Monday, December 16, 2024
ADDISON TIMES MAJOR SPONSOR: STEPHENSON RIFE ATTORNEYS
STEPPING THROUGH SHELBYVILLE
photos by JACK BOYCE
A USA Track & Field National Junior Olympic meet brought over 3,300 youth runners to the Blue River Cross Country Course on Saturday, and some 8,000-plus visitors to Shelbyville.
Local Court Brought Kids from Community Together
Editor’s note: The Bill Garrett mural will be formally dedicated this week, and Shelbyville native Tom Graham, author of “Getting Open: The Unknown Story of Bill Garrett and the Integration of College Basketball”, will be on hand for the ceremony and to speak with Shelbyville Middle School students. (More on Garrett later this week.) I wrote the following article, republished here, for print in 2021 about Graham’s own basketball upbringing in Shelbyville. - Kristiaan Rawlings
A windmill in the distance harkens back to a time when Howard Street was at the edge of Shelbyville. | 2021 photo by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
by KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
In an era of economic and racial disparity, Graham’s court was a great equalizer.
Although seldom used now, the full basketball court remains on a hill southeast of the Van Ave. and Howard Street intersection, with a nearby windmill one of the few other remnants in an area once considered the edge of Shelbyville.
“There are a lot of stories there, and to my recollection, they’re all good stories,” Forrest Theobald, SHS Class of 1960, said.
1954: The all-Black Booker T. Washington Elementary school, constructed in 1870 and long dilapidated, had been closed just five years, and only after the state legislature made it illegal to segregate public school students based on “race, creed or color.”
Times were tough for many in the community, regardless of race.
“Some white people weren’t accepted, especially those who lived around Pike Street. They were discriminated against. I know because they hung around us at school,” Jack McDuffey, a former Booker T. student, said.
McDuffey, a stand-out athlete who graduated at 16 years old and immediately went into military service, remembers only being allowed in the back door at his mother’s place of employment, a restaurant downtown Shelbyville.
Meanwhile, Kermit and Esther Graham were pouring asphalt for a 90-foot long tennis court behind their home, 415 Van Ave. But with young children Jim, Peggy (Cliadakis) and Tom at home, basketball soon took priority.
Theobald and Tom Graham were shooting around on the new court when four boys - three Black, one white - pulled up in a vehicle on Howard Street and traversed the field.
“They (Bob Cowherd, Ron Mitchell and Don and Steve Brown) stopped just short of the fence, looked at us - two runts out there - and yelled, ‘Hey, can we come and play?’” Theobald recalls. “And Tom said, ‘Yeah, sure.’”
A tradition, which lasted nearly a decade, had been unwittingly born.
“We were there every day in the summer,” Theobald said.
“If you kept winning, you kept playing,” Jack Krebs, an eventual Butler University stand-out athlete in three sports, said.
A motley crew of young people from every walk of life and skill level were soon rotating between Graham’s court, the A&W and a swimming hole. Black children were not regularly allowed to swim in Porter Pool until the late 1950s; they instead went to Little Blue River behind the fairgrounds’ race track. But at times nearly every player on Graham’s court was Black.
“My parents never batted an eye,” Tom Graham said.
And the games, which predated basketball camps and travel leagues, attracted NCAA Division I athletes.
“There was no coaching at Grahams. No motion offense and sometimes very little defense. If the guy bringing the ball upcourt didn’t fire up a shot the guy who caught the first pass did,” Stan Sutton, SHS Class of 1956 and later sports editor at the Bloomington Herald-Times, wrote in 2006. “The best chance of shooting was to be a good rebounder.”
Tom Graham in high school, on Graham’s Court, with Howard Street in the background.
There were only two rules, Charles “Chuck” Thompson, son of long-time SHS teacher “Boots” Thompson and teammate of McDuffey, Krebs and Gary Long on the conference-winning SHS team of 1957, said. “There were not to be any fights out there, and the second was to monitor your language.”
Little else besides basketball mattered then in Indiana, a state with “bad roads and no television,” as Graham put it. “The average attendance in the NBA in the early 1950s was less than the average attendance of Shelbyville High School (games in Paul Cross gym),” he said.
