The Resilience of Black Women in Indiana

Actor portraying Lucy Nichols at the 2025 Juneteenth Free Day performance at Conner Prairie.

The first time any woman had spoken before the Indiana state legislature was to present a petition on women’s rights on January 19, 1859, and they came in a group of three. This petition was the first of its kind to be made public and had earned the signatures of over one thousand residents in Wayne County, Indiana, including male voters.

However, it was not received well by the state legislature. In fact, a reporter for the Cincinnati Gazette described the events as a “farce” and “the most disgraceful affair (he) ever saw in which ladies were concerned.”^[1]

Once the house adjourned, the gathering turned into “a noisy and foolish meeting” full of “desultory debates” and “free exchange of opinion and sentiment” between men, women, women’s rights advocates, temperance advocates, the clerk of the house, senators and their constituents, and “an old, half-crazed individual by the name of Alfred.” Many tried to leave when the crowd burst into uproar, but were unable to push their way through the chaos; described as a “field of crinoline” and a “surging mass of pantaloons.”^[2]

Another petition in favor of “Female Suffrage”, presented to the Indiana state senate in 1859 by advocates Amanda Way and Emma Swank, went just as poorly.

The senate created a joint resolution and an amendment to the state constitution that would confer the right to vote to “women” over the age of twenty-one, however, a last-minute amendment came after deliberations ensuring the word “white” be inserted preceding the word “female” wherever it occurred in the resolution.^[3]This joint resolution, though not adopted, reveals that Black women were not considered to be equal to their fellow, white stateswomen. And, as is often the case when racism permeates legal proceedings, Black women began to resist.

Although Black women had been advocating for themselves since slavery, this specific wave of resistance began in earnest between the beginning of the Civil War era (1861) to the end of the pioneer era (1910); it would not end until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s/1970s. Although the Civil Rights movement itself is stated by the historical/ academic community to span from 1954 to 1968

In early Indiana, it was not uncommon for free Black settlers to be male, as it tended to be easier for single men to escape enslavement than women, who were often mothers. However, Black women still settled in Indiana.^[4]

There are enough surviving accounts of these Black settlers to reveal that the role of Black women would not have been dissimilar to the work of working-class white women. Raising children and doing housework, but also working outside the home to bring in money, was not uncommon. Again, agricultural work, domestic work, textile work, and birth work would not have been unusual. However, Black settler women were permanently excluded from the cult of “True Womanhood” on racial grounds.

Essentially, the symbol of an ideal “woman” and “mother” was a white-centered one, meaning that Black women would never be viewed in the same light as white women because they weren’t given the same respect. White women were subjugated, but were still human beings in the eyes of white society, whereas Black women were seen as less than human; only valuable in terms of the labor or service they provided. While Black women were being excluded, they were also being held to the same standards as their peers- an unfair measure that led to their contributions being downplayed or ignored within historical records.^[5]

They often faced struggles that their white counterparts did not have, like working to save children from enslavement and supporting themselves independently of their male partners.

The change brought on by the Civil War

It was not until January 16, 1864, that the United States War Department released a formal order stating pay regarding Black women’s payment for services, the first action of its kind to acknowledge Black women on such a level.

The desperate condition of Civil War medical care led to General hospitals employing Black women as cooks and nurses, although unofficially this had been taking place for years, with the official pay at $10 a month plus a ration.^[6] There is evidence of Black women serving, knowing their value to the Union Army, and unionizing to fight for better pay and treatment.

An example of this was in Jackson, Mississippi.^[7] Their job was all encompassing–it included medical care (bandaging and administering medicine), but also, clothing, feeding, washing, mental health care (letter writing, praying, and reading), and supply management.^[8] It was not usual for tasks to be segregated by both race and class. Black women were often assigned the more tedious work like cooking, laundry, and chambermaid duties. On the Union side, when nursing, many black nurses were restricted to only nursing patients of the same race.^[9]    

