Michelle D. Hale - Encyclopedia of Indianapolis

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Michelle D. Hale

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Articles:

Aesculapian Medical Society

Aesculapian Medical Society

In 1903, a group of Black physicians, dentists, and pharmacists in Indianapolis formed the Aesculapian Medical Society (AMS). Named after… Read More »Aesculapian Medical Society

African American Churches

African American Churches

Churches have always occupied a central position within the Indianapolis African-American community. As the first institution that the Black community… Read More »African American Churches

Lionel F. Artis

Lionel F. Artis

(Dec. 3, 1895-Sept. 1, 1971). Born in Paris, Illinois, Artis moved to Indianapolis as a youth. He attended and in… Read More »Lionel F. Artis

Robert L. Bailey

Robert L. Bailey

(June 29, 1885-Mar. 4, 1940). Born in Florence, Alabama, Bailey attended public schools before graduating from Talladega College in 1906.… Read More »Robert L. Bailey

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church

In 1836, Augustus Turner, a local barber, organized a small group of African American Methodists into a congregation eventually known… Read More »Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church

Cleo W. Blackburn

Cleo W. Blackburn

(Sept. 27, 1909-June 6, 1978). Born in Port Gibson, Mississippi, Blackburn came to Indianapolis in 1932 to attend . After… Read More »Cleo W. Blackburn

Moses Broyles

(ca. 1826-Aug. 31, 1882). Broyles was born an enslaved person near Centerville, Maryland, and sold to a master in Kentucky.… Read More »Moses Broyles

Mary Stewart Carey

Mary Stewart Carey

(Mar. 5, 1859-June 14, 1938). Born in Greensburg, Indiana, Mary Stewart Carey and her family moved to Indianapolis in 1862,… Read More »Mary Stewart Carey

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

After a visit to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum in 1925, founded The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (TCM) with the help… Read More »The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

Circle City Classic

Circle City Classic

Circle City Classic is a weekend celebration of African American achievements, culminating in an annual football match between two Historically… Read More »Circle City Classic

Committee on Postwar Planning

Midway through civic leaders concluded that the Indianapolis government had not kept pace with wartime industrial and population changes, resulting… Read More »Committee on Postwar Planning

Mildred Sartor Compton

Mildred Sartor Compton

(July 18, 1917-Aug. 8, 1993). Born in Bicknell, Indiana, Mildred Compton earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in chemistry at the… Read More »Mildred Sartor Compton

Larry Conrad

(Feb. 8, 1935-July 7, 1990). A native of Laconia, Indiana, Conrad graduated from Indiana University School of Law in 1961.… Read More »Larry Conrad

Charles G. Coulon

(Feb. 16, 1825-Feb. 2, 1881). Coulon was born in Goettingen, Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1847 to… Read More »Charles G. Coulon

Faburn E. DeFrantz

Faburn E. DeFrantz

(Feb. 9, 1885-Sept. 24, 1964). DeFrantz was born in Topeka, Kansas. He attended Washburn College and Kansas University. He studied… Read More »Faburn E. DeFrantz

Department of Public Safety

Department of Public Safety

Part of the executive branch of Indianapolis-Marion County government, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) was one of six departments… Read More »Department of Public Safety

Department of Public Works

Department of Public Works

Part of the executive branch, the Department of Public Works is the largest of the departments operating under the .… Read More »Department of Public Works

Elder Watson Diggs

Elder Watson Diggs

(Dec. 23, 1883-Nov. 8, 1947). Born in Madisonville, Kentucky, Diggs received a one-room school education in Louisville, where he helped… Read More »Elder Watson Diggs

Nelle Bowman Downey

(July 12, 1876-Sept. 7, 1965). Nelle Bowman was born in Knightstown, Indiana, and moved to Indianapolis as a child. She… Read More »Nelle Bowman Downey

I. Lynd Esch

(Nov. 17, 1905-Feb. 10, 1994). Born in Flinton, Pennsylvania, Esch began working for B. F. Goodrich Company at age 17,… Read More »I. Lynd Esch

Firefly Children and Family Alliance

Firefly Children and Family Alliance

Children’s Bureau and Families First merged to form Firefly Children and Family Alliance in 2021. Both organizations began as the… Read More »Firefly Children and Family Alliance

Flanner House

Flanner House, originally an African American branch of a white settlement house organized by the Charity Organization Society, began as… Read More »Flanner House

Sumner A. Furniss

Sumner A. Furniss

(Jan. 30, 1874 -Jan. 18, 1953). Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Sumner A. Furniss moved to Indianapolis with his family as… Read More »Sumner A. Furniss

Grace Blaisdell Golden

Grace Blaisdell Golden

(June 14, 1899-Jan. 11, 1966). The daughter of Charles C. and Hattie Mabrey Blaisdell, Grace Blaisdell Golden was born in… Read More »Grace Blaisdell Golden

Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County

Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County

The growth and diffusion of the population in after World War II created demands that went unmet by existing public… Read More »Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County

Indianapolis Airport Authority

Indianapolis Airport Authority

As air traffic increased after World War II, additional airports were needed to divert small aircraft from Weir Cook Airport… Read More »Indianapolis Airport Authority

