Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
User Information
Historical Sketch
Scope and Content
Box and Folder Listing
Cataloging Information
Processed by:
Wilma L. Gibbs
Revised, 9 June 1998
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 14 boxes
COLLECTION DATES: Inclusive 1932-1986; Bulk 1984-85
PROVENANCE: Darlene Clark Hine, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
RESTRICTIONS: None
COPYRIGHT: Held by Indiana Historical Society
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: Darlene Clark Hine, The Black Women in the Middle West Project: A Comprehensive Resource Guide, Illinois and Indiana, ( rr E185.86.B53 1986 ); Darlene Clark Hine, When the Truth is Told: A History of Black Women’s Culture and Community in Indiana, 1875-1950 (E185.93 I4 H56 1981)
ACCESSION NUMBER: 91.0682
NOTES: Several of the individual collections gathered as a result of the Black Women in the Middle West Project and donated to the Indiana Historical Society are listed in Wilma L. Gibbs, Selected African-American History Collections (1996) and Wilma L. Gibbs, "In Retrospect: The Black Women in the Middle West Project at the Indiana Historical Society," in Indiana’s African American Heritage: Essays from Black History News and Notes.
During the 1970s, the Indianapolis section of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) began to collect manuscript materials about the lives of black women in Indiana. Unsolicited, two members of that organization, school teachers Virtea Downey and Shirley Herd, delivered the materials to Darlene Clark Hine, a Purdue University faculty member. Much of the material was used in the publication of When the Truth is Told: A History of Black Women’s Culture and Community in Indiana, 1875-1950, written by Hine in 1981.
The relationship between Hine, Downey, and Herd was the impetus for the Black Women in the Middle West (BWMW) Project. The project was an effort to collect manuscript and photographic records of black women in Illinois and Indiana. In 1982, Hine, an associate professor of history and vice provost at Purdue University, wrote a planning grant for the project, which was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Special Services. During the 1982-83 planning year, a small staff including a project director, administrator, typist, and a graduate assistant enlisted the help of archivists, librarians, academicians, and hundreds of grassroot volunteers. The year was spent developing an organizational structure, devising a conference-workshop, and preparing a proposal to submit to NEH for funds to implement the project.
Initially, the project was to last three years and was to cover a five-state area. NEH funded the project with several major revisions to the proposal. The duration of the project was altered to eighteen months. The proposal requested coverage of a five-state area including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The project staff chose Illinois and Indiana, after the funding agent limited the number of states to two. Also, a black women’s history travelling exhibit was eliminated. Additionally, the project was funded at $150,000 ($200,000 had been requested for the five state project) with the stipulation that a Co-director for Archives be added to the staff.
Once the program was funded, an executive committee composed of a cross-section of archivists, librarians, academicians, and others originally from all five states was appointed. This committee helped generate local support for the project, reviewed project plans, and aided with the preparation of the grant proposal.
The regional committees served an important function. Located in key cities throughout both states, the committees provided a forum for the many volunteers. Each committee had a chairperson who coordinated its work and served as a liaison between the group and the BWMW Project central office. The chairpersons formed the Committee of Regional Coordinators. The coordinators were put in contact with staff at area libraries and historical societies from whom they could seek advice as they collected records.
The implementation phase of the project lasted from January 1984 through June 1985. Eight major conference/workshops were held throughout the summer of 1984. The purpose of these meetings was to train the volunteer project representatives to become field workers in their local communities. The participants were kept informed through a series of progress reports.
The Indiana Historical Society was one of the five repositories that agreed to house the collections brought in by the project. Its holdings include the administrative files of the project and four dozen collections of individuals and groups. The other cooperating institutions, all of which worked closely with the project and supplied an archivist to serve on the Archival Advisory Committee, were the Chicago Historical Society, the Illinois State Historical Society, Calumet Regional Archives in Gary, and the Northern Indiana Historical Society in South Bend.
SOURCES: Materials in the collection
Wilma L Gibbs, " In Retrospect: The Black Women in the Middle West Project at the Indiana Historical Society," Indiana’s African-American Heritage: Essays from Black History News And Notes ( rr E185.93.I4 B52 1993);
Darlene Clark Hine, The Black Women in the Middle West Project: A Comprehensive Resource Guide, Illinois and Indiana ( rr E185.86 . B53 1986).
