Ten Black historic sites will be the focus of the Downtown Black Heritage Sites Project for a public meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Helen Haddad Hall, 315 Franklin St. in Columbus. The presentations at the event will include sites from the years between 1870 to 1940.
The ultimate goal of the effort is to raise funds for and to place historical markers at the identified sites within a couple years, according to organizers.
A mockup design of the markers and the project budget will also be presented.
The free gathering is a joint effort from the nonprofit Landmark Columbus Foundation and the Bartholomew County Historical Society. Speakers will include Jim Nickoll of the Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives, local historian and community leader Paulette Roberts and Bartholomew County Historian Tami Iorio.
This event is yet another highlight of Black History Month Columbus, which has included more than 30 happenings, from exhibitions to movies.
Nickoll is a researcher for the Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives. He is scheduled to speak for 50 minutes about his discoveries of the details of Black businesses and more — establishments that he openly acknowledged he knew little about before he began assisting with this effort.
But he knows what he ultimately would like to see unfold because of the project.
“What I would ideally like to see is simply an overall better appreciation of the Black community here,” Nickoll said. “I think I am probably of typical of many people living here. And until this, I just had no idea of what most of the Black people did back then.
“In doing this, I ran across from truly amazing people. So there’s obviously a lot for others to learn and to appreciate. … If you’re white (like me), it can be too easy to just push this aside in your mind.”
Roberts and Iorio each will speak for about 10 minutes each. Roberts, who was among the first Black teachers here, has researched and highlighted Black history locally at least since the 1990s, via exhibits at the original Commons and more.
In more recent years, via the Columbus/Bartholomew County Branch of the NAACP and other organizations, she has led walking tours of significant Black sites downtown. She produced a pamphlet available locally highlighting what is known as the Columbus Black Heritage Trail.
And as much as Columbus today is celebrated for its diversity, Roberts, whose mailbox sometimes included hate mail when she first arrived here in 1970, knows that it was definitely different a century ago than it is today.
“Back then, we in Columbus weren’t any different (about racism) than most other places,” Roberts said.
Roberts mentioned that one extra benefit of highlighting successful Black businesses during a bygone era is inspiring today’s Black entrepreneurs to launch their own establishments.
“We want them to know that they can start successful businesses, too,” Roberts said.
The 10 sites
The sites to be outlined at Wednesday’s meeting are:
- 617 Washington St.
Annex Barber & Beauty Shop, Grant Smith
- 621 – 625 Washington St.
Hammond Café (Elijah “Lige” Hammond)
- Basset Bldg., Suite 33
Art Beauty Shop (Cora Stewart)
- 647 Washington St.
Postal Shining Parlor (Wayne Handley)
- 302 8th Street 17
Little Harlem (Plantation Bar)
- 526 Washington St.
Noah Roberts Barber Shop
Imes and Washington Barber Shop
- 5th and Washington streets
Yellow Front (Elmer Goins)
- Third Street
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass speech at Crump’s Opera House, January 1873
- Fourth Street
Goins Hotel (Elmer Goins)
The 10 sites
The sites to be outlined at Wednesday’s meeting are:
- 617 Washington St.
Annex Barber & Beauty Shop, Grant Smith
- 621 – 625 Washington St.
Hammond Café (Elijah “Lige” Hammond)
- Basset Bldg., Suite 33
Art Beauty Shop (Cora Stewart)
- 647 Washington St.
Postal Shining Parlor (Wayne Handley)
- 302 8th Street 17
Little Harlem (Plantation Bar)
- 526 Washington St.
Noah Roberts Barber Shop
Imes and Washington Barber Shop
- 5th and Washington streets
Yellow Front (Elmer Goins)
- Third Street
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass speech at Crump’s Opera House, January 1873
- Goins Hotel (Elmer Goins)
