Collection #:
SC 1971
EMMA LOU
THORNBROUGH
BREAKING
RACIAL BARRIERS TO PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS
FROM THE 1940S TO 1963, 1986
Collection Information
Historical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Cataloging Information
Processed
by:
Wilma L. Gibbs
8
May 1997
Updated 29 July 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections
Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
www.indianahistory.org
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 2 folders
COLLECTION DATES: Manuscript of a paper and a response presented at the
Indiana Historical Society Spring Conference on 16 May 1986.
PROVENANCE: Emma Lou Thornbrough, Indianapolis,
IN
RESTRICTIONS: None
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this
collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society.
RELATED HOLDINGS: See card catalog for listing of related works by Emma Lou Thornbrough. Also article, "Breaking Racial Barriers
to Public Accommodations in Indiana,
1935 to 1963," Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 83, #4. The
article is based upon Thornbrough's paper in this
collection. BV 2631 contains a significant unpublished work. "The Indianapolis
Story: School Segregation and Desegregation in a Northern
City," was originally
completed by Emma Lou Thornbrough in compliance with
a University of Illinois
Press contract.
ACCESSION NUMBER: 1986.0333
NOTES: None
Emma Lou Thornbrough (1913-1994) was born in Indianapolis,
where she received her early education. A recipient of degrees from Butler
University and a Ph.D. in history
from the University of Michigan,
she was a pioneer among professional historians who have researched and
published in the field of African-American history. Although she wrote numerous
scholarly articles and books, the concentration of her work was in Indiana
history with a focus on African- Americans. Her vast range of interest and
expertise is suggested by a selected review of her published works which
include Black Reconstructionists,
Booker T. Washington, Eliza A Blaker: Her Life and Work, Indiana in the Civil War
Years, The Negro in Indiana
before 1900, Since Emancipation: A Short History of Indiana
Negroes, 1863-1963, and T. Thomas Fortune, Militant Journalist.
Thornbrough taught at Butler
University from 1946-1983. While at
Butler, she received many awards
including the Outstanding Professor Award in 1965, an appointment in 1981 to
the McGregor Chair in History, and an honorary doctorate in 1988. She was also
a visiting professor at Indiana University
and Case-Western Reserve. Emma Lou Thornbrough was
active in many national and local historical organizations. She was a past
president of the Indiana Association of Historians (IAH). The IAH annual fall
lecture was recently renamed to honor Thornbrough and
her sister, Gayle, a retired editor and former director of the Indiana
Historical Society and the Indiana Historical Bureau. The Thornbrough
award given annually to recognize the best article to appear in the Indiana
Magazine of History also honors the sisters' contributions to the history
profession.
Emma Lou Thornbrough was active in several
professional and civil rights organizations.
She received numerous awards from her community including Indiana Author's
Day recognition, Martin Luther King award, Indiana Liberty Bell, Roy Wilkins
award, and the
Hoosier Historian award. At the time of her death, Thornbrough was working on a volume pertaining to Indiana
African-Americans in the 20th century.
Sources: Directory of American Scholars, 8th ed. Jacque Cattell Press (ed.) New York:
R. R. Bowker, 1982.
Indiana Magazine of History, Volume 91, #1. (Volume includes
a memorial tribute to Thornbrough; explanation of her
place in American historiography; tribute by a mentor; and a bibliography of
her works.)
The two-folder collection contains a paper presented by Emma Lou Thornbrough at the 1986 Spring
conference of the Indiana Historical Society and a response to the paper
written by Richard Blackett, an Indiana
University history professor. The
paper, including endnotes, is 50 pages; the response, containing an
introduction of Thornbrough, is 5 pages.
Thornbrough's manuscript is an overview of civil
rights activities related to public accommodations in Indiana
during the middle third of the twentieth century. She reviews the work of civil
rights organizations and the leadership of individuals; examines laws and
legislation, level of protest, and political and social issues; and discusses
several types of public accommodations. This paper was used as a basis for an
article ("Breaking Racial Barriers to Public Accommodations in Indiana,
1935 to 1963") Thornbrough authored that was
published with photographs in the December 1987 issue (Volume 83, #4) of the Indiana
Magazine of History.
For additional information on this collection, including a
list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1.
Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online
catalog: http://opac.indianahistory.org/
2.
Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3.
Select "Call
Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4.
Search for the collection by its basic call number (in
this case, SC 1971).
5.
When you find the collection, go to the "Full
Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related
materials.