A town’s pride was in its high school basketball team, and when a smaller school beat a bigger school, the celebratory memories lasted decades
But despite the game’s popularity, courts were hard to find. The “girls gym” at SHS had smaller-than-regulation goals and Paul Cross Gym was off-limits except to the school basketball teams.
“The only other time that court was used was for graduation,” Theobald said. “Otherwise, you didn’t get on the court, and you certainly didn’t walk on it with street shoes.”
“Barnes terrorized anyone who even thought about stepping onto Paul Cross Gym’s floor in street shoes,” Graham said.
The lone exception, Theobald noted, was for a sectional pep rally, when Coach Frank Barnes, who led the 1947 SHS state championship team, superstitiously walked students diagonally across the court.
In spite of those inhibitions, local young kids developed a love for the game. Principal Vaughn Drake and teacher Carter Bramwell arrived at Addison Township school in the early 1950s and took over the elementary squad. Fundamentals were taught as Addison often played older teams.
Graham’s first organized basketball game, as a third-grader with Addison Township, was against Shelby Township, coached by a young Gene Sexton. Shelby won the game, 42-5. Graham scored three. The other two points for Addison? “A Shelby player hit the wrong basket,” Graham said.
Graham’s court became the default place for fellowship and skill development. Krebs used to ride his Schwinn from his parents’ grocery store/home across from the high school to Van Ave. One time, he tossed his bike into a “gully” and ran for the court. The games lasted late into the night on the lighted court, so Krebs caught a ride home. When he returned a couple of days later, he found the gully - including his bicycle - had been filled in with dirt.
“It wasn’t a real good bike, anyway,” Krebs said.
As the kids grew, the competition stiffened. Gary Long, eventual captain for the Indiana University basketball team; Jerry Bass, Morristown native and IU player; Dan Thurston, Ball State University player; Mitchell, stand-out for Tulane University; and Jim and Jack Tindall, Indiana Central, now University of Indianapolis, graced the court. So did the likes of high school star basketball players Phil Lackey, Lonnie Walker and Dave Spannbauer.
Sometimes everyone on the court was a college basketball player. Crowds gathered on summer evenings, sitting on the wooden fence or the grass, and Dwight Long, Gary’s father, watched from a chair in his pickup parked alongside the court.
“The rest of us showed up hoping for a cheap thrill such as hitting a jumper over an IU defender,” Sutton wrote.
Thompson attributes hours at Graham’s as the reason for the Golden Bears’ 1957 co-conference championship. “That probably would not have been possible if we hadn’t spent two or three summers playing basketball almost every night.”
But that season ended with a heart-breaking two-point loss to archrival Columbus.
“Gary Long said, ‘If that’s the worst thing that ever happened to us in our lives, then we’ve had a good life,” Thompson said, before adding, “Well, he didn’t say it right after the game. He said that several years later.”
As the years passed, city parks added basketball amenities and the original group moved on. By the time Esther Graham died in 1987 and Kermit - who owned Shelby Motors Inc. with his brother, Kenneth, for many years - died in 1994, the court was overgrown.
One potential buyer wanted to develop houses on the property, but Tom Graham and Cliadakis - Jim Graham had passed away - decided to sell to Mark and Robin Williams, who promised to update the old farmhouse.
“They kept the 24 acres unspoiled and made a lot of improvements that fit the character of the place, including carving a half-moon on the door of the ‘Eleanor Roosevelt,’ as they were called in the day: the outhouse in the barnyard,” Graham said.
Mark Williams resurfaced the courts and installed new goals. “He wanted to put lights out there, too, but he passed away (in 2005) before any of that could happen,” Robin said.
She eventually remarried, to Nolan Barger, who plans to resurface the courts, which their children sometimes use, again next year.
But it was always about more than just basketball. When Theobald returned to Shelbyville with a junk car in the early 1960s, he asked Kermit Graham for help. Graham had two used cars in stock, one of which happened to have once belonged to Theobald’s father.
“Dad took really good care of his cars, so I wanted that one, but I didn’t have any money,” Theobald said. “Kermit said, ‘Don’t worry about it right now. When you get out of (college), you can start paying me back.’ And that’s what we did. That was part of the relationship that came out of Tom’s basketball court.”
