allowed IHS to convene interested organizations to guide a team of researchers to gather available research on early black settlements. Over the past 30 years, various research projects related to early black settlements have been completed by independent researchers, college professors and students, IHS, Indiana Humanities, Ball State University, Conner Prairie and Indiana Landmarks.Ī planning grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. With the exception of a handful of monographs, graduate papers and journal articles, few publications have been written that focus on this history. With a mounting interest in history related to Indiana’s Bicentennial, now is an opportune time to uncover and share untold parts of Indiana’s history.ĭespite a rich history, little is known about the African-American experience from the state’s founding to the Civil War era. These untold stories have the potential to evoke pride and add a level of complexity to our understanding of black heritage and Hoosier history.

This generalized thinking situates Indiana’s African-Americans as part of a national story, but fails to reveal the stories of free blacks and formerly enslaved people who settled the state much earlier. Popular understanding of Indiana black history focuses on post-Civil War African-American migration to cities in the north, such as Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary, Indianapolis and South Bend.

Savanah liles walk of fame