culture
Indianapolis Public Library Launches Black History Archives Online
New online collections at the Indianapolis Public Library highlight the city's early Black residents, Crispus Attucks High School and Indiana Avenue's role as a cultural center.
How we reported this
Indianapolis residents can now trace the city's Black history through a single set of online portals hosted by the Indianapolis Public Library that pull together yearbooks, photographs and timelines from the 19th century onward.
The collections matter in 2026 because many families still live with the housing patterns shaped by earlier segregation policies, and the library's effort gives direct access to primary records that document how those patterns formed.
Crispus Attucks and Indiana Avenue records
The Digital Indy Archive includes Crispus Attucks High School yearbooks from the school that opened in 1927 as the city's only public high school serving Black students until court-ordered integration in 1970. Separate sections cover the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis entries on Indiana Avenue as the historic African American cultural hub and a timeline that runs from the city's founding through present-day events.
Early population figures appear in the Black History Indianapolis History collection, which notes that six years after the city was established, 55 of its 1,066 residents were African American. The same archive holds materials from the Indianapolis Public Library African American History Committee, including records of past lectures, exhibits and lists of African American authors and illustrators.
Segregation legacy in housing
The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis also features an article on residential segregation that describes how racially restrictive real estate practices from the 1920s and federal lending policies starting in the 1930s created lasting neighborhood divisions. The piece points out that the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 ended those practices as law, yet the city continues to reflect the earlier redlining and deed restrictions.
Library staff at any Indianapolis Public Library location can guide users through the portals or answer questions by phone, text or email via the Ask-a-Librarian service. The collections remain open for browsing at any hour from a home computer or phone.