Michael “Mick” McDuffey, Jack’s brother and frequent player on Graham’s court who died in 2020, would have agreed. When interviewed by Graham for “Getting Open: The Unknown Story of Bill Garrett and the Integration of College Basketball” book, McDuffey fondly recalled days at the court.
At one point in the interview, Graham apologized for having once been so unaware of race relations in the community.
“My attempt to apologize caused an awkward silence,” Graham recalled. “What, after all, could he say? Surely not, ‘That’s okay.’”
Instead, McDuffey simply smiled and said, “You know, your mother was the sweetest lady. When we were playing basketball on hot days, she would bring us a pitcher of ice water, and say, ‘You boys must be thirsty.’”
That consideration for others remains in the Graham family. Tom’s daughter, Rachel Cody, co-authored the Garrett book with him and is now working on a book about race relations in Portland, Ore. Both Tom and Rachel are Harvard University graduates. Tom’s son, Ian, (both father and son are attorneys) wrote a book called “Unbillable Hours” about his work successfully overturning the wrongful conviction and double-life sentence of a gifted Hispanic teenager named Mario Rocha, which also was the subject of an award-winning documentary.
“I always wanted my children to have that viewpoint (of justice and equity),” Graham, who recently finished an appointment by the Obama administration serving as the US Member of the World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body, said.
As the nation simultaneously celebrates and wrestles with its past, former Graham’s court players seem to have come to terms with the yesteryears of their childhoods.
“I have good memories of where I was born and raised,” Jack McDuffey said. “Shelbyville’s my home.”
NOTEBOOK:
Thank you to every donor for your continued support as The Addison Times forges ahead to fund 2025 and beyond. We will once again provide a quarterly publication with extra news and photos in 2025 as a gift for your support of $100 or more. This past year, we’ve covered city and county meetings, our students, local business, primary and general elections, commercial and residential development, and, of course, daily local history. Please consider a one-time or monthly donation to The Addison Times, either online or via a check to The Addison Times, 54 W. Broadway, #13, Shelbyville, Ind., 46176. Thank you for your continued support of daily local news and history. I appreciate each of you. - Kristiaan Rawlings, Editor
NATIONAL NEWS: YouTube told subscribers last week that it’s raising the cost of a monthly subscription to $83 starting Jan. 13, up $10 from its current price, and roughly in line with the average US cable TV bill. TV services like YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV—which deliver most of the channels of a traditional television package over the internet without needing to install equipment or sign a contract—were supposed to offer a more user-friendly alternative to cable. And they did...for awhile. But as they get more expensive, subscribers are beginning to wonder if the convenience is still worth it. (Morning Brew)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights:
Nov. 21, 1967
Fred Avant was recipient of the McKeand Football Award, presented by J.M. McKeand, former football coach and a member of the SHS faculty. McKeand, Coach Tom Sells, Principal George Boyd and Kiwanians Fred Cramer and Dr. Roger Whitcomb made up the selection committee. Avant and Steve Zeller had been captains of the 8-1 Bears, which had lost only to Columbus. Larry Lewis was outstanding lineman, an award presented by Jack Hunter. Varsity awards went to Bill Heck, John Cunningham, Steve Livingston, Wes Miller, Steve Platt, Mike Wagner, Jim Werbe, Doug Wood, David Zerr, Richard Brown, John Chesser, Steve Drake, Dennis Danner, John Gaines, Kent Lockman, Fred Mang, Mike Platt, Jim Ranochak, Mark Thomas and Ron Winton. Brian Mann, Richard Phillips and Dave Young received varsity student manager awards.
Show Group had performed at the Elks Club for the Cerebral-Palsy Banquet. Ken Carson, from New York, also performed. Carson, once a western singer, joined Larry Lewis, Pat Brunner, Ed Moore and Chris Williams for a tune.
Varsity letters were presented to golfers Bill Alexander, Doug Adams, Bart Dalton, Tom Schnieder and Tom Stieglitz. Varsity tennis letters went to Francis Applegate, John Guidi, Marion Rutherford, Mike Thomas, Bruce Williams and George Young.
