Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Box and Folder Listing
Cataloguing Information
Processed by
Wilma L. Gibbs
19 November 1991
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 1 box (.25 linear feet), 1 oversize folder
COLLECTION DATES: Inclusive 1962-1985; Bulk 1962-1979
PROVENANCE: Alice D. Tinsley, 2626 Guilford Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204, 26 June 1986
RESTRICTIONS: None
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS:Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collectin must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: None
ACCESSION NUMBER: 86.543
NOTES:
Alice D. Coleman Tinsley, the daughter of Reverend and Mrs. George Coleman, Sr. was born 10 June 1927. Reared in New Orleans, she graduated from McDonald #35 High School. She attended Xavier University and Stright Business College. In 1946, Alice Coleman married Charles H. Tinsley of Indianapolis. They had five children: Charles, Jr., Donald, Alan, Tyrone, and Eula.
For most of her adult life, Tinsley has served as an advocate for the multiple-handicapped. In October, 1965, she was instrumental in the formation of the Indiana Association for the Multiply Handicapped Deaf, a parent advocacy group. (The name was changed to the Indiana State Association for the Multiple Handicapped and Sensory Impaired in 1985.) Mostly through the efforts of Tinsley and the association, the 1967 Indiana General Assembly (Chapter 387, Acts, 1967) established the Committee to Study the Problems of the Multiple Handicapped. Active in several organizations, committees, and commissions, her work with the state legislature led to her becoming a registered lobbyist for the deaf. She served on an Ad Hoc Committee for the Multiple-Handicapped sponsored by the State Board of Health, as well as the governor's and mayor's advisory boards for the handicapped. She also initiated action for the formation of the Council of Voluntary Organizations for the Handicapped (COVOH). During the past 25 years, Tinsley has served on more than 20 statewide and national committees, boards, and councils that address the needs of the mentally and physically handicapped. She was a member of the Silvercrest Chronic Disease and Disability Center. She lobbied to have the New Albany tuberculosis facility reopened to serve the multiple-handicappped. In 1971 and 1972, respectively, she represented Indiana at Operation Tripod and at the American Instructors of the Deaf Convention.
Tinsley helped organize experimental classes for the multiple-handicapped at the Indiana schools for the deaf and blind and worked with vocational rehabilitation at Noble School and Crossroads Center for classes for young deaf children. In a continuing quest for access to facilities and services for the multiple-handicapped, she promoted establishment of a newsletter, Parent-to-Parent. The newsletter was published and distributed through the Indiana State Board of Health.
In 1977 Tinsley was awarded the Jefferson Award for her volunteer work with the handicapped in Indiana. Two years earlier the Indiana Conference on Social Welfare in Indianapolis had honored her for "dedication of service in the field of child health." In 1983, the Aldur building at the Indiana School for the Blind was named in honor of Alice Tinsley and Durwood Hutchinson, superintendent of the school.
Sources: Materials in the collection
The collection consists of one .5 box of materials and one oversize folder related to Alice D. Tinsley's work as an advocate for the multiple-handicapped in Indiana. It includes her correspondence dated from 1962-1985-- a significant amount to and from Indiana legislators and Governor Roger Branigan. The bulk of correspondence, however, represents the advocacy of the the Indiana Association for the Multiply Handicapped, an organization that Tinsley was instrumental in forming and communication with other related organizations. Copies (1975-1979) of Parent-to-Parent, a newsletter published by the association are contained in folder 10. A 142 pp. report about Operation Tripod (Toward Rehabilitation Involvement by Parents of the Deaf), a national organization in which Tinsley served as the Indiana representative can be found in Folder 13. Certificates of appreciation are contained in folders 14 and 15. A publication produced by the National Council of Negro Women, Outstanding Black Women in the State of Indiana, is in folder 16.
BOX 1:
FOLDER CONTENTS
1 Biographical Information
2 Correspondence, 1966
3 Correspondence, 1967
4 Correspondence, 1968-69
5 Correspondence, 1970-79
6 Correspondence, 1981-85
7 Correspondence, undated
8 Organizations, 1966-81
9 Legislation, 1975-84
10 Newsletters, 1975-79
11 Clippings, 1964-84
12 Brochures and Pamphlets, 1976, n.d.
13 Operation Tripod (1971)
14 Certificates of Appreciation
15 OM 334 Certificates of Appreciation
16 Outstanding Black Women of Indiana
MAIN ENTRY: Tinsley, Alice D., 1927-
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Tinsley, Alice D., 1927-
Branigin, Roger D. (Roger Douglas), 1902-1975
Indiana Association for the Multiply Handicapped Deaf
Indiana State Association for the Multiple Handicapped and Sensory Impaired.
Operation Tripod
Handicapped--Legal status, laws, etc.--Indiana
Deaf--Education--Indiana
Deaf--Rehabilitation--Indiana
Children, Deaf--Indiana
Parents of handicapped children--Indiana
Afro-American women--Indiana--Indianapolis
Handicapped children--Education--Indiana
Handicapped--Rehabilitation--Indiana
Vocational rehabilitation--Indiana