This collection is comprised of the administrative files of the Black Women in the Middle West (BWMW) Project. The files of the project include 14 manuscript boxes, of which over half contain biographical materials related to the project collectors. The files span 1980-86, with the bulk of the collection dated from 1984-85. There are photographs of several project participants that date as early as the 1930s.
Information pertaining to the project’s development is contained in boxes 1 and 2. There are planning documents, financial records including budgets, the National Endowment for the Humanities application, and personnel materials. Several workshops were held before and during its implementation stage of the project. Workshop training materials, plans, invitations, and evaluation forms are contained in box 2. The project’s general correspondence files are in boxes 2 and 3.
Several mass mailings were sent under the auspices of the BWMW Project. The mailing lists of the project are contained in box 3. In addition to a complete alpha mailing list, there are lists for Indiana and Illinois, lists by city and region, and committee-generated lists. Publicity materials (handouts, kits, notices, and forms) are in box 4, along with completed participant questionnaires. Box 5 contains newsclippings about the project. Notes written by Patrick Bidelman, who served as Co-director for Administration of the project and other staff notes are also in box 5. Newsletters and information about related institutions are in boxes 6 and 7.
Project participants were encouraged to complete personal questionnaires and send in biographical information. The remainder of the collection, boxes 7-14, contain these files arranged alphabetically, and photographs. Most of the information in box 14, folders 17-21, is subsumed in The Black Women in the Middle West Project: A Comprehensive Resource Guide, Illinois and Indiana. The last folders in box 14 (22-73) contain photographs and negatives, many of which appeared in the resource guide. The visuals cover numerous subjects including the Alpha Home, Woman’s Improvement Club, and several churches. There are also photographs and negatives of the BWMW Project staff, volunteers, and promotional materials. Unless, otherwise specified, all visuals (8 x 10 and less) have been placed in black and white storage. Other visual formats include color photographs and 4 x 5 polyester negatives.
BOX 1: Project Presentation; Reports; NEH Applications; Initial Planning Records; and Proclamations
Folder Contents
1 Project Presentation delivered by Darlene Clark Hine
2 Executive Committees
3 Progress Reports
4 NEH Application
5 NEH Application Appendixes, A- G
6 NEH Application Appendixes, H-N
7 NEH Application Correspondence, 1980-84
8 NEH Application Correspondence, 1985- n.d.
9 Financial Records
10 Regional Committees
11 Project By- Laws
12 Project Forms
13 Project Job Positions
14 Project Proposals
15 Project Themes
16 Purdue Research Grant
17 Budget Proposals
18 Coordinators Reports
19 Committees
20 Proclamations
21 Conferences, 1982 - 1983
22 Conferences and Programs, 1983-1985
BOX 2: Workshop and Conference Materials; Evaluations; Correspondence 1979-1985, n.d.
Folder Contents
1 Conference, 1984-1985, n.d.
2 Conference Attendance
3 Transparencies
4 Evaluation Forms A - L
5 Evaluation Forms M - W
6 Workshop Materials
7 Slide Show Scripts
8 Correspondence, 1979; 1980; March/April 1982
9 Correspondence, September - October, 1982
10 Correspondence, November - December, 1982
11 Correspondence, January - February, 1983
12 Correspondence, March - June, 1983
13 Correspondence, August - December, 1983
14 Correspondence, January - February, 1984
15 Correspondence, March, 1984
16 Correspondence, April, 1984
17 Correspondence, May, 1984
18 Correspondence, June, 1984
19 Correspondence, July - August, 1984
BOX 3: Correspondence, 1984-1985, n.d.; Mailing Lists; Sign-up Sheets; and Collector’s Manual
