Black History News and Notes, 1991

              BLACK HISTORY
NEWS & NOTES
FEBRUARY 1991
NUMBER 43
Citizens Forum
by Sally Childs-Helton
Citizens Forum was chartered in Indianapolis during 1964. It began as a citizens group that organized with several purposes. According to its articles of incorporation, those purposes included: to aid the smooth implementation of the 1964 federal Civil Rights Bill and the Open Occupancy Ordinance of Indianapolis; to encourage living together of citizens as good neigh­bors without regard to race, religion, color or national origin; to lessen neighborhood tensions; to foster better communication among residents of neighborhoods; to com­bat community deterioration and juvenile delinquency; and to dis­seminate and exchange information concerning problems and progress in combating community deteriora­tion. Mattie Rice Coney, later joined by her husband, Elmo Coney, spearheaded the Citizens Forum efforts.
As a grass-roots neighborhood rehabilitation self-help program, Citizens Forum aided in the forma­tion of block clubs that were the core of the organization. Through these block clubs, various programs were executed, including the follow­ing: De-Rat-ification Campaign; Dogwood Tree Caravan; Beautifica­tion Awards; Concerts in the Parks; Adopt-a-Park; and Rake-a-thons. The Helping Hand Program, begun in 1973, was the most widely suc­cessful program, spreading to other Indiana cities and towns and to other states as well. It provided “safe”
houses in an emergency, especially for children enroute to and from school.
The organization also provided a major service to its constituent block clubs by serving as a conduit through which complaints about neighborhood health and safety issues could be passed on to the appropriate city authorities. The Complaint Assistant/Referral Pro­gram aided many block clubs in gaining improved services from public agencies.
Citizens Forum provided com­munity education on a variety of topics. Through newsletters, news­paper articles, the “Citizens Forum Says” weekly television programs, meetings, and speeches to block clubs, churches, schools, civic and labor groups, and other organiza­tions, Citizens Forum spread its campaigns and programs through­out Indianapolis and beyond.
Mattie and Elmo Coney, along with Citizens Forum, gained nation­wide attention and received numer­ous local, state, and national awards for excellence in public service. Other large cities, including Chi­cago, Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York, and Wash­ington, D. C., all began programs patterned after Citizens Forum.
Plagued by financial difficulties, Citizens Forum disbanded in 1984. The death of Elmo Coney and the failing heath of Mattie Coney also contributed to the dissolution of the organization.
The Citizens Forum collection at the Historical Society in 29 man­uscript boxes represents a wide range of materials from the organi­zation. The sample is fairly com­plete and contains all of the records held by the organization when it folded. Generally records from the last 10 years of the Forum’s exis­tence (ca. 1974-84) are the most complete, with considerably fewer materials from 1964-73. Many items are undated. Included in the organization’s records are minutes from the board of directors meet­ings; correspondence; its constitu­tion and bylaws; volunteer mate­rials; and financial reports. Also contained are records of local block clubs with emphasis on their various programs, Citizens Forum newslet­ters, and newspaper clippings about the organization and its leader.
Citizens Forum published a monthly newsletter that recorded many of the activities of the organization. “Dear Good Citizen” was a column written by Mattie Coney.
BHNN_1991-02_NO43
REFERENCE SOURCES:
Indiana and African-American Participation during the Civil War
Listed below are several sources at the Indiana Historical Society that shed light on the African-Amer­ican’s role during the War of the Rebellion. In addition to the printed sources that speak to black par­ticipation during the Civil War, there are several manuscript items that deal with the topic. Most of the materials either relate information about the 28th United States Col­ored Troops (USCT), the only black regiment mustered in from Indiana, or the activities of white officers from Indiana who commanded black companies. One example of the latter is a collection of letters and the diary of Benjamin Marshall Mills, the son of Hoosier educator, Caleb Mills. Serving as a 1st Lieu­tenant, Company F, 49th United States Colored Infantry, Mills wrote to his family often as reflected by the volume of letters in his father’s col­lection (Caleb Mills Papers, M 207). The letters and two-volume diary date 1864-65 and were written while Mills was stationed in Mis­sissippi.
