Indiana Landmarks Black Heritage Preservation leader visits New Albany

Nov. 16—NEW ALBANY — Indiana Landmarks has been a pressure in preserving heritage since 1960.

In 1992, the group began the Black Heritage Preservation Program in an effort to save historic African American websites all through Indiana. They work with local people members to establish and doc locations of Black heritage that must be listed within the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations.

Indiana Landmarks funds the analysis via grant funds. Group officers stated they’ve seen a rise for the preservation of Black heritage and have the necessity for further assist.

On Wednesday, Indiana Landmarks despatched Eunice Trotter, director of the group’s Black Heritage Preservation Program, to New Albany to tour and expertise among the metropolis’s historic landmarks.

“We assist any efforts to protect Black heritage,” Trotter stated. “What I’m discovering is that there’s a lot want across the state that what we’re doing now will leverage the assist of different sources of funding and work to do that.”

Trotter visited the Second Baptist Church, also called City Clock Church. The church was in-built 1852 and was a hyperlink within the Underground Railroad.

The church was a focal point for Trotter as a result of its ties to assist save freed slaves as part of the Underground Railroad community. Trotter was invited to take a seat on the Associates of the City Clock Church board assembly to study extra in regards to the website’s historical past and to debate extra areas just like the church.

Throughout her go to, she met native writer Pam Peters. They mentioned her guide “The Underground Railroad in Floyd County, Indiana.” They talked about Black heritage within the Southern Indiana space.

Trotter stated one cause why Black heritage must be preserved is as a result of it was by no means written down.

“These contributions aren’t being acknowledged as a result of no one wrote them down,” Trotter stated. “What we now have to do now could be to seek out out about this info and this historical past in order that we will then doc it and share it.”

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Throughout her time with Indiana Landmarks, Trotter found that there was a church in Indianapolis that had been designed by a Black architect within the early 1800s.

The Black preservation effort is funded via a grant, and the group is in search of details about buildings and websites that must be saved and acknowledged within the state.

Indiana Landmarks is all the time looking for assist with the seek for historic landmarks, no matter race. The group isn’t an company, so it can’t accumulate paperwork, however they may give info on the place to donate them.

“Lots of artifacts are being misplaced on the common as a result of folks do not know what to do with them,” Trotter stated. “They do not need them personally, so that they throw them away and that historical past is gone.”

The group is extra centered on preserving buildings which have a historic significance to the world the place they’re situated. To get in touch with the New Albany workplace a couple of constructing that must be preserved, name 812-284-4534.

“It is essential to preserves these items of historical past as a result of they’re part of the final historical past of this nation,” Trotter stated. “These items of historical past all match inside our historical past, and our historical past isn’t an island. It is everybody’s historical past.”

To become involved with the Black Heritage Preservation Program go to indianalandmarks.org and click on on the ‘Be part of & Give’ tab. From there it is possible for you to to donate, turn into a member and volunteer.

“We’re simply all the time searching for people who find themselves curious about researching African American heritage,” Trotter stated. “We’re positively curious about individuals who need to assist what we’re doing via contribution of their sources to our program. We simply need to create a group of people who find themselves curious about preserving and remembering the contributions of African Individuals.”