Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives

"The Transformation of a Neighborhood: Ransom Place Historic District, Indianapolis, 1900-1920"


Collection #:
SC 2533


Table of Contents

User Information
Historical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Cataloging Information

Processed by:
Wilma L. Gibbs
29 January 1996


USER INFORMATION

VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 4 folders

COLLECTION DATES: Written 1995

PROVENANCE: Carolyn M. Brady, Indianapolis, IN, 10 January 1996

RESTRICTIONS: None

COPYRIGHT: Held by the donor

ALTERNATE FORMATS: None

OTHER FINDING AIDS: None

RELATED HOLDINGS: None

ACCESSION NUMBER: 96.0242

NOTES:


HISTORICAL SKETCH

Carolyn M. Brady (1 August 1968- ) was born in Manila, Philippines where her father worked for the United States State Department's Agency for International Development. She received her elementary education in Seoul, Korea, Vienna, Virginia, and Colombo, Sri Lanka. After graduation from James Madison High School in Vienna (Virginia), she attended the University of Virginia where she earned her BA in archaeology. She completed her Masters in Public History in January 1996 at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Her thesis, "The Transformation of a Neighborhood: Ransom Place Historic District, Indianapolis, 1900-1920," is a demographic study of the change of a neighborhood population during the migration of African-Americans from southern to northern states.

Brady has experience working as a museum assistant and researcher at the Morris-Butler House Museum in Indianapolis; as an archaeological lab assistant at the Indiana State Museum; and as a researcher and administrative assistant with the "Science in American Life" exhibition team at the National Museum of American History. She served as an intern at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis and for the "Common Agenda for History Museums Project" at the Smithsonian. During the summers of 1987 and 1988, she volunteered at the National Museum of the Philippines and Casa Manila, Intramuros. As an undergraduate crew member, she assisted with archaeological excavations.

Brady's awards include an IUPUI fellowship, awarded during the 1993-94 school year and induction into Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Alpha Theta history honorary society while an undergraduate. She is a member of the American Association of Museums, American Association for State and Local History, National Council on Public History, and the National Council for History Education.

Sources: Materials in the collection
Carolyn Brady's resume with handwritten addendum about other requested biographical information.


SCOPE AND CONTENT

The collection consists of one unbound copy of Carolyn M. Brady's unpublished manuscript, "The Transformation of a Neighborhood: Ransom Place Historic District, Indianapolis, 1900-1920." The manuscript was submitted to the faculty of the Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Masters of Arts degree in history. The 122-page study, completed in 1995, contains an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion, maps, tables, graphs, appendices, and a bibliography. It explores the demographic trends of a six block area of Indianapolis during a twenty-year period. Brady's basic premise is that the area shifted dramatically from 86% white majority to a 96% black majority from the 1900 to the 1920 population census. The area, currently known as Ransom Place was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Its namesake, Freeman B. Ransom (1882-1947) was an attorney and longtime business manager of the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company.

Information from Brady's study will be used by the Ransom Place Neighborhood Association in its efforts to develop the Heritage Learning Center. Also the thesis and database records will be used by the Center for Archaeology in the Public Interest at IUPUI which plans to excavate Ransom Place.


CATALOGUING INFORMATION

MAIN ENTRY: Brady, Carolyn M., 1968-

SUBJECT ENTRIES: Sociology, Urban--Indiana--Indianapolis

Residential mobility--Indiana--Indianapolis

Demographic transition--Indiana--Indianapolis

Urban-rural migration--Indiana--Indianapolis

Historic districts--Indiana--Indianapolis

Indianapolis (Ind.)--Population--History

Ransom Place Historic District (Indianapolis, Ind.)

END