From the diaries of businessman/ banker Calvin Fletcher and a docu­ment signed by Willis Revels in the Anna W. Wright Collection located at the Indiana State Library, it is clear that Reverend Revels, pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, acted as a recruiting agent for the 28th USCT. Although information is available concerning the regiment, there are no first-hand accounts (letters and diaries,etc.) from the enlisted men.
Printed Materials
Terrell, W.H.H. Report of the Adju­tant General of the State of Indi­ana.
(Indianapolis: Alexander Con­ner, State Printer, 1869). The offi­cial report of Indiana’s participa­tion in the Civil War. Includes a roster of officers and enlisted men for all regiments, historical sketches of regiments, list of casualties, and a list of de­serters. The first volume records the state’s response to the War; the raising and organizing of vol­unteers;
Morgan’s Raid; rela­tionship between Indiana and Kentucky; internal state trou­bles; relief for soldiers and their families; and the state’s battle record. Information pertaining to the officers and enlisted men of black regiments, along with a historical sketch of the 28th USCT is contained within Vol­umes II and VII.
Thornbrough, Emma Lou. Indiana during the Civil War Era, 1850-1880.
(Indianapolis: Indiana Histor­ical Bureau & Indiana Historical Society, 1965). Thornbrough gives the political, social, eco­nomic, and cultural develop­ments in Indiana leading up to and following the Civil War. In a chapter labeled “Military Contri­bution,” she addresses the use of black troops.
Thornbrough, Emma Lou. The Negro in Indiana before 1900. (Indianapolis: Indiana Histori­cal Bureau, 1957). Thorn-
Black History News and Notes is a quarterly publication of the Indiana Historical Society Library. Intended in part to highlight the activities of the library’s Black History Program, it is issued during the months of February, May, August, and November. Essential to the Black History Program’s success is community involvement and commitment to the study of Indiana’s African-American heritage. Along with Black History News and Notes, membership also includes the quarterly Indiana Magazine of History, published at Indiana University; News, the Indiana Historical Society s bimonthly newsletter, Traces, a popular history magazine; and many of the special publications as they are issued all for only $20.00 a year. To become a member or for further information, write the Indiana Historical Society, 315 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202 (317) 232-1882. Correspondence concerning Black History News and Notes should be addressed to Wilma L. Gibbs, Editor. ___________
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brough’s classic work on blacks in Indiana prior to the 20th cen­tury includes chapters on invol­untary servitude, demographics, racial exclusion and coloniza­tion, churches and schools, political activities, and the Civil War.
Less than two months after Captain John C. Hackhiser wrote this letter to Sarah Kinder in Indianapolis, he was killed in action near Petersburg, Vir­ginia. Hackhiser’s company belonged to the 28th United States Colored Troops (USCT), the only African-Amer­ican regiment from Indiana to serve in the Civil War.
Thornbrough, Gayle, et. al., edi­tors. The Diary of Calvin Fletcher.
(Indianapolis: Indiana Histor­ical Society, 1972-83). The diaries of attorney, businessman/ banker, and civic leader Calvin Fletcher compiled in nine printed volumes with individual and a cumulative index. The diaries span approximately 50 years (1817-1866). They describe his family life, his political and business interests, and daily events in Indiana and Indianap­olis. The cumulative index is especially useful. The following subject headings should be used to access information about African-American participation in the Civil War: Emancipation Proclamation, Negroes, Willis Revels, and Slavery.
Voegeli, Victor Jacque. Free but Not Equal: The Midwest and the Negro During the Civil War. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967). This book is an analysis of midwestern attitudes toward blacks during the Civil War. It shows the impact of racialism on the opposition to emancipation and the war; delay of African-American enlistment; and the policies of Congress and the president. Some of the sources Voegeli used for his study were debates of Congress, federal and state documents, published and unpublished cor­respondence, diaries, and news­paper editorials.
Manuscripts
Letter of John C. Hackhiser, Cap­tain, Company E, 28th United States Colored Troops (USCT), Camp White House Landing, to Sarah Kinder, Indianapolis. June 11, 1864. Kinder Papers. Brief comment regarding patience needed to train black troops.