Though many went uncredited and significantly unrewarded for their work, others gained regional acclaim and national fame. Lucy Higgs Nichols was one such accomplished Black Civil War nurse, most famous for her efforts alongside her regiment and congressional backing that resulted in a “special bill” passed and signed by the President that eventually granted her the pension she was due.^[10] This made her “the first woman (of color) to receive a pension for services as nurse and cook.”^[11] The ranks of Lucy’s fellow nurses included Sojourner Truth (who was essential in promoting the need for free Black women to have access to nurse training), Susie King Taylor (who opted in to care for smallpox victims) and Harriet Tubman (who was not only a guide for those escaping enslavement but also a nurse for the union who pioneered alternative treatments for dysentery and smallpox).^[12] The US military’s accreditation of this workforce of entirely Black women was the beginning of a new era; no longer could this percentage of the population be ignored, evident in the fact that nurses like Lucy were acknowledged during a period of national strife. These victories were likely still on the minds of those who left their small southern towns for northern cities in the early 1900s. Soon, the view would shift from just Black nurses to all Black people.

The Great Migration era

Tens of thousands of Black people joined the Great Migration north during the 1920s. From the spontaneous relocations came the rise of women’s clubs alongside church groups, hometown associations, and work-based mutual aid societies.

For example, in Gary, Indiana, African American migrants were restricted to the Central District, referred to as “the Patch.” The local mill company nearest to “the Patch” had segregated departments and jobs, which was common practice in other companies throughout the country. By uniting across racial lines, the Black community bolstered its power and attention. Networks like US Steel’s Gary Works established mutual aid societies and the eventual Gary Local Union 1014, which continued to recruit African Americans long beyond the union’s formation.

While many corporations fulfilled the “obligatory” demand of equal pay for equal work for both minorities and women, they did not go as far as to fight for access to equal work and promotions, and Black women were included under both umbrellas.^[13]

Through custom and prejudice, Black women found that they not only had limited choices for residence, but also limited choices for employment through which to support their families. Census records show that the vast majority of Black workers were listed as either “Porters” or “Servants.” Of the 9 thousand Black women employed in Indianapolis by 1910, 7,000 were either “servants” or “laundresses.” Despite a state civil rights law, which was adopted in 1885, “full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of inns, restaurants, eating houses, barber shops, public conveyances on land and water, theaters, and all places of public accommodation and amusements” would not be given to Black people.

In 1922, Butler saw the birth of Sigma Gamma Rho, founded by seven young Black women who were graduates teaching in public schools. The sorority was founded to ensure that Black women would have sustained access to educational opportunities. Like others of its kind, the sorority spread across the nations through additional chapters and alumni associations.^[14]

The progressive era was marked by cooperation between Black and white women alongside one another. Temperance and suffrage brought new allies together to educate both races and sexes on how truly important the right to vote was for women. White members of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) did not shy away from speaking in Black churches to Black congregations. Similarly, Black members of the WCTU braved prejudice and harassment to work in the poles themselves. By 1912, the Equal Suffrage League hosted both men and women in their own Indianapolis branch.

There, they collaborated with the other six white branches of the league to secure the same ballot that white voters had enjoyed for years. Black efforts were also often aided by white philanthropy after people of color established and sustained their own spaces and organizations. One of the more important spaces that was established was the Indiana Neighborhood House, which was built by the Charity Organization Society in 1897. Originally opened to cater to both Black and white people in need, Officers soon decided that the needs of Black people were too “Special” for a shared space to remain.

White businessman Frank Flanner decided that a cottage for the exclusive use of Black people was warranted. And thus, the Flanner guild – now called the Flanner House – was born. Its warm hearth filled with furniture lovingly donated by the Black community. Led by a biracial board, Black physicians, attorneys, and schoolteachers who made up the middle class instilled their values in those of lower-class origins who decided to visit. Small lessons in personal cleanliness in the home or saving money in a ‘Rainy-day’ fund would build the habits necessary to support the businessmen and mothers of the future.^[16] Even Indiana’s namesake university contributed to the history of women’s rights activism within the state.

