Indiana Avenue
In 1870, more African-Americans were calling Indiana Avenue home as the original Irish and German populations began to move outward. The population had risen to 974 residents, more than one-third of the city's total African-American population. As the population escalated, African-American residents remained and opened more and more businesses. Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest African-American congregation in Indianapolis, was organized in 1836. The first African-American businesses appeared on the 500 Block of Indiana Avenue as early as 1865: Samuel G. Smother's grocery store; William Franklin's peddler shop and the city's first African-American-owned newspaper, The Indianapolis Leader in 1879. The Madame Walker Theatre Center is also located in the heart of the district.
The Avenue continued to develop culturally after the turn of the century in much the same way as the Harlem Renaissance. Many prominent historical figures have their roots on Indiana Avenue: Madam C.J. Walker, jazz greats including Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Coe, Noble Sissle, Erroll "Groundhog" Grandy and Wes Montgomery. Mary Ellen Cable was one of the most important African-American educators in Indianapolis. She also organized and was the first president of Indiana's first NAACP chapter. As the Great Migration brought African-Americans to Indianapolis by the thousands, Indiana Avenue continued to flourish into the 1930s, despite the woes of the Great Depression.
However, by the late 1950s, the African-American middle class had begun to leave Indiana Avenue for northwestern Marion County, settling in Pike and Washington townships. The Walker Manufacturing Company remained in operation in the Walker Building in 1965, but the majority of the building was shut down removing a vital economic anchor for the area. By the early 1970s, Indiana Avenue was suffering from severe urban blight. By the 1980s, instead of the city attempting renewal or regeneration, much of the area was merely demolished and replaced by office buildings or townhouses, although the Walker Building and theater were restored and reopened to the public. While no longer a blighted zone, Indiana Avenue's legacy now consists only of a few historic buildings and a plaque. Plans are under way for the regeneration of the area.
Read more about this topic: Indianapolis Cultural Districts
Famous quotes containing the words indiana and/or avenue:
“If the federal government had been around when the Creator was putting His hand to this state, Indiana wouldn’t be here. It’d still be waiting for an environmental impact statement.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)
“I hate to do what everybody else is doing. Why, only last week, on Fifth Avenue and some cross streets, I noticed that every feminine citizen of these United States wore an artificial posy on her coat or gown. I came home and ripped off every one of the really lovely refrigerator blossoms that were sewn on my own bodices.”
—Carolyn Wells (1862–1942)