Letters of William R. Stuckey, 42nd Indiana to wife, Helen Stuckey, Warrick County, Indiana. June 28 and July 4, 1864. William R. Stuckey Papers. Stuckey informs his wife that he is considering applying for a commission in a black regiment. Indicates he
knows cf officers of black troops who have bought houses in Nash­ville and sent for their wives.
Diary entry of John W. Schlagle, Private, Company D, 69th Reg­iment, January-July, 1865. John W. Schlagle Diary. Relates that there are several black regiments in army districts of West Alabama and Florida under General C.C. Andrews.
Letter from Andrew Jackson John­son, Nashville, Tennessee, to parents. September 13, 1863. Andrew Jackson Johnson Papers. Comments that black troops make “the best of soldiers.”
Letters (5) of General John P. Hawkins, in charge of organiz­ing black troops within Grant’s command, to Caleb Mills, November 12, 1863-July 22, 1864. Caleb Mills Papers. Asks suggestions for officers, needs, potentialities, and abilities of Negroes.
Diary entry of George W. Grubbs. February 28, 1864. George W. Grubbs Collection. Questions whether public opinion will ever admit that black soldiers should be commanded by their own officers.
Letter from John A. Wilkens, Quarter Master Sergeant, Indiana 33rd Regiment, to sister. February 11, 1863. John A. Wilkens Collection (microfilm). Writes from Nashville, Tennessee, “There are regiments of negroes here with captains, lieutenants, sergeants the same as we. ”
Letter from A. Buckingham, Post Hospital, Camp Butler, Illinois to E. VanPelt Buckingham. April 11, 1864. Mathias C. VanPelt Family Papers. Indicates that Dr. Yerkes wants him to accept an offer as surgeon in a black reg­iment. States that the pay would be about $2,000 per year.
Letter from Andrew J. McGarrah, Indiana 63rd Regiment. Febru­ary 11, 1863. Andrew J. McGar­rah Papers. Declares that if Lincoln armed Negroes few whites would fight with them, and probably not Hoosiers.
3
African-Americans, The Public Press and Theatrical Entertainment in Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1850-70
by J. Randolph Kirby
The decades between 1850 and 1870 were ones of growth and pros­perity for Fort Wayne, Indiana. Its location had always been fortuitous. Even the war that brought commer­cial ruin to many large cities in the United States made no inroads upon the city’s prosperity. The public press encouraged “people of all classes,” other than African-Amer­icans, to settle in the Summit City, and no city in Indiana grew as fast as Fort Wayne in the 1860s.1 The 1850 census counted 4,800 residents, and the number grew to 10,000 by 1860. According to the public press this number had increased to over 16,000 by 1863.2 The official census for 1870 stood at 17,718.
African-Americans had shared the growth and prosperity of Fort Wayne before 1850, but the decades that followed saw sharp declines. The city’s black population declined from 102 in 1850, to 63 in 1860, and then to a mere 26 by 1870. Although the actual black population during these decades was small compared to other areas in Indiana, there was a core of established families who had achieved considerable wealth by 1850. They had also won the respect of the community at large. Among the wealthiest and most respected African-American families were the Canadas, or Kennedys, the William Elliots, the Harrison Parkers, and the James Sampsons.
During these decades the public press reflected the state’s open hos­tility toward further African-Ameri­can immigration, and their par­ticipation in the political, social, and cultural life of Indiana. Not­withstanding, Fort Wayne citizens saw numerous portrayals of African- American life, however inappropri-
J. Randolph Kirby is associate pro­fessor emeritus, School of Educa­tion, Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne.
ate or inauthentic those portrayals might have been. The evidence, albeit small, indicates that blacks were at times portrayers as well as patrons.
