Fort Wayne’s early African-American settlers blazed a trial that burns bright today.

by Tom Castaldi

On May 16, 1849, three black businessmen, Willis W. Elliot, Henry H. Canada and George W. Fisher, purchased at the public land auction a lot on the south side of Jefferson Street, between Francis and Hanna streets.  In order to ensure that the property was removed from the tax rolls so that the congregation could build a church there, the three men sold the land to Reverend George Nelson Black, a thirty-four-year-old blacksmith who served as minister to the congregation, and then had the deed registered in the name of the “Trustees of the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Fort Wayne, Indiana.”

 

In these difficult years for black settlers, however, no church was built, although building materials were purchased. The lot was at last sold by the congregation in 1853 and it was not until after the Civil War, in 1871, that the A.M.E. church of Fort Wayne would be able to establish a house of worship.

African-Americans had been a part of the development of Fort Wayne since the earliest times.  There were black trappers in the wilderness and African-Americans are known to have lived among the Indians.  The first black man known by name to have lived in Fort Wayne was Philip Framan, who worked for an army contractor in 1797, perhaps as a baker. There were blacks in the U.S. Army garrisons of Fort Wayne, too.  Private David Gillen and Private Philip Faudree served during the War of 1812, and Faudree remained in the area as a wagonsmith in the years after he left the service.

It was not until the 1840s, however, that a small black community became evident in pioneer Fort Wayne.  Fort Wayne’s little community had grown sufficiently by 1845 that the Ohio and Western Conference of the A.M.E. put the town on its circuit, making it possible for visiting preachers to attend to the spiritual needs of African-Americans at the Three Rivers. It was difficult for these settlers to make their home in Indiana for in this era state law required African-Americans to pay the county of their residence a bond of $500 to ensure their good behavior and that they would not become a burden to the Township “Overseer of the Poor.”

Although in general the Methodist Church was the most receptive congregation to African-Americans in their worship, in this segregationist age it was the African-American Methodist Episcopal Church that offered the only real assistance.

During the 1850s, the congregation was beset by a host of laws and attitudes that made it extremely difficult to expand its numbers and attract the necessary aid to create a proper church.  Anti-abolitionists and pro-slavery advocates loudly proclaimed their views form the pulpit of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church to the pages of the Fort Wayne Sentinel, and those who voiced their anti-slavery sentiments in the local abolitionist newspaper, The Standard, were openly vilified.  The Underground Railroad was active through the Fort Wayne area, but little that is definite is known about it since it was an illegal activity.  The greatest impediment to the growth of a black congregation and its ability to create a church was the revised Indiana Constitution of 1851, which forbade blacks from entering the state and fined anyone who would hire black immigrants.  Even more restrictive legislation followed throughout the 1850s, denying blacks access to the public schools, theaters and the law courts.

Not until after the Civil War and the end of such repressive laws did the black community in Fort Wayne again begin to grow.

This article originally appeared in Fort Wayne Magazine, "Along the Heritage Trail", January/February 2004, No. 3, page 57. Our thanks for allowing us to republish this article on the History Center's Blog.

Batter Up!

Today we introduce a new blogger for History Center Notes and Queries: Mark Meyer.

Mark is a lifelong resident of Allen County, graduating from Bishop Dwenger and IPFW.  His career path has taken him through management in Human Services, Television, and Online Sales. He’s had an interest in old things since age 11 when he traded a new ’64 Mantle for a stack of ’54 Topps that were “just too cool”.  He has produced a special featuring the locally lensed 1962 feature film “Night of Evil” and researched and published historical newsletters on his 1920s Forest Hill (Driving Park Extended) neighborhood. Mark is widowed and the “father of three beautiful daughters and three equally beautiful granddaughters”.

 

by Mark Meyer

There are two photos of him in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. As you enter the special exhibit you'll find him pictured standing behind the Philadelphia team he managed to the 1906 World Championship. Around the corner you'll see an earlier image of him with teammates from the Midwest's premier barnstorming team of the 1890s. But neither photo notes that he was one of, if not the, last African-American to play on a professional baseball team until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier 50 years later. That professional team was Fort Wayne’s entry in the Western-Interstate League.

