Monday, January 20, 2025
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MLK DAY RECOGNIZED LOCALLY
Kenji Hester, left, delivers an address yesterday on “King Speaks to Youth”, and Mayor Scott Furgeson, accompanied by Clerk-Treasurer Scott Asher (right), delivers a proclamation recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Shelbyville at Second Baptist Church. | SUBMITTED
LOCAL HISTORY: IN OBSERVANCE OF MLK DAY
Editor’s note: The following is republished from an early Addison Times edition.
When the 15th Amendment was ratified in April 1870, guaranteeing the right to vote for all men, Shelbyville’s Black citizens celebrated with a parade through town and a program at Blessing Hall on the second floor of 18 Public Square.
Over 100 years later, in 1986, the first federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day was commemorated.
“King was one of the most controversial men of his time, but few would dispute that he was a great American,” The Shelbyville News editorial page said then. “Laws have been passed and court rulings made that outlaw discrimination in the workplace, in housing, in the voting booth, in places of public accommodation, in the schools.”
Below are listed several notable Black citizens of Shelbyville, curated from a local history document by Lucille Murray and Betty Randall. To be sure, there are countless others who could be included.
Rebecca Anderson, of Locust St., a native of Virginia, helped collect supplies during the Revolutionary Army.
Joe Hill, a Democrat in the 1860s, wrote a weekly column for the newspaper.
Dan Morgan was a barber in a room under the Ray House/Hotel Shelby. His wife, June, was a caterer. “She baked all the wedding cakes, made the Christmas and Thanksgiving fruit cakes, roasted the turkeys, and made the mincemeat for people far and near,” the document said.
Pious Simms was a former slave who lived with his wife near Norristown.
Robert Smith served in the Union army from 1865 to 1867. He died January 1, 1920.
In 1902, John Hodge was the first Black person from Shelbyville to attend Indiana University.
Grissom Lane is named for the three Grissom brothers who along the street. Chester Grissom operated a neighborhood grocery store.
James Reeves opened his tailor shop in 1920, which was later owned by Arnold Fykes.
Martha Stafford Crayton graduated from SHS in 1933 and was the first Black person enrolled in the National Honor Society at the school.
Kennedy Car Liner hired its first Black woman during World War II.
Bill Garrett was captain of the 1947 Shelbyville High School basketball team that won the state championship. Other Black players on the team were Emerson Johnson and Marshall Murray. Garrett played at Indiana University, where he graduated in 1951. The SHS gym was named after him in 1975.
Robert Cheatum was killed in the Korean War.
Cassius Bennett was elected to serve on the Shelbyville Common Council in 1971 and also was on the plan commission. Upon his death in 1984, an editorial in The Shelbyville News said, “‘Cash’ will be remembered for saying, ‘I always make my decisions on what beneficial effect they will have on the people, rather than any political effect they might have.’”
Doris B. Henry was the first Black R.N. hired at Major Hospital. She was employee of the year in 1984.
James Garrett Sr. was elected Justice of the Peace and then Addison Township Trustee. James Garrett Jr. now serves in the trustee’s office.
NOTEBOOK:
Shelby County Commissioners will meet tomorrow, 8 a.m., due to today’s holiday. City and county offices are closed today, and today’s Shelbyville trash route will be collected tomorrow, with recycling delayed until next Monday. Shelbyville Central Schools is scheduled to be in-person today, albeit on a two-hour delay, as a make-up snow day from two weeks ago. The post office, banks, courts and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles will be closed today. The Shelby County Public Library is open.
The Shelbyville High School boys basketball team (12-3), led by Caden Claxton’s 14 points, defeated Pendleton Heights on Saturday, 62-42. The Bears are on the road again tomorrow night against Franklin Community.
The Shelbyville High School varsity girls basketball team (10-9) lost to Mount Vernon on Saturday, 40-33. Maddie Jones scored 10, Reese Fortune had 8 and Savannah Collins added 7. The girls junior varsity team beat Mount Vernon, 48-18. They were led in scoring by Melia Cartwright’s 21, and Nevaeh Cole added 8.
The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency is currently operating a warming shelter for overnight use, 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., at the Brinson building at the Shelby County Fairgrounds. The shelter will reopen tonight at 6 p.m. until 9 a.m. tomorrow and then against at 5 p.m. on Tuesday until 9 a.m. Wednesday. As long as Shelby County is in a cold weather advisory, the warming shelter will be open.
