TERRE HAUTE —
The streets of Terre Haute are lined with champions.
More than a dozen banners hang from downtown street lampposts, paying homage to African-American pioneers in such areas as the classroom, the entertainment world and Olympic athletics.
“I think it’s a great thing to make people aware of,” remarked Stephanie Boyd, chairwoman of Downtown Terre Haute Inc.’s Streetscape Team, which is responsible for coordinating the banners’ placement by the city’s street department.
“It’s very important to Terre Haute. We have a lot of African-Americans that have enriched Terre Haute history.”
The banners are typically displayed during February, Black History Month, but inclement weather delayed their placement a few weeks.
Given the delay, Boyd said the banners will be left up longer this year.
Jeff Lorick, executive director of the Terre Haute Human Relations Commission, said the banners not only celebrate African-American achievements, but also the achievements of the collective community.
Dr. Gregory Bell is among the Hauteans celebrated on the banners, and Lorick recalled his participation in last year’s state human relations conference hosted here.
This year’s featured speaker at the June 23 event will be Vigo County native Ambassador Cynthia Shepard Perry, who also is honored on a banner.
Lorick said both standouts call Terre Haute home and are always excited about returning to share with young people.
“It’s a strong bond,” he said.
Bell, now a retired dentist, won the gold medal in broad jump at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics in addition to multiple Big Ten and NCAA titles as a jumper for Indiana University. The man who would win competitions such as the European Armed Forces events in Germany as a soldier in the U.S. Army got his start at Garfield High School.
And Perry graduated from Otter Creek High School before earning a degree from Indiana State Teachers College, now Indiana State University, in 1968. She then moved to the University of Massachusetts, where she earned her doctorate before going to Nairobi, Kenya, as a Peace Corps trainer. She was later a trainer for the United Nations Commission for Africa before going to Texas Southern University. In 1986, she was appointed ambassador to Sierra Leone by President Ronald Reagan, and then to Burundi by President George H.W. Bush, a post she held until retiring in 1993. And in 2001, President George W. Bush appointed her U.S. Executive Director of the African Development Bank.
Lorick said he’s excited to bring Perry home for the event, and recounted seeing Bell’s Olympic medal.
“And I actually got a chance to hold it,” he said. “It was like having living history in your hands.”
Valerie Hart-Craig, president of the Terre Haute branch of the NAACP, recalled meeting Bell at a Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast hosted at Ivy Tech. She also got to hold the medal.
“I think it’s beautiful that they’re there,” she said of the banners in town. “They’re something I can show my own children about the history of Terre Haute.”
Also featured on a banner is Allen Chapel AME Church, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Hart-Craig said the Allen Chapel, on South Third and Crawford streets, was among the first things she remembers upon moving to Terre Haute as a child. The city’s first black church traces its origins to 1837 and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad as slaves escaped the South before the Civil War. In March 1868, Fredrick Douglass made two speeches to packed crowds at Dowling Hall in coordination with the Allen Chapel community.
Boyd said Downtown Terre Haute Inc. is working to establish an inventory of all its banners and inspect their condition.
Chris Pfaff, president of Downtown Terre Haute Inc., said a topic being broached by the organization is nomination procedures for adding to the list of honorees.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
Mini-bios of those honored on African-American banners in downtown Terre Haute
• Dr. Iverson Bell: 1916-1984: Prominent veterinarian, civic leader and longtime school board member.
• Dr. Gregory Bell: Olympic gold medalist, dentist, sculptor and poet.
• Dr. Barbara Laffoon Sizemore: 1927-2004: Author and former superintendent of public schools in Washington, D.C., as well as dean of the School of Education at DePaul University.
• The Rev. Hiram Rhodes Revels: 1827-1901: Founded the private school at the Allen Chapel AME Church. As a U.S. senator for Mississippi in 1870, he became the first African-American to hold a seat in either house of Congress. He co-founded Revels University, then changed to Alcorn University and served as secretary of state for Mississippi before returning to the ministry in Richmond, Ind.