Being a crossroad, whether by river, canal, or railroad, gave Fort Wayne residents opportunities to experience professional perform­ances other communities its size could not attract. During the 1850s it was the circus, traveling the canal routes, and later by railroad, that brought entertainment to American towns and cities. “For a consider­able period during the early nine­teenth century negro clowns were extremely popular, and no circus was complete without a blackface performer. ”3 One of the earliest and the most popular circuses to play the Summit City was L. H. Robinson’s Atheneum. Determined not to be outdone by other shows, Robinson expanded his old and popular Athe­neum in 1856, to create Yankee Robinson’s Circus, with four shows in four separate tents, and all for the admission price of $.50. One of the new shows was a “Band of Negro Minstrels.”4
Minstrel shows were most popu­lar entertainment in Fort Wayne, and elsewhere in the United States. It was America’s first authentic the­ater form and focused upon the songs, dances, and humor of hum­ble black folks. From its inception, around 1828, minstrelsy was an immediate success. By the 1840s it had become a highly formalized presentation by white performers only. Some researchers of African- American theater believe “black­face minstrelsy underestimated and misrepresented the American Negro . . . .”5 Sterling Brown says in his essay, “The Negro in American Theatre,” that although blackfaced minstrelsy started out with rudimen­tary realism, it soon degenerated into fantastic artificiality.6 By the
time African-Americans became minstrels, following the Civil War, blacks were imitating blackfaced whites who supposedly imitated blacks.7
However, Robert C. Toll points out that the nineteenth century min­strelsy was the only chance African- Americans had to make a steady living in the entertainment field, and that blacks who worked within the stereotyped framework clearly demonstrated great diversity of tal­ent.8 And while white minstrelsy degenerated into fantastic car­icatures, those blacks who became minstrels after the Civil War brought a transfusion of black culture with them to American pop­ular entertainment.9 Moreover, dur­ing the period of this study African- Americans owned and ran all-black minstrel troupes.10
At the same time Fort Wayne resi­dents were enjoying “blackface” performances in Yankee Robinson’s Circus, legitimate theater was launched in Fort Wayne. Robert W. Tolan says there was little evidence of a theater in Fort Wayne before fall 1853. He surmises the existence of local amateur productions, but says, “It is evident from the tone of the newspaper articles concerning early amusements in the city that enter­tainers were regarded with suspi­cion and disdain.”11
Edward F. Colerick, a member of a prominent city family, began con­struction of a theater in 1851. Designed by Colerick to be a second floor theater, it was the first of its kind in Indiana.12 The structure contained a main floor or pit and a separate gallery. Seating in the latter was preferred by those who had an aversion to the “hoi polloi” seating in the pit. Gallery seats also dis­tanced discriminating patrons from the stage’s imperfections and the prompting of the actors.13
It is interesting to note that the
4
first performance in Colerick Hall on 28 December 1853 was not a professional theatrical production, but a local amateur performance by the Fort Wayne Kekionga Min­strels.14 There is no evidence that any of these minstrels were African- American.
A second hall intended for lec­tures and concerts was erected by Allen Hamilton in 1863. However, neither hall limited itself very long to a specific type of entertainment. By 1865, Hamilton Hall competed with Colerick Hall to be the show- place for minstrelsy and drama.
Morris, Pell, and Trowbridge Continental Minstrels played Fort Wayne sometime before 21 October 1863. On that date the Weekly Times tersely reported that one of the min­strels had a shooting affray before boarding the train that evening. A notice appeared some three years later which informed Fort Wayne readers that Johnny Pell, the well- known Negro vocalist, had died in Boston.15 The implication is that the Morris Minstrels were African- Americans.
In February 1864, Caldwell and Logan became proprietors of a new establishment called the Melodian, or Palace Hall. During the first two weeks the proprietors offered free nightly concerts of singing, danc­ing, and instrumental music of the first class. The Fort Wayne Times reported that the Palace Hall was “nightly crowded by those who are delighted with a free concert.”16 There might well have been some African-American performers, as well as patrons.