The player was Solomon White, better known as Sol White. White had eight years of experience playing baseball professionally when he arrived at the Nickel Plate station in Fort Wayne in April of 1895. In the previous eight years he had played on teams in other white leagues but had distinguished himself as a talent on some of the best “colored” teams of the time. These included the Pittsburgh Keystones, the New York Gorhams and the original Cuban Giants. His work with New York’s Cuban Giants in 1894 apparently caught the attention of the Fort Wayne organizer/manager, C.F. Jewell. Jewell hired White to play second base for the city’s entry into the new Western-Interstate League. The W-I League originally consisted of 6 teams from Indiana (Fort Wayne, Terre Haute, and Lafayette) and Illinois (Aurora, Joliet, and Bloomington). The fact that Jewell was an organizer of the league, and already had White under contract, likely played a role in the new league failing to adopt a rule barring players of color. That practice had been in place in the National League for several years and the minor leagues had followed suit. White found himself in a very unique situation that spring.

From the start, the team and the league were on shaky financial ground. The team opened the season with an exhibition game against Cleveland of the National League. They were soundly beaten in front of a modest home-town crowd. Three home games against a Toledo team followed. The games, played at the ball field at Lakeside Park failed to draw the crowds hoped for by the promoters. From that point on Fort Wayne newspaper articles reported on the financial conditions of the team and league with the same attention they gave to game coverage. Despite the financial uncertainties and the added pressure brought on by his race, White excelled on the playing field. Nearly every game reported upon in the newspaper noted White’s skill with the glove or his prowess at the plate. Perhaps no account better illustrates White’s experience than this excerpt from an Indianapolis newspaper: “White, a colored man, played second for Fort Wayne. When the game commenced and was seen by the bleachers that a negro was in the game, several uncomplimentary remarks were made, but after White demonstrated that he is a fine ball player, the sentiment changed and the negro’s playing was applauded.” The challenges were not limited to the crowd. In one game against Aurora the opposing manager knocked White down as he was rounding 3^rd for home. In another he was the butt of the joke in an attempted trick play. Despite the conditions White posted impressive numbers at the plate. Through the first nine league games he was batting in the lead-off spot going 18 for 46, with 2 stolen bases and 12 runs scored. By the end of May it was apparent the league and the team were in danger of folding. Fortunately for White, the right team was coming to town.

Fort Wayne’s final home opponent was the Page Fence Giants, the premier barnstorming team of the day. The Giants were a very unique venture sponsored by a bicycle shop and the Page Fence Company of Adrian, Michigan. The team traveled town-to-town in a sixty-foot-long, gilt-ornamented railroad parlor car. Before the opening game the players would parade through town performing tricks on shiny new bicycles. They’d follow that performance with a brass band concert which in turn was followed by a well-played game of baseball. All of the talented musician/athletes on this popular team were African-American. White performed very well, leading Fort Wayne to victory in two out of three games. In game two he managed four hits, including two triples. The second baseman’s performance led to an offer to join the barnstormers but White stuck to his contract with the Fort Wayne team. A week later White’s obligation ended when the W-I League and the Fort Wayne team folded. The next day, according to the Fort Wayne News, “Sol White is now covering second base for the Page Fence Giants”.

By White’s own historical account of the early Negro Leagues he was the last African American to play on a professional white team in the East. Nationally, only a few players in the Kansas State League followed. There were also a few African-American teams that later competed in white semi-pro leagues but by the end of the century that practice was dead as well. His move to the Page Fence Giants was the start of an illustrious career in “Colored Baseball”. He was a player-manager for the World-Champion Philadelphia Giants1904 to1906 and played a role in two new national leagues: The National Negro League and the Eastern Colored League. He last coached in 1926 for the Newark Stars and ended his career as a newspaper columnist who championed the contributions of African-American ball players. Following the 1906 season he authored, “The History of Colored Baseball”. It remains a rare and invaluable record of the early days of segregated baseball.