NATIONAL NEWS: Pet spending leapt during Covid, jumping 11% from 2019 to 2023, and has continued even after other pandemic-era fads have gone cold, creating a windfall for those invested in the industry: Last year, Mars—the candy conglomerate—made 67% of its revenue from pet care thanks to its ownership of thousands of veterinary clinics across the US. Nestle and Colgate, known for candy and toothpaste, raked in ~20% of their revenue from their pet businesses.
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights
Feb. 6, 1931, Part II
A teacher from France stopped by Shelbyville and observed Miss Naomi Hawaorth’s French class and Mrs. Cora Tindall’s art class. He said he was surprised with how much individual attention was given in U.S. schools. He joked that “the pupils read the same sentences at the same time all over France.”
Miss Eulalie Mull, high school cooking teacher, said girls should consider enrolling in her class. The coursework included home management, dietetics, health, child care, interior decorating and dress designing. She said 90 percent of divorces were “due to the fact that the wife cannot cook.”
The Courier noted that less than 1 percent of American men were college graduates, while 55 percent of our presidents, 36 percent of members of Congress, 62 percent of Secretaries of State and 69 percent of Supreme Court Justices were college graduates.
A large freshman class of 98 was causing space and staffing challenges. Some suggested getting rid of the new Trigonometry course for seniors to allow Mr. McKeand to pick up an extra section of freshman English, but the school administration refused. “One faculty member gave the problem up as hopeless, but suggested that the freshmen be seated two in a seat. His idea was that one freshman would thereby inspire the other,” the Courier said. The school figured out solutions that ensured seniors kept all of their classes and their home room assignments, and that each freshman had a desk.
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.
2005: Kenneth Kern, part-time Shelby County resident who split time between homes here and in Indianapolis, had received the Sagamore of the Wabash by former Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan, Judy Sprengelmeyer reported for The Shelbyville News. Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and former Indiana Rep. Andy Jacobs Jr. presented the award. Kern had an own Indianapolis law practice.
1995: Philip Banawitz, 80, announced he was seeking the nomination for Shelbyville mayor on the Republican ticket. Banawitz had led Shelbyville through its early 1950s industrial resurgence as mayor and was hoping for a second term 44 years later.
The Shelby County Head Start Program moved into the Little Marion School building at Morristown Road and CR 425 N. The building had been vacant for 10 years.
1985: The once-prosperous Ashcraft Trucking Inc., 875 Webster St., filed for bankruptcy. Several employees had been having difficulty cashing their payroll checks, but company representatives said that was because of “skittishness” of the banks, and that the company had money to cover payroll. In 1982, Ashcraft had been ranked 79th of the 500 fastest growing companies in the nation.
1975: False fire alarms were costing taxpayers significant money, Fire Chief Robert Myers said. On a recent day, two false alarms had been turned in, one by two boys on tricycles who pulled the box.
1965: Adjutant General John S. Anderson dispatched the National Guard to clear all county school bus routes to ensure schools could re-open.
1955: Rev. Melvin Phillips of First Baptist Church received the Jaycee Distinguished Service Award from Hugh English at the 9th annual awards meeting.
Albert Furniture Company, a 48-year-old local company, went back into production following an October fire that had closed the manufacturing firm.
1945: Sgt. G. Robert Williams, who had been listed as missing in action, was a prisoner of war in Germany, the government notified his wife, Gladys Williams, 266 West Broadway. Sgt. Williams had been a former advertising manager for the local newspapers.
1935: After days of temperatures in the 50s, the temperature dropped to 20 degrees. Rain and snow led to icy conditions.
1925: The prosecutor’s office made plans to “clean cut the Shelbyville colony of bootleggers,” The Republican said. Several people were called to the police station for questioning.
1915: Six inches of snow fell in six hours. “Snow shovels were one of the favorite articles of usage today. The broom wasn’t in it for outside use,” The Republican said. The paper said there was talk of the Common Council establishing an ordinance requiring residents to clear their sidewalks of snow.
Headstones for the graves of several military veterans arrived at the freight office of the Big Four. Relatives of the soldiers were encouraged to pick them up. The soldiers were Edmund Dunn, Matthias Buell, William McKinney, John Wagoner, Samuel Wells, Elijah Pike, William Runyan, John Ritchey and John Byers.
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OBITUARIES
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