Mrs. Stickles, from McCall’s Pattern Company, addressed Mrs. Toner’s seventh grade sewing classes. Her talk was on line, color, design and dress.
Mr. Powell and Mr. Mann were coaches of the newly-organized Jr. High swim team.
The “Happiness Is…” column included the following entries: “sticky fingers in Mr. Ribble’s Journalism class; a broken drum stick for Ethel McCowen; breaking up with your boyfriend to find out the new boy in school is a blonde.”
This Day in Shelby County History
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated by The Addison Times from Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department materials.
2014: The Shelbyville Police Department asked for the public’s help after Great Clips was robbed. The robber had displayed a weapon and stole several products from the store. It was the third robbery of a local business since September. KFC and Check Into Cash had also been robbed.
2004: City Council formally approved funding a nearly one-mile extension of Lee Blvd., including a bridge. A new park, which did not yet have a name, would have an entrance off Lee Boulevard.
1994: Work began to move the drive-through drop-off boxes to the east side of the post office and make seven parking space available in the front of the building.
1984: For almost three weeks, Fireman Jon Cooper had been without the ornamental fire hydrant that had adorned his front porch. Unbeknownst to him, the hydrant had been taken from the porch and placed in front of another city residence, whose owners called police about the unusual item. So, the hydrant had been sitting at the police station. On it was a sign that said, “Pete’s Place.” Pete was the police department’s dog mascot, who had been known to ride with officers during patrol, and had even waited at curbside until a police car came by and gave him a ride to city hall. The sign was intended to indicate the use Pete might have found for the hydrant. Some officers said Cooper was a little embarrassed when he finally figured out the hydrant was his.
1974: A Quebec man caught in Shelby County driving a stolen car after he failed to pay for gas was given a one-way ticket home to Canada. Authorities in Quebec said the man was wanted on a minor charge, but they were unwilling to come here to get him. The local investigation was aided by Maurice Finkel, who served as an interpreter.
John C. DePrez Jr. was appointed as a United Press International regional executive. He would be responsible for UPI operations in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, and would be based in Des Moines, Ia.
1964: Morris Tobian, Gerald Nelson, Lawrence Lewis and Norman Miller were appointed to the Shelbyville Central School District board.
Several Southwestern athletes were awarded their senior jackets. They were Larry Flater, Bob Allen, Larry Jackman, Billy Barnett, Mike Ropp, Rex VanGorden, Gary Hamner and Doug Schutt.
1954: Local officials said they were halting discussions on consolidating Shelbyville and Addison Township schools, after Shelbyville school officials said they didn’t have room at the high school for more students. Addison officials said they would put top priority on plans to construct a cafeteria addition at the school. An unnamed local attorney told The Shelbyville News that with General Electric coming to the city’s east side, consolidation would have to happen within a year or two.
1944: A group of neighbors and friends gathered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Baxter on the Shoestring pike to pick the year’s corn crop. Mr. Baxter had been ill with double pneumonia. The men who did the field work were Onie Sullivan, John Sullivan, Charlie Sullivan, Lawrence Waltz, LaRue Bowman, Dick Woods, Pete Fisher, Paul Dunagan, Eric Huber, Richard Norvell, John Bower, Elmer Collins, Omer Streitmier, Bill Hennis, Ezra Bush, John Wire, Herbert Riser and Bill Lawson and son.
Moris VanWay spoke on the subject “Electronics” at the Rotary Club meeting. He spoke about the use of technology in the war. Guests included Russ Gross and William Showalter.
1934: Several junior high students were among witnesses before a local grand jury considering an incident in which a junior high teacher had beaten a student, who was identified in the newspaper as the son of a local attorney.
Boggstown, the last school in the county without a nickname, landed on the Panthers. The name was decided by a vote of the student body.
1924: The local “colored” basketball team won several games in an Indianapolis basketball tournament. The local team, called The Flashy Midgets, were led by Charley Kelly and Charles Bass.
Ground was broken for the educational building of the Christian church in St. Paul.
1914: Several local butchers were cutting ice out of the river, which was about six inches thick, with plans to store it for summer use. The ice was “of god quality,” The Republican reported.
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