Indiana Blacks in the Twentieth Century

by Emma Lou Thornbrough, Lana Ruegamer (Editor)

Overview

Indiana Blacks in the Twentieth Century
Emma Lou Thornbrough
Edited and with a final chapter by Lana Ruegamer

Sequel to Thornbroug's early groundbreaking study of African Americans.

Indiana Blacks in the Twentieth Century is the long-awaited sequel to Emma Lou Thornbrough's classic study The Negro in Indiana before 1900. In this posthumous volume, Thornbrough (1913–1994), the acknowledged dean of black history in Indiana, chronicles the growth, both in numbers and in power, of African Americans in a northern state that was notable for its antiblack tradition. She shows the effects of the Great Migration of African Americans to Indiana during World War I and World War II to work in war industries, linking the growth of the black community to the increased segregation of the 1920s and demonstrating how World War II marked a turning point in the movement in Indiana to expand the civil rights of African Americans.

Indiana Blacks describes the impact of the national civil rights movement on Indiana, as young activists, both black and white, challenged segregation and racial injustice in many aspects of daily life, often in new organizations and with new leaders. The final chapter by Lana Ruegamer explores ways that black identity was affected by new access to education, work, and housing after 1970, demonstrating gains and losses from integration.

Emma Lou Thornbrough (1913–1994), the acknowledged expert on Indiana black history, was author of The Negro in Indiana before 1900: A Study of a Minority (1957, reprinted 1993) and Since Emancipation: A Short History of Indiana Negroes, 1863–1963 (1964) and editor of This Far by Faith: Black Hoosier Heritage (1982). Professor of History at Butler University from 1946 to 1983, Thornbrough held the McGregor Chair in History and received the university's highest award, the Butler Medal. Born in Indianapolis, she was educated at Shortridge High School, Butler University, and the University of Michigan (Ph.D., 1946).

Lana Ruegamer, editor for the Indiana Historical Society from 1975 to 1984, is author of A History of the Indiana Historical Society, 1830–1980. She taught at Indiana University from 1986 to 1998 and is presently associate editor of the Indiana Magazine of History. Ruegamer won the 1995 Thornbrough prize for best article published in that magazine.

Contents
Editor's Introduction
The Age of Accommodation
The Great Migration and the First World War
The 1920s: Increased Segregation
Depression and New Deal
The Second World War
Postwar Years: Beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement
School Desegregation
The Turbulent 1960s
Since 1970—Advances and Retreats
The Continuing Search for Identity

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253337993
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	01/22/2001
Edition description:	5th ed.
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Emma Lou Thornbrough (1913-1994) was the acknowledged expert on Indiana black history; she was author of The Negro in Indiana before 1900: A Study of a Minority (1957, reprinted 1993), Since Emancipation: A Short History of Indiana Negroes, 1863-1963 (1964), and edited This Far by Faith: Black Hoosier Heritage (1982). Professor of history at Butler University from 1946 to 1983, Thornbrough held the McGregor chair in history and received the university's highest award, the Butler medal, in 1981. Born in Indianapolis, she was educated at Shortridge High School, Butler University, and the University of Michigan (PhD 1946). She completed a draft of the present book before her death in 1994.

Lana Ruegamer, editor for the Indiana Historical Society from 1975 to 1984, is the author of A History of the Indiana Historical Society, 1830-1980. She taught at Indiana University from 1986 to 1998 and is presently associate editor of the Indiana Magazine of History. Her article, "Dorothy Lois Riker, 1904-1994: Reflections on Indiana History, Historical Editing, and Women in the Indiana Magazine of History," won in the 1995 Thornbrought prize for best article published in the Indiana Magazine of History. Born in Lafayette and educated in its public schools, Ruegamer received her BA from Harvsard University and her Ph.D. from Indiana University.