Folder Contents
1 Correspondence, September - October, 1984
2 Correspondence, November – December, 1984
3 Correspondence, January - February, 1985
4 Correspondence, March - July; December 1985
5 Correspondence, n.d.
6 Media Mailing List
7 Mailing List -- Illinois
8 Mailing List -- Indiana
9 Mailing List -- Other States
10 Mailing List -- Printout
11 Regional Committee -- Mailing List
12 Sign - up Sheets
13 Collector’s Manual
BOX 4: Publicity Materials; Project Participant Lists; and Participant Questionnaires
Folder Contents
1 Publicity Handouts
2 Publicity Kit
3 Project Participant List, January 1984 - June 1985
4 Project Participant List, July, 1985
5 Project Participant List, July, 1985
6 Participant Questionnaires, A - B
7 Participant Questionnaires, B
8 Participant Questionnaires, C
9 Participant Questionnaires, D
10 Participant Questionnaires, E-G
11 Participant Questionnaires, H
12 Participant Questionnaires, I-L
13 Participant Questionnaires, M
14 Participant Questionnaires, N-P
15 Participant Questionnaires, R-S
16 Participant Questionnaires, S-V
17 Participant Questionnaires, W
BOX 5: Recruiting Forms; Project Newsclipping; and Project Notes
Folder Contents
1 Recruiting Forms
2 Project News Clippings
3 Project News Clippings
4 Project News Clippings
5 Project Letters
6 Representative List
7 Donor List
8 Project Master List
9 Phone List- - Champaign, Chicago, and Indianapolis
10 Patrick Bidelman’s Notes
11 Patrick Bidelman’s Notes
12 Patrick Bidelman’s Notes
13 Patrick Bidelman’s Notes
14 Project Participant Biographical Information Form
BOX 6: Press Releases; Memos; Brochures; and Magazines
Folder Contents
1 Press Releases 1982-1985, n.d.
2 Telephone Messages, 1984 - 1985 , n.d.
3 Project Reply Forms, A - W
4 Memos
5 I. U. Microfilm and Microform Collection of Black Studies
6 History’s Neglect Ending: An Index to Press/Magazine Notices
7 Resource Directories, 1983-1984, n.d.
8 Card Catalogue Copies of Indiana University’s Black History Collection
9 Bibliography of Afro- American Material
10 Darlene Clark Hine, When the Truth is Told
11 Brochures for Black Culture Institutions
12 Magazines and Magazine Articles
13 Magazines
14 Magazines
15 Pamphlets and Bulletins
BOX 7: Newsletters; Historical Societies; and Participant Files, A-B
Folder Contents
1 Black History News and Notes Subscription List
2 Newsletters, 1944; 1982 - 1984
3 Newsletters, 1984 - 1985, n.d.
4 Historical Societies
5 Historical Societies
6 News Clippings not specifically related to the project
7 Programs and Announcements for Women’s Studies
8 Religious Materials
9 Church Addresses
10 Minority Affairs
11 Minority Organizations
12 United Nations Info Kit for Women
13 Participants, Adams - Allen M.
14 Participants, Allen Singers - Anna Tutt Honey’s Club
15 Participants, Arnold - Balthrope
16 Participants, Baatz, Wilmer
BOX 8: Participant Files, B-C
Folder Contents
1 Participants, Banks - Barbee
2 Participants, Barnes
3 Participants, Barrow - Batties
4 Participants, Bauman - L. Bishop
5 Participants, Blackburn - Blanks
6 Participants, Blanton – Booker T. Washington Center
7 Participants, Bowles - Braboy
8 Participants, Bradley - Bridges
9 Participants, Bridgewater, Emma Scott
10 Participants, Britt - Brooks
11 Participants, Brown, Clarissa
12 Participants, Brown, Cornelia – Brown, Gladys
13 Participants, Brown, Kathyryn - Buka
14 Participants, Burch - Burnett
15 Participants, Burns – Busy Fingers Club
16 Participants, Caldwell - Carter
17 Participants, Cartright - Chapman
BOX 9: Participant Files, C-G
Folder Contents
1 Participants, Chester - Clark, B.
2 Participants, Clark, D. - Clift
3 Participants, Cody - Colby
4 Participants, Collins - Cook, A.
5 Participants, Cook, V. - Cooper
6 Participants, Copeland – Cosmopolites Business and Professional Women’s Club
7 Participants, Cowan, Larine Y.