Whatever the case might have been, the management began charg­ing for the entertainment when two new stars appeared in March 1864. According to the Times, “persons who have visited the Melodian say they get their money in genuine fun.” It also said, “The Negro per- formances attracted large houses.”17 Isaac W. Campbell, edi­tor of the Times, visited the Melo­dian on 19 March. He praised highly Millie Francis’s jig, and Mr. Covelli’s singing. He told his read­ers, “We also enjoyed ourselves hugely over the eccentricities of the
Ethiopian department.”18
What is not clear is whether the above performers were African- Americans or merely whites in blackface. The language used sug­gests that neither Johnny Pell, the Morris Minstrels, nor the Melodian performers were African-Ameri­cans. Toll does not include the Mor­ris Minstrels in his chronological listing of black minstrels.19 Whites were more likely than blacks to call themselves Negro or nigger min­strels and to characterize their per­formances as Ethiopian antics.20 Realizing that their greatest audience appeal was their race and authenticity as black men, they stressed their slave origins and sought distinction from blackfaced whites by refusing to use burnt cork, except as a comic mask for the endmen. “Many commentators were astonished that black minstrels actually were of all hues and com­plexions.”21
The Daily Democrat left little room for speculation about the racial identity of the minstrels who played at Hamilton Hall in May 1866. The newspaper stated that there were 13 star performers, 11 of which “are real darkies, none of the bogus, and were formerly members of the First Colored Michigan Reg­iment.”22
According to the Daily Demo­crat, these “real darkies” had been raised on plantations in Georgia and had escaped slavery.23 It was reported that Booker’s Minstrels played Hamilton’s Hall on May 11th and 12th to “quite a fair audience, but not as good a one as we expected.”24 As for the perfor­mance, the editor said it was excel­lent, “and no shame about it.”25
The Daily Democrat was undoubtedly referring to Booker and Clayton’s Georgia Minstrels, who billed themselves as “The only Simon pure Negro troupe in the world.” It had successfully toured the Northeast during the 1865-66 season, drawing unprecedented audiences. In March 1866, they out- drew all other minstrel troupes. “They had such a great impact that ‘Georgia Minstrels’ thereafter
became synonymous with ‘Colored Minstrels.’”26
Among the most popular plays in the repertoire of the theatrical troupes that played Fort Wayne were several that dealt with the African- American experience in the United States. “Next in popularity to the minstrels on the American stage were the ‘Tom Shows’ based upon Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel.”21 Within six months of the novel’s publication there were two stage adaptations in New York City.28
Although there were to be numer- ous adaptations of the novel, George L. Aiken’s version, written for the George C. Howard family of actors, was the first and best known. The initial star of the play was Howard’s daughter in the role of lit­tle Eva. Mary Henderson alludes in Theatre in America that Uncle Tom was the triumphant character, and the early dramatizations were the first attempts to give a serious treat­ment of the Negro on stage. Prior stereotypical characterizations had included that of a lazy, shifty, ungrammatical servant, or that of the comic, as portrayed in the min­strel show.29
The drama critic for the New York Herald described the play as a “crude and aggravated affair.” Declaring it “mischievous in the extreme,” he said it was an affront to Southerners.30 The play ran for a year at the National Theatre in New York City, sometimes giving three performances a day with capacity houses. At one juncture, four com­panies staged the play simul­taneously.31 The play’s greatest success was its novelty and lavish production. This gave a number of blacks their first opportunity on the American stage as singers and danc­ers. Some of the touring companies would advertise for “genuine Negroes and real bloodhounds.”32
It was not the theater touring companies that brought the “Tom Shows” to Fort Wayne. The first known performance of the play in Fort Wayne was produced by the ubiquitous circus. Wesley Bar- more’s Grand Adriatic Circus, with an aquatic exhibition, an equestrian
5
troupe, and clowns, delighted the city residents in early May 1854. Included was an interesting sketch of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.33 Following close upon the heels of the “Eques­trian Drama” in late May 1854 was a production by Robinson’s Athe- neum which boasted over 60 charac­ters.34 Reviews of the performance state that it was attended by a large and reputable crowd.35
Fort Wayne audiences had their first taste of “legitimate drama” in July 1855 when Morse’s Odeon Theatre Troupe arrived after having played to rave reviews in Toledo, Ohio. In his history of the theater in Fort Wayne, Tolan says the public press made no mention of the plays the company presented.36 The Daily Times gave the theater fare for the opening night as The Wife, or A Tale of Mantua; Song, a Hundred Years Hence, and it concluded with the farce, Why Don’t She Marry. The editor concluded the notice by saying, “Count us all in.”37 Tolan also overlooks a return engagement of the troupe in October 1855. The editor of the Times said in an advance notice that he had been given to believe the company had several new and inter­esting pieces in preparation, one of which was the world renowned Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Unlike the edi­tor of the New York Herald, John W. Dawson encouraged every man, woman, and child to attend, saying: Let the moralist go and be improved; let the politician go and be instructed; let all go and they will be better and wiser from what they see and hear. The actors in the “roule” have been selected with refer­ence to their adaptation and experience in their several parts. We predict for Uncle Tom’s Cabin a successful run among our people.38 Dawson attended what must have been the opening night for Morse’s company and in a review of the per­formance he complained about the lack of an audience. He made no mention of Uncle Tom’s Cabin or any other play. He prepared the fol­lowing assessment:
The new bright particular star
of the evening was Frank Gar­diner, and “De Ole Banjo.” If anything he was more than a nigger. We don’t say this to offend the Abolitionist, or to cause a split in their party, or to get a new organization for the benefit of colored persons of the banjo tribe.39 The Daily Times implied that by the time the troupe returned to Fort Wayne on 7 December 1855 there had been a reorganization of the company. According to Tolan, the company presented two plays: The Beacon of Death and The State Secret, a farce.40 He makes no men­tion of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. How­ever, the Times reported: “On tonight (13 December) may be expected Uncle Tom’s Cabin, that celebrated drama which never fails of being patronized with a liberal hand. Count all in, from the “cook” to the devil, and the rest of us.”41 This notice is significant for two rea­sons. First it established that a the­atrical production based upon the African-American experience was among the first known legitimate theater performances in Fort Wayne. If the Odeon did choose actors for this performance, the production may well have included some black performers. Secondly, John Dawson may be giving the earliest evidence of blacks participating in legitimate theater in Fort Wayne. It all hinges upon who Dawson’s devil, or errand boy, was at the time. The notice below makes Dawson’s intentions clear, at least in 1859:
If any one will send to this office a Negro boy about 15 years of age — of good moral habits, polite and quiet — who can read, who will be willing to roll, make fires, act as mes­senger and porter, black boots etc. and makes himself acquainted with this place, we will hire him after trial. We want one black devil among the ink, and he must be a shiny chap and no bay about his color.42
Still further when the front page of the 4 February 1856 edition of the Times carried the date 3 February Dawson apologized for the error
saying: “The ‘devil’ was rolling at the time and it may be he left so much ‘darkness’ on our pressman’s mind that the error may be really ‘a devil of a one.’43 If Dawson cus­tomarily had ‘one black devil,’ it might well be that he was also ‘counted in’ for the Odeon’s first legitimate performances in July 1855.”
Only a few plays could consis­tently draw large houses, and the first among these plays was Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Morse’s Odeon The­atre played Uncle Tom’s Cabin five consecutive times in December 1855 and to large and delighted audiences. The Times stated, “suf­fice it to say, it surpasses anything he (Morse) has yet given to the Fort Wayne public.”44 So great was the success that the company was induced to continue it for three nights the following week, and to add an afternoon matinee “for scholars and ladies residing at a dis­tance.”45
Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a second novel, Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp, in 1856. Dred was a free black who lived and died in a great swamp. The novel had a number of good literary qualities and was immediately adapted for the stage by C.W. Taylor, John Brougham, and H.J. Conway. Unlike Uncle Tom’s Cabin none of these adaptations were successful on stage.46 Jones and Berry’s North American Dramatic Troupe included this play in their repertory of five plays.47 The troupe played Fort Wayne for more than a week in February 1857. There is evidence that there was only one production of the play. On the last evening of the run, and during exceedingly inclement weather, the troupe offered Dred. The Weekly Times said, “the play was well executed, and the public and company satis­fied.”48
Dramatizations based upon black experiences proved to be fertile ground for playwrights during the pre-Civil War era. In 1859, Dion Boucicault, known as the “pot boiler par excellent,” used a tragic mulatto as the central figure in his play, The Octoroon. His efforts
6
brought him considerable amounts of money and a great deal of contro­versy.49
This highly emotional play did not reach Fort Wayne audiences until after the war. The play engaged the attention of the city’s theater audiences along with a revival of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Both of these popular dramas were in the reper­toire of Henry Linden and his wife. They offered a production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin on 15 and 17 February 1864. It seems that The Octoroon had greater audience appeal since they offered this selection on three consecutive nights, which was unusual for any company of players, or play. The Daily Times advertised the 29 February opening as “the great sensation play ... the most attractive piece ever presented in this country.”50
When the Lindens returned in 1869, they gave two performances of The Octoroon, on 18 and 19 Feb­ruary. This time the Daily Democrat said the play was “a great sensa­tional drama, probably the most successful drama ever written,” and that the Lindens played to crowded houses.51 There are no indications that any of the performers in the drama were African-American. Linden played “the great Negro character Peter,” and his wife por­trayed Zoe, the beautiful octoroon.52 Lesser roles would have been played by members of the trav­eling troupe, and it would have been unlikely that black thespians were traveling with the company.