White’s stay in our hometown may have been brief but his achievement is a notable chapter in the colorful history of local sports. Against huge odds, Sol White excelled at a game he loved and managed to keep the color barrier open just a little bit longer.

This story written by Mark originally appeared in the Fort Wayne News Sentinel.

 

Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History

As we prepared for the two programs the History Center presented this year for Black History Month, it dawned on me that I knew nothing about how Black History Month came to be. In the process of my research, I discovered a children’s book about Carter G. Woodson, written by the parents of local author Fred McKissack. Since Fred is a friend, I contacted him to see if his parents had any thoughts on Woodson (whose work led to Black History Month) after their research and writing about his life. And I gained some insights into how our educational system has not always worked for the positive for African-American students.

Carter G. Woodson was born on December 19, 1875, the son of former slaves James Henry Woodson and Anne Eliza Riddle. James Woodson joined the Union army near the end of the Civil War and he and Anne married after the war, settling in Huntington, WV. In 1874, they moved to a farm in New Canton, VA where Carter was born.

James Woodson could neither read nor write but as Patricia and Fredrick McKissack say in their book, he told his seven children, “It’s never too late to learn.” They carry this theme throughout their book, a fine lesson for children. (Carter G. Woodson : the father of Black history / Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, copyright 2002, Enslow Publishers Inc.)

At age 16, the younger Woodson went to West Virginia to work in the coal mines and on the railroad. By 1893, his parents had moved back to Huntington. They had two daughters who wanted to go to school, as did their son. Since he was 18, past the standard age of graduation, he had to convince the principal that his attendance would be a positive for the school and after proving his worth as a student graduated within 18 months.

Woodson then went to Berea College in Kentucky, completing his undergraduate degree in the summers while working as the principal of a school. In 1900, he became principal of Fredrick Douglass High School, his alma mater, and remained in that position for three years.

On December 19, 1903, he began work in the Philippines as a teacher and had an epiphany that would change his life and that of countless students. The Philippine children had little interest in the books and other materials provided for them because they could not relate to the experiences of white, American children who were the focus of the textbooks. When Woodson realized this, he changed his teaching methods and related the schoolwork to experiences that Philippine children would have. Along the way he realized that black children faced the same dilemma—trying to learn based upon a culture they did not know or particularly understand.

Woodson spent his summers studying at the University of Chicago and in 1908 came home to stay and complete his masters degree. He went on to Harvard and received his PhD in history in 1912. He took a job at M Street High School in Washington DC where he taught history, French and Spanish. He taught black history in his school, not common in American schools of the time, with the philosophy that Black Americans “must teach ourselves”.

Woodson was laying the foundations for the state of African American history and Black Studies as we know them today. Woodson is the only individual of slave parentage to earn a doctorate in history from Harvard and was the first professionally trained historian to devote his scholarly career to advancing black history.

“To date, with few possible exceptions, no individual has contributed as much as Woodson did to the evolution of African American history.” (“The Early Black History Movement, Carter G. Woodson, and Lorenzo Johnston Greene” by Pero Gaglo Dagbovie, University of Illinois Press, 2007)

In 1914, Woodson became a member of the American Negro Academy, a group that found and saved African American writings. In 1915, he established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) to teach black people about themselves and their history. He became a prolific scholar, writing, co-authoring and/or editing more than 20 books, more than a dozen major articles and countless newspaper columns and book reviews.

Two heroes of Woodson’s were Fredrick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, both born in February. He used the month as the time in 1926 to implement “Negro History Week”, which later became Black History Month. He received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP for his effort.

Woodson eventually left teaching to run the ASNLH full time. According to Dagbovie, one of Woodson’s most important contributions to the early black history movement was “his mission and ability to transform black history into a practical and popular medium for uplifting blacks and challenging racial prejudice”. He “democratized the study of black history by extending the discipline to various groups of scholars that were not professionally trained…” maintaining that “the study and dissemination of black history needed to extend to the working-class and youth sectors of the black community”.

