COLUMBUS — Black history is all around Indiana, but sometimes it can be hard to find. A Columbus woman made it her mission to bring her city's Black history out into the open.
The Columbus Black Heritage Trail, a project spearheaded by Paulette Combs Roberts, officially opened on Juneteenth. The trail features plaques around downtown Columbus marking important places and people in the city's Black culture.
"I saw lots of things like this that were happening in other towns, and I said, 'Columbus needs something,'" Combs Roberts said. "I needed to dig and do some research."
The places highlighted by the plaques include a hotel that hosted Black guests, a shoeshine business that once served President William McKinley, and an opera house where Frederick Douglass gave a speech.
"On January 6, 1873. Frederick Douglass spoke here about anti-slavery and the equality of races," Combs Roberts recalled. "People in Columbus were not very happy. Only a handful showed up."
One plaque also notes a neighborhood called Little Harlem, which was demolished when the nearby Cummins Corporate Office Building prepared to expand.
Roxanne Stallworth lived in the neighborhood. The plaque features her grandfather's name since he owned a store on the corner of 8th and Jackson Streets.
"My daughter, son-in-law, niece, nephew, and husband. We've all been down here taking pictures. It's a place in our hearts."
Descendants of the people honored by the plaques officially opened the Black Heritage Trail on Juneteenth, but Combs Roberts hopes people in Columbus notice it every day of the year.
"It's important to have good knowledge of what is going on in the city that you live in," Combs Roberts said. "It is one of the most powerful things that could happen here in Columbus, Indiana."
-
Indiana Fever sign guard Kyra Lambert to seven-day contract
The Indiana Fever have announced they have signed guard Kyra Lambert to a seven-day contract. This decision comes as the team deals with injuries to Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald.
Arrest made in connection with a domestic disturbance that led to police pursuit
IMPD officers were shot at during a vehicle pursuit after responding to a domestic disturbance late on Wednesday and the suspects remain at large. No injuries were reported during the incident.
OPHS no longer enforcing closure of Fountain Square encampment
"We are not enforcing the closure so that we can work to find alternative solutions for everyone at the camp,” Andrew Merkley, OPHS Director, said.
New market brings relief to Westside food desert in Indianapolis
Residents on the Westside of Indianapolis have lived in what's known as a food desert, a neighborhood with limited access to affordable, healthy food.