The Lindens were responsible for organizing and directing an amateur theater company in Fort Wayne between March and May 1867. African-Americans might well have been participants. Mrs. Linden wrote a play for her husband entitled, Home on Furlough or Freaks of the Shoulder Straps, which the Daily Times labeled “a laughable Negro farce.”53 The play was presented on 5 April 1864, as a benefit for Henry Linden. Although there has been no direct evidence found thus far in the public press of the period that indicates that Fort Wayne blacks attended dramatic productions, amateur or profes­sional,
this play by the Lindens gives documentation for the assumption that black people par­ticipated in the cultural offerings of Fort Wayne.
The Daily Times printed the fol­lowing comments on 6 April 1864: Mr. Linden had a splendid benefit last night — and the theatrical company furnished an excellent bill. A good deal of complaint was made about somebody putting a lot of American citizens of African descent, in the reserved seats in the gallery. Fort Wayne is in no wise famous for love of Negroes. We have a few aboli­tionists here, however, who have an affection for them, and we suggest that when they reserve seats, all the rest of the seats in the gallery be disposed of to the advocates of mis­cegenation.
It is significant in this open dis­play of hostility that the complaint centers upon “a lot of American citizens of African descent in reserved seats in the gallery.” It implies several things. First, had there been only a few blacks in reserved seats, there may have been no complaint. Second, there seems to be no objection implied to blacks being seated in the gallery, which was preferred seating and cost more than the seating in the pit. Would either of these conditions derive from the fact that African-Ameri­cans customarily attended Fort Wayne theatre, and purchased tick­ets for all seating areas?
Another open display of hostility indicated that African-Americans participated in Fort Wayne’s public social life and its accommodations. The editor of the Daily Times asked his readers:
How is it that buck negroes and wench are permitted to enter saloons where gen­tlemen and ladies go to refresh with soda and ice cream, and there call for and sit and eat while the latter are there is what we don’t understand. So far as we are concerned, they would never annoy us but once at any one place. Self respect
calls on every gentleman to forbid the intrusion. White men can be made negroes — but a negro can’t be made white.54
When the editor made this inquiry in 1861 Fort Wayne had 25 saloons.55 What the Times merely implied with regards to theatre attendance is made more explicit in the protest about black patronage of dining saloons.
The hostility of the public press often dictated the type of coverage afforded African-Americans in social and cultural events in Fort Wayne. A case in point is the Fort Wayne Daily Democrat’s comment in 1870:
As a city, we have com­paratively less negroes than any city we known (sic) of; but we venture to say of those few, they are more black, put on more style, their hair is more frizzed, and they carry more Sunday School books of (sic) a Sunday afternoon than any other equal number of “Black Lillies” in the state.56 Although the press of the period makes no mention of blacks as actors in any theatrical troupe, this does not preclude there having been any. African-Americans did appear in minstrel shows in Fort Wayne, and undoubtedly more often than those few instances mentioned by the press. It seems certain that a considerable amount of public entertainment was based upon African-American experiences, however inauthentic or inappropri­ate, and that blacks in Fort Wayne participated in the social and cul­tural activities offered its inhabi­tants between 1850 and 1870.
ENDNOTES
1. Fort Wayne Weekly Times, January 7, 1863.
2. Ibid., November 25, 1863.
3. Carl Wittke, Tambo and Bones: A History of the American Minstrel Stage (New York: Greenwood Press, 1930), p. 12.
4. Fort Wayne Weekly Times, October 23, 1856. The other tents housed live animals and museum curiosities.
5. Loften Mitchell, Black Drama: The Story of the American Negro in the Theatre (New York: Hawthorne Books, Inc., 1967), p. 32.