“Woodson reasoned that the knowledge of African American history was, after all, an important and practical (though nonmaterial) way in which black people could become liberated and empowered.”

Negro History Week was the first major achievement in popularizing black history, says Dagbovie, and unique because it focused on black youth.

“Although some critics deemed Woodson’s strategy of gradually introducing black history as a supplement to ‘white-stream’ American history as too conservative, the approach was pragmatic and very radical when analyzed in the broader context of his agenda. Woodson knew that if he had demanded that black history be integrated into the American educational system all at once, his plan would have been too easily dismissed. A modest, week-long celebration during the winter season appeared much less threatening to the white public, to philanthropists, and to those ‘highly mis-educated Negroes’ whom he sought to convert into devout black nationalists.”

Woodson wrote a book in 1933 entitled “The Mis-Education of the Negro”. In the chapter “How We Drifted from the Truth”, he writes:

“Negro educators of today may have more sympathy and interest in the race than the whites now exploiting Negro institutions as educators, but the former have no more vision than their competitors. Taught from books of the same bias, trained by Caucasians of the same prejudices or by Negroes of enslaved minds, one generation of Negro teachers after another have served no higher purpose than to do what they are told to do. In other words, a Negro teacher instructing Negro children is in many respects a white teacher thus engaged, for the program in each case is about the same.”

Woodson wanted blacks to study history seriously and incorporate it genuinely into their world views. He argued that the fact that blacks do have a history could significantly decrease racial prejudice and that if blacks knew their history they would be inspired to act, telling teachers a historian was a “rigorous collector and organizer of facts, that children could be historians by recording their families’ pasts, and that even those not formally educated could be historians of some sort by writing down, in whatever language, the histories of their communities.”

He firmly believed that black history needed to be recorded by black people.

From Dagbovie’s book:

“Woodson instructed blacks to become more radical in their politics. He wanted blacks to use politics only to better secure their goals when practical and to create a brand of politics from within. Woodson believed that the political tradition in America, which had oppressed his people for so long was not designed to empower black people. He advocated a straightforward, bourgeoisie, economic nationalist platform. He believed that blacks should patronize black businesses and warned his readers that such an alternative would work only if the black businesses had the community’s well-being at heart. He advised blacks not to become enslaved by the vices of materialism. He counseled blacks not to waste money on unnecessary items. While he valued hard, manual labor, he discouraged blacks from leading a life in traditional industrial education. By the 1930s, such an approach was becoming impractical in his mind.”

Woodson never married and spent the bulk of his time writing, researching and promoting the study of history. He had a tight circle of seven younger black historians who served as his apprentices for varying lengths of time: Alrutheus A. Taylor, Charles H. Wesley, Luther Porter Jackson, Lorenzo Johnston Greene, Rayford W. Logan, William Sherman Savage and James Hugo Johnston. Woodson and Greene (1899-1988) took “black history to the masses, the working class and youth throughout the nation,” says Dagbovie. His protégés were reluctant to write about Woodson and he did not encourage academic looks at his work.

Woodson died on April 3, 1950. He was praised by many after his death, but not W.E.B. Du Bois, who “wrote a scathing critique of Woodson in Masses and Mainstream….According to Du Bois, Woodson had ‘a good mind, but was by no means brilliant.’”

Du Bois said Woodson overate, was stubborn, had no ties family or social, and was a loner with a “rather narrow outlook…a cramped soul. There was in him no geniality and very little humor. ….he did develop a deep-seated dislike, if not hatred, of white people of the United States and of the world.”

