Indiana Landmarks Black Heritage Preservation leader visits New Albany
Nov. 16—NEW ALBANY — Indiana Landmarks has been a force in preserving heritage since 1960.
In 1992, the organization started the Black Heritage Preservation Program in order to save historic African American sites throughout Indiana. They work with local community members to identify and document places of Black heritage that should be listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Indiana Landmarks funds the research through grant funds. Organization officials said they have seen an increase for the preservation of Black heritage and have the need for extra help.
On Wednesday, Indiana Landmarks sent Eunice Trotter, director of the organization's Black Heritage Preservation Program, to New Albany to tour and experience some of the city's historic landmarks.
"We support any efforts to preserve Black heritage," Trotter said. "What I am finding is that there is so much need around the state that what we're doing now will leverage the support of other sources of funding and work to do this."
Trotter visited the Second Baptist Church, also known as Town Clock Church. The church was built in 1852 and was a link in the Underground Railroad.
The church was a point of interest for Trotter due to its ties to help save freed slaves as a part of the Underground Railroad network. Trotter was invited to sit at the Friends of the Town Clock Church board meeting to learn more about the site's history and to discuss more locations like the church.
During her visit, she met local author Pam Peters. They discussed her book "The Underground Railroad in Floyd County, Indiana." They talked about Black heritage in the Southern Indiana area.
Trotter said one reason why Black heritage needs to be preserved is because it was never written down.
"Those contributions aren't being recognized because nobody wrote them down," Trotter said. "What we have to do now is to find out about this information and this history so that we can then document it and share it."
During her time with Indiana Landmarks, Trotter discovered that there was a church in Indianapolis that had been designed by a Black architect in the early 1800s.
The Black preservation effort is funded through a grant, and the organization is seeking information about buildings and sites that should be saved and recognized in the state.
Indiana Landmarks is always searching for help with the search for historical landmarks, regardless of race. The organization is not an agency, so it cannot collect documents, but they can give information on where to donate them.
"A lot of artifacts are being lost on the regular because people don't know what to do with them," Trotter said. "They don't want them personally, so they throw them away and that history is gone."
The organization is more focused on preserving buildings that have a historical importance to the area where they're located. To get in contact with the New Albany office about a building that should be preserved, call 812-284-4534.
"It's important to preserves these pieces of history because they are a part of the general history of this nation," Trotter said. "These pieces of history all fit within our history, and our history is not an island. It's everyone's history."
To get involved with the Black Heritage Preservation Program visit indianalandmarks.org and click on the 'Join & Give' tab. From there you will be able to donate, become a member and volunteer.
"We are just always looking for people who are interested in researching African American heritage," Trotter said. "We are definitely interested in people who want to support what we're doing through contribution of their resources to our program. We just want to create a team of people who are interested in preserving and remembering the contributions of African Americans."