6. Ibid., p. 31.
7. Ibid., p. 40.
7
8. Robert C. Toll, Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth-Century America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974), p. 216.
9. Ibid., p.273.
10. Ibid., p. 199.
11. Robert W. Tolan, A History of the Legitimate Professional Theatre in Fort Wayne, Indiana (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Purdue University, 1968), p. 51.
12. Many theatres of the period shared the same design, out of necessity. See Tolan, Op. Cit., p. 57.
13. Tolan, Op. Cit., p. 67.
14. Fort Wayne Daily Gazette, July 10, 1881.
15. Fort Wayne Daily Democrat, January 26, 1866.
16. Fort Wayne Daily Times, February 1, 13, 1864.
17. Ibid., March 4, 1864.
18. Ibid., March 19, 1864.
19. Toll, Op. Cit., Appendix I, pp. 275-80.
20. Ibid., p. 199.
21. Ibid., p. 200.
22. Fort Wayne Daily Democrat, May 5, 1866.
23. Ibid., May 7, 1866.
24. Ibid., May 12, 1866.
25. Ibid.
26. Toll, Op. Cit., p. 199.
27. Edward G. Smith, “Black Theatre,” Ethnic Theatre in the United States, Maxine S. Seller (ed.) (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1983), p. 40.
28. Mitchell, Op. Cit., pp. 32-33.
29. Mary Henderson, Theatre in America (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1986), p. 52.
30. Montrose J. Moses and John Mason Brown (eds.), The American Theatre (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1934), pp. 73-75.
31. Smith, Op. Cit., p. 40.
32. Ibid.
33. Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, May 5, 1854.
34. Ibid., May 20, 1854.
35. Ibid., May 31, 1854.
36. Tolan, Op. Cit., p. 61.
37. Fort Wayne Daily Times, July 23, 1855.
38. Ibid., October 2, 1855.
39. Ibid., October 3, 1855.
40. Tolan, Op. Cit., p. 61.
Indiana Historical Society 315 W. Ohio Street Indianapolis, IN 46202
41. Fort Wayne Daily Times, December 13, 1855.
42. Ibid., April 14, 1859.
43. Ibid., February 4, 1859.
44. Fort Wayne Daily Times, December 14, 1855.
45. Ibid., December 24, 1855.
46. Mitchell, Op. Cit., p. 33.
47. Tolan, Op. Cit., p. 62.
48. Ibid., p. 63.
49. Mitchell, Op. Cit., p. 35.
50. Fort Wayne Daily Times, February 29, 1864.
51. Fort Wayne Daily Democrat, February 18, 19, 1869.
52. Fort Wayne Daily Times, February 29, 1864.
53. Ibid., April 6, 1864.
54. Ibid., August 10, 1861.
55. C. S. Williams, Fort Wayne Directory, City Guide and Business Mirror, 1861-62 (Fort Wayne: N. P. Stockbridge, 1861), p. 140.
56. Fort Wayne Daily Democrat, February 10, 1870.
Call for Papers
The Black History Program of the Indiana Historical Society invites papers to be presented at the annual Indiana History Conference on November 2,1991. Papers, accepted on topics related to blacks in Indiana history should be approximately 15-20 double-spaced pages in length, not to exceed 45 minutes. The deadline to submit a one-page proposal including a descriptive statement of the topic is June 14. Direct proposals and questions to Wilma L. Gibbs, Program Archi­vist, 315 W. Ohio Street, Indianap­olis, IN 46202, (317) 232-1879.
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The editor of Black History News & Notes is interested in receiving for consideration brief manuscripts on the political, eco­nomic, social, and cultural his­tory of blacks in Indiana. Consideration is also given to articles and essays in the general fields of African-American his­tory and blacks in the Old North­west, if they have obvious relevance to Indiana. Man­uscripts should be submitted in duplicate, double spaced, and approximately eight to ten pages. Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the University of Chicago, A Manual of Style,
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