Indiana University Bloomington founded its Women’s Studies Program in 1973.^[17] In 1976, the university offered its first-ever women’s studies course.^[18] Since its inception, the program has grown to include an average of 25 courses per semester, involving 1500 students, and an undergraduate Certificate in Women’s Studies. Approved by the Indiana Higher Education Commission in 1977, the certificate served as a model for other certificate programs in the state. The university explored topics as diverse as “Women’s Authority in West African Villages,” “The Women’s Collective: How to Start One, How to Keep One Going,” and “Women’s Financial Planning.”^[19] The Office for Women’s Affairs- which operated from 1979 to 1985- served as a unit for advocacy on campus, addressing the non-curricular needs of staff, students, and women faculty.^[20]

All of these triumphs directly stemmed from the relentless pursuit of equity and justice by the women of Indiana’s past. And as Black professionals became more visible, Black history became more important to people. The less-than-affectionately named “Negro History weeks” had existed in Indianapolis during the late 1960s. Various unofficial Black history celebrations were held in the years 1969 and 1970, but it was 1973 that saw the first inauguration of Black History Month as an annual event.

Newspaper coverage through articles, exhibits in museums, and essay contests followed. Professional historians began to see the historical significance of the civil rights movement, while schools would come to associate February with the time to celebrate such accomplishments.

By 1975, a Black bicentennial committee was formed in Indianapolis. Four years later, the Indiana Historical Society established a Black history section and published a quarterly newsletter entitled Black History News and Notes. In the decade that followed, Ophelia Umar’s Freetown village came to the proposal stages as a permanent installation at White River State Park. Professors at Purdue, like Darlene Clark Hine, began to collect documents on Black women in the Midwest. And by 1988, the Indiana Public School system incorporated a Black history curriculum into classrooms during the fall semesters.^[21] 

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Works Cited

^[1] Pat Scholten, A Public “Jollification”: The 1859 Women’s Rights Petition before the Indiana Legislature, 72, No. 4, Indiana Magazine of History. (December 1976), 347.

^[2] Scholten, A Public “Jollification,” 348.

^[3] Scholten, A Public “Jollification,” 359.

^[4] Deborah Gray White, Ar’n’t I a Woman? (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1985), 76.

^[5]  Laurie A Wilkie, The Archeology of Mothering: An African-American Midwife’s Tale (New York: Routledge, 2003), 56.

^[6] Ella Forbes, African American women during the Civil War (New York : New York, London, England, Garland Publishing Group, 1998), 61.

^[7] Forbes, African American women during the Civil War, 64.

^[8] Paige Gibbons Backus, “Female Nurses During the Civil War: Angels of the Battlefield,” The American Battlefield Trust (2021). Retrieved from https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/female-nurses-during-civil-war.

^[9] Backus, “Female Nurses During the Civil War.”

^[10] “Two Regimental Reunions,” Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, IN), 13th September 1895, p. 3. ; “Aunt Lucy Nichols Pensioned,” The Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, IN), 13th December 1898, p. 2.

^[11] “Aunt Lucy Nichols Pensioned,” The Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, IN), 13th December 1898, p. 2.

^[12] Julian L. Gallegos, “Honoring African American Nurses During Black History Month,” Purdue University. (2021). Retrieved from https://www.purdue.edu/hhs/news/2021/02/honoring-african-american-nurses-during-black-history-month/

^[13] Ruth Needleman, New Labor Forum: Black Caucuses in Steel (Sage Publications, Inc. Fall – Winter, 1998), 44.

^[14] Thornbrough, Indiana Blacks in the Twentieth Century, 12.

^[15] Thornbrough, Indiana Blacks in the Twentieth Century, 21.

^[16] Thornbrough, Indiana Blacks in the Twentieth Century, 24.

^[17] Jean Robinson, “Women’s Studies Newsletter: Special Convention Issue” 7, no. 3, (Summer, 1979), 30.

^[18] Jean Robinson, “Women’s Studies Newsletter,” 30.

^[19] Jean Robinson, Women’s Studies Newsletter,” 30.

^[20] Amanda Ferrara, “Office of Women’s Affairs,” Indiana University Bloomington Archives

(2016). Retrieved from https://blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/2016/01/04/c125/

^[21] Thornbrough, Indiana Blacks in the Twentieth Century, 226.