By Deb McKee
TERRE HAUTE — The not-for-profit Phillis Wheatley Association of Terre Haute was incorporated in 1923 to provide a dormitory for black women students of Indiana State Teachers College.
At that time, there were no integrated housing options for young black women attending the college.
The dormitory building was at 1105 Poplar St.
The organization was named for Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784), the first black female writer to be published in the United States. It was one of several similar groups throughout the country, and was established “to handle the social situation of Negro girls in Terre Haute,” according to bylaws adopted Sept. 7, 1923.
The stated goals of the association were as follows:
• “To maintain rooms at a reasonable rate for girls who come into the city total strangers without relatives or friends.”
• “To provide home accommodations for Normal School Students.”
• “To maintain an employment bureau for said girls and women.”
• “To maintain a reading room and circulating library.”
• “To provide classes of instruction in domestic art, reading, writing and arithmetic. These latter subjects are especially for those who have not had school advantages in their earlier years.”
• “To furnish social amusements for the young people of Terre Haute. To this end a gymnasium, swimming pool, tennis court, croquet ground, singing classes, camp fire girls chapter and auditorium will be maintained.”
• “To maintain a rescue department for unfortunate girls.”
The Articles of Incorporation for the Phillis Wheatley Association stated the organization should “provide a place for social amusements for young people, such as gymnasium, tennis court, croquet grounds, maintaining singing classes and other things tending to enlighten the colored race.”
The board was made up of 18 members. During the first year, the directors included: Grace Wilson Evans (president), Alcenda Holland, Dennis A. Bethea, Dora L. Knight, Katie Clark, David Jenkins, Rose Oliver, Joseph L. Fink, Nora B. Ragsdale, Lena M. Reading, Fred H. Evans, Hattie Parks, Warren S. Blauvelt, Sara M. Stern, Henry Maxwell, Anna Waugh and Emmily Harring.
“When dormitory facilities became available to Negro girls at the College and at the YWCA, the board of directors dissolved the corporation and sold the building,” according to “The Negro in Terre Haute: A Century of Progress 1863 - 1963.”
The proceeds from the sale of the building were used to establish a $1,700 Student Loan Fund at Indiana State
Teachers College.
Deb McKee can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.mckee@tribstar.com.