Indianapolis Bar Association

Indianapolis Bar Association

The first bar association was formed in Indianapolis in the early 1870s but was unsuccessful. Forty prominent lawyers founded the… Read More »Indianapolis Bar Association

Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation

Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation

Soon after the first Jewish settlers arrived, 14 men organized the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation (IHC) on November 2, 1856, in… Read More »Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation

Indianapolis Human Rights Commission

The Indianapolis Human Rights Commission was organized in 1952 as an advisory group to Mayor on matters. The City Council… Read More »Indianapolis Human Rights Commission

Justices of the Peace

From the earliest settlement of the state, justices of the peace (JPs) were constitutional officers who served five-year terms as… Read More »Justices of the Peace

Juvenile Justice

Prior to the 20th century, Indianapolis juvenile delinquents were treated the same as adult criminals. By the 1890s, local “progressive”… Read More »Juvenile Justice

Key Learning Community

Key Learning Community

The Key School (later Key Learning Community) was founded by eight teachers in 1987 after three years of research, a… Read More »Key Learning Community

Light of the World Christian Church

Light of the World Christian Church

Light of the World Christian Church was the first African American in Indianapolis. The Central Christian congregation, a predominately white… Read More »Light of the World Christian Church

Marion County Coroner

An elective office provided for by the state constitution, each in Indiana has a coroner who serves part time for… Read More »Marion County Coroner

Marion County Fair

Marion County Fair

The first Marion County Fair was held in 1835 under the auspices of the Marion County Agricultural Society. Early fairs… Read More »Marion County Fair

Marion County Prosecutor

Under the Constitution of the State of Indiana, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office (MCPO) represents the State of Indiana in… Read More »Marion County Prosecutor

Michael Taylor Case

Michael Taylor Case

Michael Taylor Jr., a 16-year-old Black youth, was shot and killed on September 24, 1987, while in police custody. The… Read More »Michael Taylor Case

Parks and Greenspaces

Parks and Greenspaces

Indianapolis residents are served by more than 200 parks and over 11,000 acres of greenspace, though original plan for the did… Read More »Parks and Greenspaces

Playground and Pool Movement

Playground and Pool Movement

The push for public playgrounds and swimming facilities in Indianapolis was part of the national progressive movement to save urban… Read More »Playground and Pool Movement

Purpose of Life Ministries

Purpose of Life Ministries

Purpose of Life Ministries began as Second Baptist Church, the first African American Baptist congregation established in Indianapolis. Charles Sachel,… Read More »Purpose of Life Ministries

Regional Center Plans

Regional Center Plans

The Regional Center Plans (RCP) consist of a series of three reports describing existing conditions and plans for the downtown… Read More »Regional Center Plans

Willis R. Revels

Willis R. Revels

(1810-Mar. 6, 1879). Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to free parents, Willis R. Revels first came to Indiana when he… Read More »Willis R. Revels

(Oct. 1, 1887-June 19, 1971). Mary Rigg was born on a farm in Grinnell, Kansas. She and her family moved… Read More »Mary Rigg

Riviera Club

James Makin and a group of northside residents founded the Riviera Club in 1933 to provide low-cost private recreational facilities… Read More »Riviera Club

School Districts

Provided for by state law, school districts are legally distinct from the municipal or township governments within which they operate.… Read More »School Districts

Rudolf Schwarz

(June 1866-Apr. 14, 1912). Born in Vienna, Austria, Schwarz attended the Vienna Academy of Art for six years. Upon graduating… Read More »Rudolf Schwarz

Sigma Gamma Rho

Sigma Gamma Rho

African American educators Mary Lou Allison Gardner Little, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Vivian White Marbury, Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Hattie Mae… Read More »Sigma Gamma Rho

Edwin K. Steers

(Jan. 19, 1915-Nov. 30, 1992). Born in Indianapolis, Edwin K. Steers was the son of Edwin M. S. Steers, former… Read More »Edwin K. Steers

The Indiana Constitution provides for the existence of townships, and successive state laws have instituted township government and its officers.… Read More »Townships

Vaughan v. Williams

Singleton Vaughan, a Missouri slaveholder, purchased Sam, Mariah, and their child from a slave trader in 1836. In 1837, with… Read More »Vaughan v. Williams

Harry E. Voshell

Harry E. Voshell

(Jan. 17, 1870-Apr. 5, 1947). Born in Dearborn County, Harry Voshell graduated from Aurora High School in Dearborn County. Following… Read More »Harry E. Voshell

Westview Hospital

Westview Hospital

Until the 1970s, local medical doctors did not accept osteopathic methods of treatment using muscle and skeletal manipulation, and osteopaths… Read More »Westview Hospital

WTLC made its debut on 105.7 FM in January 1968 when a group of Marion County Democrats organized the Indianapolis… Read More »WTLC

YMCA Of Greater Indianapolis

YMCA Of Greater Indianapolis

The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) began in London in 1844. A small group of evangelical Protestants opened the Indianapolis… Read More »YMCA Of Greater Indianapolis

Although Indianapolis already had some authority to regulate against factories in residential areas by 1905, a 1921 state law gave… Read More »Zoning

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