https://digitalresearch.bsu.edu/digitalcivilrightsmuseum/files/original/f574ba0c30954573d9fc40871454ff2d.mp3 ba5b8112e7b22cdb0b50959e297a9b8f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview 1 with Patricia Brown (Indianapolis NAACP Branch 3053) Subject The topic of the resource <a href="https://digitalresearch.bsu.edu/digitalcivilrightsmuseum/items/show/89">Indianapolis NAACP Branch 3053</a> Description An account of the resource Patricia Brown, a life-long resident of Anderson, describes her mother's involvement in different Civil Rights organizations in the late twentieth century, including NAACP, Urban League, and LEOC along with her work in the PTA. She describes her mother's efforts to connect and impact others. <strong>***Transcript***</strong><em><br /><br />Patricia Brown</em>: "The organizations that she was representing from those three different positions, never a paid position, always as a volunteer. She was a PTA individual, present in other PTAs for years. She took it to a state level and to a national level. She was the library association. She was NAACP. She was Urban League. She was LEOC. She was—oh, can I name them. I’m thinking how they sent the different wreaths at our funeral because I didn’t even know she was involved in a lot of these organizations, but that’s the type of person she was. She was touching wherever she could touch,in order to help people." https://digitalresearch.bsu.edu/digitalcivilrightsmuseum/files/original/084c2e7edad3b7e0c03eb8877590f76a.jpg af19c2ad3523702a87822313f409d07f https://digitalresearch.bsu.edu/digitalcivilrightsmuseum/files/original/82626a38b602897c8ed7fe7312e491e3.jpg 224ba23a0d13b2be51fc0c90e6c73eb7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Places Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indianapolis NAACP Branch 3053 Description An account of the resource In 1912, Mary Cable, then president of the Colored Women’s Civic Club, organized the Indianapolis branch of the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP) to help the African American community of Indianapolis organize themselves in their struggle, on various fronts, against discrimination and racism.[1] Cable served as the founding president of the Indianapolis NAACP, the first NAACP branch in Indiana. After an all-woman board served the Indianapolis NAACP branch for 13 months, they then asked the men to take over as officers because “the men had more time.[2]” In the 1920’s, the Indianapolis NAACP turned their focus to combating the Ku Klux Klan’s (KKK) rising political power. This was no easy task given the KKK’s vast influence on politics, city and state education, employment practices, and housing regulations throughout Indiana.[3] Without the organization of the NAACP or the collection of resources that it offered the African American community, the effects of the KKK’s overt segregationist and racist policies throughout the 1920’s would likely have been far worse. The NAACP worked tirelessly against the KKK’s agenda, and supported the Independent Voter’s League (IVL), an “Anti-Klan Organization” founded in 1924, to encourage African Americans to register to vote in favor of the Democratic Party. The efforts of the NAACP and IVL dramatically altered the future Indiana political landscape in favor of desegregation and improving racial equality.[4] , [5] Early NAACP efforts failed to prevent the construction of a segregated African American high school for Indianapolis. However, the resulting Crispus Attucks High School quickly became a collective sense of pride for the African American community. With highly qualified teachers, partial funding for extracurricular activities, and an NAACP branch fighting fervently for the equality and desegregation of all school districts, Crispus Attucks High School became a centerpiece of the NAACP’s agenda in Indianapolis.[6] Robert Lee Brokenburr, the first African American Indiana state legislator and a former president of the Indianapolis NAACP, was successful in passing legislation that allowed African American student athletes to participate in state high school sports tournaments. Efforts like these paved the way for the iconic 1955 Crispus Attucks Tigers basketball team, starring Oscar Robertson, to become the first African American high school in the nation to win a state championship.[7] In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, the Indianapolis NAACP began fighting to end de facto segregation in all public schools.[8] The NAACP also demanded police reform in 1966, when members met with the Indianapolis mayor in an attempt to reform racist and discriminatory hiring practices. Thanks to serious reforms that helped prevent systemic racism in the Marion County police department, Captain Spurgeon Davenport was able to become the first African American Inspector in Indianapolis Police Department history. [9] The Indianapolis NAACP Branch #3053 is now located at 300 E. Fall Creek Parkway, and remains active in the Indianapolis community. One member claims, “no one should be fooled into believing that the NAACP no longer has a purpose.[10]” In 2009, the organization represented hundreds in a major lawsuit against discriminatory practices at Eli Lilly and Company, and, in 2020, they have been working with Indiana Governor Holcomb to protect low-income families from eviction in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic that has caused statewide unemployment.[11],[12] The Indianapolis Branch of the NAACP continues to act as a catalyst for improving the lives of the African American community, and helps protect their rights in the workplace, in equal housing opportunities, and educational settings. <a href="https://digitalresearch.bsu.edu/digitalcivilrightsmuseum/files/show/226">Interview 1 with Patricia Brown</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived [1] “Our Branch History,” Indy NAACP, accessed July 2, 2020. https://www.indynaacp.org/branch-history [2] Ibid. [3] William W. Griffin. “The Political Realignment of Black Voters in Indianapolis, 1924,” June 1983, Vol. 79(2) Pp. 134(5). Accessed via Indiana University Press (JSTOR). [4] Ibid. [5] “Our Branch History.” [6] Indy WIN Committee of the Greater Indianapolis NAACP Branch #3053. “Greater Indianapolis Branch #3053’s History, 1912-2009.” [7] Ibid. [8] “Our Branch History.” [9] Ibid. [10] Perry A. Brandon. “Don’t Count NAACP Out: 100-Year-Old Organization Still Viable and Much Needed,” Indianapolis Recorder, July 9, 2020. http://www.indianapolisrecorder.com/news/features/article_fd7e85a7-4ec4-5d4b-b1ef-f268fa8d49aa.html [11] Ibid. [12] “Indianapolis NAACP Branch #3053,” Facebook, accessed July 2, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/indynaacp.org/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Student Author: Joel Sharp Faculty/Staff Editors: Dr. Ronald V. Morris, Dr. Kevin C. Nolan, and Christine Thompson Graduate Assistant Researchers: Carrie Vachon and JB Bilbrey Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource PHOTO & VIDEO: NAACP leaders with poster, attributed to Al Ravenna, Public domain, via Wikimedia commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NAACP_leaders_with_poster_NYWTS.jpg NAACP Freedom Rally March, Indianapolis Recorder Collection, Indiana Historical Society. https://images.indianahistory.org/digital/collection/p0303/id/387/rec/57 1900-40s 1950s-present Indianapolis Integration Ku Klux Klan Marion County NAACP Oral History Organization Segregation Women