It is important to note that by 1950 Du Bois had “established a tradition of openly criticizing black American leadership”…and that he and Woodson also did not have a close relationship Ebony Magazine, founded in the mid-1940s, paid homage to Woodson in the late 1950s:

“His achievements won him many admirers, but few of them became close friends. To Woodson, a stubborn, single-minded individualist, this was not of the slightest importance. He never consciously sought to be liked, never cultivated those habits and personality traits which could endear him to the public. He was, quite possibly, too busy. For decades, it was his custom to devote virtually every waking hour in research, writing and editing. Nothing else mattered. He had not ties to anyone, depended on no one, came as close as any man to being an island ‘intire of it selfe.’ “

John Hope Franklin, considered one of the most respected and established authorities on African American History, wrote “The New Negro History” published first in The Crisis, in February, 1957:

“This (Woodson’s effort) was, perhaps, the most far-reaching and ambitious effort to rewrite history that has ever been attempted in this country. But it was more than an attempt to rewrite history. It was a remarkable attempt to rehabilitate a whole people—to explode racial myths, to establish a secure and respectable place for the Negro in the evolution of the American social order, to develop self-respect and self-esteem among those who had been subjected to the greatest indignities known in the Western world. Finally, it was a valiant attempt to force America to keep faith with herself, to remind her that truth is more praiseworthy than power, and that justice and equality, long the state policy of this nation, should apply to all its citizens and even to the writing of history.”

Negro History Week became Black History Month sometime in the late 1970s and the USPS issued a commemorative stamp of Woodson in 1984 as part of their Black Heritage Series.

On an interesting side note, “Woodson’s views of black women may appear to have been at times ambiguous, but overall they were quite progressive when compared to the views of other black male scholars and historians of his time,” wrote Dagbovie.

“The place of women in Woodson’s mind, scholarship, and program can be interpreted as one of his most important yet largely overlooked contributions to African American history and the historical profession…In his characteristically iconoclastic tone, Woodson argued that black men who opposed the term ‘Negress’ were hypocrites ‘since many of us treat our women as if they were not better than dogs.’”

Woodson rarely discussed black women in his publications in detail and they were not featured extensively in the Journal of Negro History. There was a lack of women writers at the time but at least ten Journal articles authored mostly by men explored dimensions of black women in history.

Black women did have important roles in Woodson’s lifetime in the ASNLH. In 1935, Lucy Harth Smith and Mary McLeod Bethune became the first black women elected to the Association’s executive council. Bethune had a particularly close relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt and from 1936-1945 was, in one scholar’s estimation, “the pre-eminent race leader at large”.

Dagbovie wrote, “Clearly, Woodson welcomed many black women into the Association as equals in popularizing the past of black people. He supported and praised many black women’s ‘unselfish work’ and publicly celebrated the devotion of many black female teachers and social activists who were committed to promoting African American history. He encouraged and promoted their writings. In fact, at one level Woodson himself was more like the black female amateur historians he praised than his highly specialized fellow male disciples. Like Jane D. Shackelford, Helen A. Whiting, Jessie Roy, Geneva Turner, and countless others, Woodson produced texts for a broad readership. He shared with his female educator counterparts a primary concern for the youth. This interest was something unique among male scholars of his time, many of whom avoided producing scholarship suitable for the masses and focused instead on combating racism in the academy.”

So how do the McKissacks view Woodson?

“As a preeminent historian and the father of what would become Black History Month, it was an extraordinary honor to research and write a biography on Carter G. Woodson. He knew this country's official narrative was incomplete, but Woodson made sure the record would reflect the richness of American history. It is impossible to quantify the positive effects of his scholarship concerning the often ignored or overtly suppressed contributions of African-Americans in building and shaping the United States. Where would we be as a country without Carter G. Woodson?”

Resources used in this blog post include:

Carter G. Woodson : the father of Black history / Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, copyright 2002, Enslow Publishers Inc

The early Black history movement, Carter G. Woodson, and Lorenzo Johnston Greene / Dagbovie, Pero Gaglo. Urbana : University of Illinois Press, copyright 2007.

http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/biographies/a/A-Biography-Of-Carter-G-Woodson.htm

http://www.mixedracestudies.org/wordpress/?p=13583 which features Woodson’s article Beginnings of Miscegenation of Whites and Blacks