• Benjamin “Scatman” Crothers: 1910-1986: Prolific actor and musician with work in films including “Meet Me at the Fair,” “Hello Dolly,” “Lady Sings the Blues,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “The Shootist,” “The Shining,” “Twilight Zone” and “The Adventures of Natty Gann.”
• Pickney Benton Stewart Pinchback: 1837-1921: The son of a slave, Pinchback became the first African-American governor in America, serving Louisiana. He served in the Union forces in New Orleans during the Civil War, rising to the position of state senator there during Reconstruction. Served as a U.S. senator and enrolled in the first class of law school at Straight University before becoming a U.S. Marshal in New York City.
• Charles T. Hyte: 1884-1941: Career educator and principal of the Booker T. Washington Junior High School. Founding member of the Indiana Negro Society and Prince Hall Masonic Lodge as well as namesake for the Charles T. Hyte Community Center.
• Steve Cooksey: Associate professor and head track and field coach at the U.S. Naval Academy with a 20-year career record of 245-32 (.884). First African-American head coach for any sport at Ball State University and U.S. Naval Academy. Gerstmeyer High School and Indiana State University athletic standout.
• Allen Chapel AME Church: Terre Haute’s first African-American church and part of the Underground Railroad. With roots dating back to 1837, it served as host for the first convention of the AME Church in Indiana in 1842.
• Ambassador Dr. Cynthia Shepard Perry: Professor, diplomat and director of the African Development Bank. Served as the ambassador to Sierra Leone and Burundi.
• Willa Beatrice Brown: 1906-1992: Pioneering aviatrix and first African-American woman to run for Congress. A Wiley High School and Indiana Teachers College graduate, she earned a graduate degree from Northwestern University and became America’s first African-American pilot in 1921 after obtaining a license in France. She married pilot Cornelius Coffey and together they founded the Coffey School of Aeronautics to train African-American pilots and mechanics. She was the first American woman to earn a commercial pilot’s and mechanic’s license.
• Dr. J.J. Hoover: 1881-1953: Dr. Hoover opened the Hoover Sanitarium in 1929 as Terre Haute’s first community hospital for African-Americans. He graduated from Alcorn University, founded by the Rev. Revels, and from Meharry Medical School.
• John W. Lyda: 1887-1969: A career public school teacher, he earned degrees at Indiana State Teachers College, taught there and authored numerous professional journal articles, as well as “The Negro in the History of Indiana” and “The Negro in Terre Haute.”
Man Falls Off Crane, Dies After Police Standoff
Witness Describes Fla. Face-chewing Attack
Raw Video: Cop Shoots Man Eating Another's Face
Man in Crane at Texas College Says He's Armed
Unexpected Smog in Pristine National Parks
Obama Honors Fallen Troops at Arlington Cemetery
Raw Video: Deadly Explosion at Minn. Paper Mill
Dairy Farm Uses Chiropractor to Help Cows
Romney Promises World's Strongest Military
Russia Condemns Ally Syria Over Massacre of 108
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
Raw Video: Earthquake Shakes Evacuees in Italy
Obama Pays Tribute to Vietnam Veterans
Beryl Knocks Out Power in Florida
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
15 Dead in Northern Italy's 5.8-magnitude Quake
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Memorial Day Aboard Intrepid
New Ticks Spread Across Southeast, Diseases Rise
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Hamster Plays Dead
Beyonce Shows Off 60 Pound Weight Loss at Concert
Drunk Women Breaking Into Houses: A New Trend?
LeAnn Rimes Rocks Short Shorts
Gordon Ramsay Carried Off Field
Man Dies Getting Lap Dance
Kim Kardashian Claims Items Stolen from Her Luggage
Bear cools off in Calif. family's pool
Ep. 3: Chopped Desserts
Air Force dad surprises family at baseball game
Justin Bieber Wanted for Questioning for L.A. Scuffle
J.Lo and Marc's Friendly Reunion
Jet makes emergency landing after debris falls off
Cynthia Nixon Ties the Knot
Woman, 80, Falls Out of Skydive Harness Mid-Jump
Keira Reveals Engagement Ring
Dog runs alonside cyclists for 1,100 miles
