Faburn E. DeFrantz

(Feb. 9, 1885-Sept. 24, 1964). DeFrantz was born in Topeka, Kansas. He attended Washburn College and Kansas University. He studied medicine for five years at Kansas Medical College but did not practice. Later, he studied at Indiana University School of Social Work and the YMCA College in Springfield, Massachusetts. DeFrantz married Myrtle Summers. The couple had two children, Faburn DeFrantz Jr., and Robert David DeFrantz.

DeFrantz became interested in the YMCA during college when he worked as a physical director at the Topeka and Washington, D.C., YMCA branches. He came to Indianapolis in 1913 to serve as physical director at the Senate Avenue YMCA, just as the building was completed. He became executive secretary in 1916 and led the branch for the next 35 years.

DeFrantz transformed the Y into the largest and one of the most successful African American branches in the country. He transformed weekly Sunday meetings into “Monster Meetings,” which drew prominent African American artists, writers, musicians, and educators including W. E. B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, and Jackie Robinson. Monster Meetings addressed all areas of life concerning the Black community, including racial progress and civil rights. He championed desegregation with school boards, city leaders, and the Indiana High School Athletic Association. His influence convinced Indiana and Purdue Universities to desegregate student housing.

DeFrantz served as a trustee of Madam C. J. Walker Company, Flanner House, and Howard University. He also was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He was active in the Committee of One Hundred, which raised college scholarship funds for Crispus Attucks High School graduates.

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