8 Participants, Crawford - Cress
9 Participants, Crittenden – Crump-Fonza
10 Participants, Curtis
11 Participants, Daniels - Day
12 Participants, DeBois - DeRamus
13 Participants, Dickerson - Downey
14 Participants, Driver - Durr
15 Participants, Edwards - Enix
16 Participants, Finley, Jessie M.
17 Participants, Fisher - Fraction
18 Participants, Freeman – Garrett
19 Participants, Gilmore – Gospel Music History
20 Participants, Graham - Gray, J.
21 Participants, Gray, L. - Green
22 Participants, Greene - Gregory
23 Participants, Grissom - Groves
24 Participants, Griffin
BOX 10: Participant Files, H-K
Folder Contents
1 Participants, Hale - Hall
2 Participants, Hampton - Harper
3 Participants, Harris - Hayden
4 Participants, Herd, Shirley
5 Participants, Hicks - Hill, R.
6 Participants, Hill, T. - Hine
7 Participants, Holland - Holt
8 Participants, Hoskins - Howell, F.
9 Participants, Howell, M. - Hunter
10 Participants, Hyde - Ivory
11 Participants, Jackson, Alma A.
12 Participants, Jackson, Carrie I.
13 Participants, Jackson, E. -Jennings
14 Participants, Jett - Johnson, C.
15 Participants, Johnson, E. - Johnson, M.
16 Participants, Johnson, R.- Joiner
17 Participants, Jones, Irma J.
18 Participants, Jones, Irma J.
19 Participants, Jones, L. - Julien
20 Participants, Kelly - Kent
21 Participants, Kersey - Killian
22 Participants, Knox – Komai
BOX 11: Participant Files, L-N
Folder Contents
1 Participants, Lafontant - Levi
2 Participants, Lewin - Lightfoot
3 Participants, Linthecome - Lockett
4 Participants, Love
5 Participants, Lovelady – Lyons
6 Participants, Mack - Malone, D.
7 Participants, Malone, V. - Martin
8 Participants, Mason - Maye
9 Participants, McAdams - McClusky
10 Participants, McCoy - McDonald
11 Participants, McPike - McShane
12 Participants, Meares - Merrifield
13 Participants, Meyers - Mitchell
14 Participants, Moore, A. - Moore, P.
15 Participants, Moore, Reola C.
16 Participants, Moore, Reola C.
17 Participants, Moore, T. - Mosby
18 Participants, Motley, Archie
19 Participants, Motley, Archie
20 Participants, Mount Zion Baptist Church - Myrick
21 Participants, Navarro - Nelson, C.
22 Participants, Nelson, L. - Newsome
23 Participants, Nolcox - Norman
BOX 12: Participant Files, O-S
Folder Contents
1 Participants, Oberlander - O’Quinn
2 Participants, Order of Eastern Star- Osborne
3 Participants, Oshin- Parks
4 Participants, Pasley - Pendergrass
5 Participants, Perkins - Phillips
6 Participants, Pierce – Pope
7 Participants, Potter--Pruitt
8 Participants, Ray
9 Participants, Rencher - Retledge
10 Participants, Rhea, LaJulia Elizabeth
11 Participants, Rhea, LaJulia Elizabeth
12 Participants, Richardson - Riley
13 Participants, Roberts - Robinson, G.
14 Participants, Robinson, J. - Robinson, N.
15 Participants, Robinson, R. - Roby
16 Participants, Rose - Ross
17 Participants, Rowland - Rucker
18 Participants, Russell - Scott
19 Participants, Sease – Segars
20 Participants, Shell-Skinner, A.
21 Participants, Skinner, C. - Slaughter
22 Participants, Smith, D. - Smith, M.
23 Participants, Smith, N. – Sororities of Champaign-Urbana Illinois
24 Participants, Spann - Spears
25 Participants, Springer-Myers – Starks, D.
BOX 13: Participant Files, S-W
Folder Contents
1 Participants, Starks, E. - Stout, A.
2 Participants, Stout, F. - Streets
3 Participants, Swarn
4 Participants, Tabron - Taylor, M.
5 Participants, Taylor, R. -Taylor-Guthrie
6 Participants, Temoney, Ruth
7 Participants, Tennione - Thomas, O.
8 Participants, Thurman - Tinsley
9 Participants, Tolson, Ruth Ouida
10 Participants, Tolson, Ruth Ouida
11 Participants, Tootle - Treadwell
12 Participants, Turentine - Turner
13 Participants, Umar - Utz
14 Participants, Vanlandingham, Esther
15 Participants, Varnado - Waldon
16 Participants, Walker, Bernice
17 Participants, Walker, Bernice
18 Participants, Walker Company and Estate - Walker, E.