Table of Contents

Contents

Editor's Introduction
Chapter 1: The Age of Accommodation
Chapter 2: The Great Migration and the First World War
Chapter 3: The 1920s: Increased Segregation
Chapter 4: Depression and New Deal
Chapter 5: The Second World War
Chapter 6: Postwar Years: Beginnings of Civil Rights Movement
Chapter 7: School Desegregation
Chapter 8: The Turbulent 1960s
Chapter 9: Since 1970 – Advances and Retreats
Chapter 10: The Continuing Search for Identity

Editorial Reviews

"The late Emma Lou Thornbrough's study of 20th-century Indiana African Americans reminds us that early in the century blacks suffered through the nadir of a freedom experience that has only gradually improved. As Thornbrough shows in this sequel to her The Negro in Indiana before 1900 (1957, reprinted 1993), black Hoosiers responded to this white hostility with accommodationist tactics that failed, and although the mass migration northward added significant numbers to the state's northern cities, they could not prevent Klan domination in Indiana in the twenties. Despite discrimination, blacks made progress during the New Deal. In 1949 a state law forbade school segregation, but an old state public accommodations law remained unenforced. School desegregation proceeded gradually, and public accommodations came with the sixties. But blacks faced union exclusion, GOP opposition to Fair Employment laws, and segregated housing. By 1990, Indiana blacks were still less than eight percent of the population, and they revealed increasing signs of economic and social division. Race had become a bit less significant to the middle class but remained a heavy burden on the disenchanted lower class. While no new interpretations appear, it is gratifying to have the author's completed history of Indiana African Americans. General and undergraduate collectionSeptember 2001"—L. H. Grothaus, emeritus, Concordia University

From the Publisher

The late Emma Lou Thornbrough's study of 20th-century Indiana African Americans reminds us that early in the century blacks suffered through the nadir of a freedom experience that has only gradually improved. As Thornbrough shows in this sequel to her The Negro in Indiana before 1900 (1957, reprinted 1993), black Hoosiers responded to this white hostility with accommodationist tactics that failed, and although the mass migration northward added significant numbers to the state's northern cities, they could not prevent Klan domination in Indiana in the twenties. Despite discrimination, blacks made progress during the New Deal. In 1949 a state law forbade school segregation, but an old state public accommodations law remained unenforced. School desegregation proceeded gradually, and public accommodations came with the sixties. But blacks faced union exclusion, GOP opposition to Fair Employment laws, and segregated housing. By 1990, Indiana blacks were still less than eight percent of the population, and they revealed increasing signs of economic and social division. Race had become a bit less significant to the middle class but remained a heavy burden on the disenchanted lower class. While no new interpretations appear, it is gratifying to have the author's completed history of Indiana African Americans. General and undergraduate collectionSeptember 2001

emeritus, Concordia University - L. H. Grothaus

"The late Emma Lou Thornbrough's study of 20th-century Indiana African Americans reminds us that early in the century blacks suffered through the nadir of a freedom experience that has only gradually improved. As Thornbrough shows in this sequel to her The Negro in Indiana before 1900 (1957, reprinted 1993), black Hoosiers responded to this white hostility with accommodationist tactics that failed, and although the mass migration northward added significant numbers to the state's northern cities, they could not prevent Klan domination in Indiana in the twenties. Despite discrimination, blacks made progress during the New Deal. In 1949 a state law forbade school segregation, but an old state public accommodations law remained unenforced. School desegregation proceeded gradually, and public accommodations came with the sixties. But blacks faced union exclusion, GOP opposition to Fair Employment laws, and segregated housing. By 1990, Indiana blacks were still less than eight percent of the population, and they revealed increasing signs of economic and social division. Race had become a bit less significant to the middle class but remained a heavy burden on the disenchanted lower class. While no new interpretations appear, it is gratifying to have the author's completed history of Indiana African Americans. General and undergraduate collection" —L. H. Grothaus, emeritus, Concordia University, Choice, September 2001

— L. H. Grothaus, emeritus, Concordia University

Choice