school at fourteen to find a job to support his family. He eventually got a job as an electrician and started singing in nightclubs in the evenings and weekends. Eventually he saved enough money from his singing career to purchase a Dairy Queen franchise.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Dairy Queen
• • Place Names
  • Southport, Kentucky
  • Urbington, Indianapolis, Indiana
• • Occupation Names
  • electrician
  • singer
• • Personal Names
  • Jolsen, Al
• • Subjects
  • blackface performance
  • nineteen twenties
  • singing

Call Number
83-012

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 46 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Cornish, Erin

Access Status

Open

Ethel Smith, born July 20, 1899 and died October 1986, discusses her move from Kentucky to Indianapolis, Indiana. She also discusses African-American life in Indianapolis.

• Keywords
• • Place Names
  • Kentucky

Call Number
83-047

Physical Description

32 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 60 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Harrah-Conforth, Jeanne

Access Status

Open

Ethel Smith, born July 20, 1899 and died October 1986, was born and raised in the Louisville, Kentucky area on farms. As a young adult she moved to Indianapolis in search of better work. Later, her daughter and mother joined her. Mrs. Smith held a variety of jobs through the years, most recently as a supervisor at a juvenile center. She describes her duties there and the situations of some of the girls she supervised. Even though Mrs. Smith is retired, she continues to volunteer her time taking care of elderly neighbors and friends. Mrs. Smith also talks about her daughter, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Indiana State Library
  • Wishard Memorial Hospital
• • Occupation Names
  • caretaker
  • nurse's aide
• • Subjects
  • juvenile centers

Call Number
83-052

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 60 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Harrah-Conforth, Jeanne

Access Status

Open

Annie L. Taylor describes her life in Indianapolis, Indiana.

• Keywords
• • Subjects
  • local history

Call Number
83-032

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 60 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

George J. Thompson, born September 9, 1922, talks about growing up and living in Indianapolis, Indiana. He also describes the history of the Indianapolis Recorder, where he currently works as the business manager.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Indianapolis Recorder
• • Occupation Names
  • business manager

Call Number
83-008

Physical Description

24 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 51 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Cornish, Erin

Access Status

Open

Tookes discusses her two children, a boy and a girl, and her stepsons. She touches upon the places she has lived in Indianapolis. Mrs. Tooke also talks about her hobbies, quilting and crocheting. She mentions her love of her job at Fletcher Place in the thrift store where she can interact with many different kinds of people.

Thelma Tookes, born February 10, 1905 and died May 12, 1983, was born and raised in Oklahoma and grew up moving around Oklahoma and Texas, following the various jobs her father had. His work included tenant farming, oil drilling, and grocery store owner. Mrs. Tookes married an insurance salesman at the age of nineteen and moved to the Louisville, Kentucky area to live near his family. During the Great Depression the couple moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at the request of Mr. Tookes' company to train more insurance salesmen.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Fletcher Place
• • Place Names
  • Louisville, Kentucky
  • Oklahoma
  • Texas
• • Occupation Names
  • thrift store manager
• • Subjects
  • boarding houses
  • crocheting
  • Great Depression
  • hoboes
  • Methodist church
  • midwifery
  • oil drilling
  • oil fields
  • quilting
  • stepchildren
  • streetcars
  • tenant farming

Call Number
83-021

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 37 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Lopez, Consuelo

Access Status

Restricted: permission of interviewee to be granted prior to any use of quotations

Maria Catalina Torres discusses growing up in Cuba and living in Indianapolis, Indiana.

• Keywords
• • • Place Names
    • Cuba

Call Number
83-048

Physical Description

45 pages; 1 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 105 minutes

Interviewer
Harrah-Conforth, Jeanne

Access Status

Open

Winifred Waldo, born May 18, 1922, discusses her life in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was born in northern Indiana but she moved to Indianapolis at the age of nine months. Before she was married Mrs. Waldo was able to complete two years of college at Butler University. She has been married three times and has two daughters and a son, whose accomplishments she describes. Mrs. Waldo's caseworker at Fletcher Place, Ethel Hyldan, speaks for the latter part of the interview. She describes her relationship with Mrs. Waldo and her other clients. Ms. Hyldan also discusses the history of Fletcher Place and the services it provides today. She also talks about the history of Fountain Square, the neighborhood where Fletcher Place is located.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Butler University
  • Clowes Hall
  • Emmanuel Baptist Church
  • Fletcher Place
• • Place Names
  • Asheville, North Carolina
  • Indianapolis, Indiana
• • Occupation Names
  • caterer
  • social worker
• • Subjects
  • alcoholism
  • Great Depression
  • mental illness
  • printing business
  • railroad workers
  • senior citizens
  • transient population

Call Number
83-046

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette. 1 7/8 ips, 60 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Harrah-Conforth, Jeanne

Access Status

Open

Margaret Jane Walker, born October 3, 1919 and died November 1986, discusses living in Indianapolis, Indiana.