19 Participants, Walker, Francis
20 Participants, Walker, Juliet E. K.
21 Participants, Warren
BOX 14: Participant Files, W-Y; Computerized Biographies; Visual Materials
Folder Contents
1 Participants, Washington - Waugh
2 Participants, Webb - Wesley
3 Participants, West, Donald
4 Participants, Wescott-Wheaton
5 Participants, White – Whiteside
6 Participants, Whitlow - Williams, B.
7 Participants, Williams, C. - Williams, Marion
8 Participants, William, Mary - Garden
9 Participants, Williams, O. - Williams, Sh.
10 Participants, Williams, Si. - Wilson, F.
11 Participants, Wilson, G. - Wilson,V.
12 Participants, Woodard - Woodley
13 Participants, Woods - Wright-Odom
14 Participants, Yezkey - Yore
15 Participants, Young, Carolyn
16 Computerized Biographies unalphabetized
17 Computerized Biographies unalphabetized
18 Computerized Biographies unalphabatized
19 Project Participants, Chapters 3-6
20 Voices of Experience (Transcript of Speeches)
VISUAL MATERIALS:
22 (VC) Allen Singers (Color Storage)
23 (VC) Luella Marie Bishop
24 (VC) Accompanied Violet Brooks Material
25 (VC) Chicago Musician Photographs
26 (VC) Alice Lyles Clift (Color Storage)
27 (VC) Margaret and John Cross
28 (VC) Clara Belle Taylor Day
29 (VC) Rosalind D. Davis
30 (VC) Delta Sigma Theta
31 (VC) Fannie T. Dudley (Color Storage)
32 (VC) Fashion Models
33 (VC) Geraldine M.Gregory
34 (VC) Catherine Grissom (Color Storage)
35 (VC) C. Maxine Hall and son
36 (VC) Ruth Hoover Hill
37 (VC) Darlene Clark Hine
38 (VC) Margaret Lee Howell
39 (VC) Carrie Jackson (Color Storage)
40 (VC) Hazel M. Killion (Color Storage)
41 (VC) Lottie Wyatt-Killion
42 (VC) Rev. D.M. Levi
43 (VC) Charlotte Levi (Color Storage)
44 (VC) Highness M. Lockett (Color Storage)
45 (VC) Mt. Moriah Baptist Church
46 (VC) Margaret J. Neal (Color Storage)
47 (VC) Mary V. Ray
48 (VC) Joyce Robinson
49 (VC) Accompanied Anna Wall Scott materials
50 (VC) Josephine Pleer Smith (Color Storage)
51 (VC) Accompanied LaQueen Watkins materials
52 (VC) Orena Williams (Color Storage)
53 (VC) Genois Wilson
54 (VC) Genois Wilson (Color Storage)
55 (VC) Fannie B. Woodley
56 (VC) Conference Workshop Reception, Chicago, 1984
57 (VC) Project Coordinators and Volunteers, Fort Wayne, Ind.
58 (VC) Project Participants, Purdue University, 1985
59 (VC) Project Participants, South Bend, Ind.
60 (VC) Project Staff
61 (VC) Project Staff, 1984 (contact prints)
62 (VC) ` Project Staff, et al.
63 (VC) Promotional Materials (Color Storage)
64 (VC) Promotional Meeting (Color Storage)
65 (VC) Promotional Meeting (Color Storage)
66 (VC) Promotional Meeting (Color Storage)
66 (VC) Promotional Meeting (Color Storage)
67 (VC) Promotional Meeting (Color Storage)
68 (VC) Promotional Meeting (Color Storage)
69 (VC) Promotional Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, 1984
70 (VC) Guide Book for BWMW Project
71 (VC) Guide Book for BWMW Project
72 (VC) Guide Book for BWMW Project
73 (VC) Various subjects. Most of the images are contained in The Black Women in the Middle West Project: A Comprehensive Resource Guide, Illinois and Indiana (Polyester, 4 x 5 , Negative Storage) See below for an itemized list of negatives.
Negatives, Polyester, 4 x 5 contained in Box 14, Folder 73
* autographed letter, signed
MAIN ENTRY: Black Women in the Middle West Project
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Black Women in the Middle West Project
Hine, Darlene Clark
Bidelman, Patrick Kay
Herd, Shirley M.
Downey, Virtea Washington, 1913-
Walker, C. J., Madam, 1867-1919--Photographs
Woman’s Improvement Club (Indianapolis, Ind.)--Photographs
Alpha Home (Indianapolis, Ind.)--Photographs
Women--Indiana
Women--Illinois
Afro-American women--Congresses
Afro-American women--Indiana--Biography
Afro-American women--Illinois--Biography
Afro-American women--Photographs
END