• Keywords
• • Subjects
  • railroad workers

Call Number
83-024

Physical Description

30 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 30 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Cornish, Erin

Access Status

Open

Elnora Wilborn, born May 10, 1915, has lived most of her life in Arkansas. She grew up on a tenant farm. She left school after third grade to help take care of her siblings. She married another farmer at the age of twenty. Mrs. Wilborn talks about cotton farming and harvesting. She also worked as a nurse's aide in a nursing home for many years. Mrs. Wilborn discusses midwifery, and her experiences delivering babies to friends and neighbors in their homes. Mrs. Wilborn only recently moved to Indianapolis to live with her brother after her husband died. She discusses her difficulty in learning to read and write her own name.

• Keywords
• • Place Names
  • Arkansas
• • Occupation Names
  • farmer
  • nurse's aide
• • Subjects
  • cotton farming
  • granny women
  • literacy
  • midwifery
  • miscarriages
  • nursing homes
  • racial segregation
  • soap making
  • tenant farming

Call Number
83-016

Physical Description

53 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 57 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Wolford, John

Access Status

Open

Mr. Williams discusses the medical conditions that kept him from being drafted during World War II. He talks about all his children. He also discusses housing discrimination and police brutality in Indianapolis.

Carl Thomas "Nookey" Williams, born July 17, 1920 and died October 30, 1991, discusses his life in Indianapolis, Indiana. Although he was born in Kentucky, he moved to Indianapolis at the age of six months. He finished high school and immediately went to work as a cook in various hotels across the city to support his ailing mother. After marrying young, he divorced his first wife Sarah Lee Laskey, and roamed the Midwest, supporting himself by gambling on poker games and picking up odd jobs. After the Great Depression he came back to Indianapolis to take care of his mother and worked a number of different jobs in the defense industry. During this time he also had six children by his live-in girlfriend, Hazel Woodford. They lived in Lochfield Gardens. Eventually he was able to buy a house and plot of land in Indianapolis.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Bethany Baptist Church
• • Place Names
  • Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Louisville, Kentucky
• • Occupation Names
  • cook
  • custodian
• • Personal Names
  • Laskey, Sarah Lee
  • Woodford, Hazel
• • Subjects
  • alcoholism
  • Baptist church
  • gambling
  • Great Depression
  • heart disease
  • homemade butter
  • housing discrimination
  • motorcycles
  • oil painting
  • poker
  • police brutality
  • slavery
  • tenant farming
  • Underground Railroad
  • World War II

Call Number
83-045

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 48 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Eddie Williams, born February 1, 1942, speaks of his involvement with United Auto Workers (UAW), Local 1111 at the Ford Motor Company.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Ford Motor Company
  • United Auto Workers, Local 1111

Call Number
83-029

Physical Description

Not transcribed; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 31 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Reverend O. D. Williams, born September 4, 1905, discusses his life in Mississippi, and his moving to Indianapolis, Indiana and Akron, Ohio.

• Keywords
• • Place Names
  • Akron, Ohio
  • Mississippi
• • Occupation Names
  • minister

Call Number
83-030

Physical Description

56 pages; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 90 minutes; no index

Interviewer
Stone, Greg

Access Status

Open

Mr. Womack discusses the music scene in Indianapolis, mentioning many famous jazz musicians that he had the opportunity to work with. He discusses the problem of racial discrimination and how it affected his travels with the bands he performed with. He also discusses the Lockefield riot in Indianapolis. He talks about the depressed economic status of the African-American community and school violence. Mr. Womack also speaks of his family's history, including his father's participation in the NAACP and the National Council of Churches. He participated in civil rights marches in Washington, DC, and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. Mr. Womack and his father are both mentioned in Who's Who Among African Americans. Mr. Womack was employed as the music editor at the Indianapolis Recorder .

Robert Walter Womack, born July 10, 1916 and died December 1984, moved around a lot during his childhood, following his father who was a Methodist minister. During high school and college Mr. Womack became interested in music and started performing in marching bands, big bands, jazz bands, and swing bands. After graduation from college he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana and formed a series of big band groups that performed across the country.

• Keywords
• • Corporation Names
  • Indianapolis Recorder
  • Black Panthers
  • Boy Scouts of America Bugle Corps
  • Charlotte High School
  • Crispus Attucks High School
  • Indianapolis Musicians Local 3
  • NAACP
  • National Council of Churches
  • Southern Railroad
  • Spellman College
  • University of Illinois
• • Place Names
  • Bricknell Hill, Indiana
  • Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Indianapolis, Indiana
  • St. Louis, Missouri
  • Tennessee
  • Washington, DC
• • Occupation Names
  • journalist
  • musician
• • Personal Names
  • Baker, David
  • Basie, Count
  • Blake, Clinton
  • Calloway, Cap
  • Carter, Benny
  • Cole, Nat King
  • Ellington, Duke
  • Goodman, Benny
  • Hampton, Lionel
  • Hike, Ernie
  • Johnson, J. J.
  • Smith, Floyd
  • Womack, Arthur Walter
• • Subjects
  • 1966 Lockefield Riot
  • big band music
  • blues music
  • Civil Rights Movement
  • crime rates
  • jazz music
  • Methodist church
  • police brutality
  • racial discrimination
  • racial segregation
  • school violence
  • swing music
  • unemployment
  • Vietnam War
  • Who's Who Among African Americans
  • World War II