African/African-American Historical Museum celebrates 10 years of providing true story of black history to northeast Indiana

“Until lions write their own history, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”—African proverb

“If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.”—Carter G. Woodson

“Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration, which comes from the teaching of biography and history.”—Carter G. Woodson

“This crusade is much more important than the anti-lynching movement, because there would be no lynching if it did not start in the schoolroom.”—Carter G. Woodson

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”—Maya Angelou

“The mere imparting of information is not education.”—Carter G. Woodson

“History is a race between education and catastrophe.”—H.G. Wells

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”— George Santayana

FORT WAYNE—History is replete with examples of those who recognized the critical nature of that very subject. From Santayana to Carter G. Woodson, great minds have always recognized that acknowledging and understanding the past is the key to building a better future—be it by emulating the shining examples of visionaries who stood before us or by avoiding the pitfalls of the individuals and masses who succumbed to the viler elements of human nature. In this nation, history, unfortunately, too often has been incomplete and distorted and, if those great thinkers are correct, there can be no chance for true moral and spiritual greatness for this nation until the annals are set right.

For the past decade, one local institution has been working passionately to correct the oversights others have made with regard to this community and nation’s history.

This year, the Fort Wayne African/African-American Historical Museum is itself making history by celebrating its 10th year of existence. Over the past decade, the museum, located at 436 E. Douglas Ave., has earned a reputation as one of the region’s best repositories of black history.

Want to know who the first black settlers were in the Fort Wayne area? Want to know who was the first black teacher hired by Fort Wayne Community Schools? Want to know how long black-owned businesses have existed in Allen County? Want to know who the first black policewoman in the area was or who were the first black elected officials in Fort Wayne and Allen County? If so, visit the African/African-American Historical Museum for answers.

Step into the facility and the museum’s dedicated staff will take you on a rich journey that starts in Africa, long before the coming of Europeans, colonization and slavery. Travel from the peaceful, yet morally, spiritually and socially sophisticated village life in the Motherland then through the terrifying Middle Passage that claimed the lives of perhaps tens of millions of Africans and the African Holocaust of slavery in the so-called new world. Land in the Americas where the masses of black people faced the horror of slavery, but witness the stories of rebellion and refusal to succumb to the crushing weight of systematized oppression. Step through the museum’s halls and exhibit rooms to witness the steady stream of triumphs black people experienced through faith, determination and hard work. See the figures who paved the way—not just world renowned figures like Nat Turner, Frederick Douglass, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, but those locally, like Mary Ray, John Nuckols, Robert Wilkerson, Marjorie Wickliffe and others who made an indelible mark on the tapestry of American life. And, as African/African-American Historical Museum Marketing Consultant Maye Johnson explains, history made by black people is not just about black people.

“African American history is our history—American history,” she said.

Given that, one would assume that black history would be on display everyday, just like all other “American” history. But, as Carter G. Woodson, the father of modern black history in America pointed out, “If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.” Woodson spent the greater portion of his life seeing to it that black history was not ignored in this nation, even establishing Negro History Week (which later evolved into Black History Month) in February 1926. Furthermore, history records numerous instances of Woodson emphasizing that black people would have to be responsible for telling their own story since others were not interested in seeing our truths and contributions come to light in America.

Hana Stith, a founder and curator of the African/African-American Historical Museum in Fort Wayne echoes that sentiment when she talks about what inspired her to devote the past 30 plus years of her life to spreading black history to the masses. Stith can recount how former Gayle Greer, a former Fort Wayne Urban League executive encouraged her and Dr. Miles Edwards to work with the city’s history museum to ensure that black people had a presence when the city celebrated its bicentennial back in 1976. Prior to Stith and Edwards’ involvement, the city’s “official” historical museum had only a dismal collection marking the presence of black people in Fort Wayne.

“They had a folder with a few articles and they had four pictures at [the museum which later became] the History Center, that were taken in 1936 by the Community Chest and that’s all they had on black people,” explained Stith.

Stith could identify most of the people in the picture while museum staff couldn’t, leading her to realize she had the means to start filling in important blanks in local black history— primarily by talking to folks she knew had helped shape the community. She and Edwards began interviewing some of the city’s African American elders to get the real story of who black people in Fort Wayne are and how they have contributed to the growth of the city in every way possible.

“We started out doing oral interviews. The first person I started with was Ida Mae Pipken,” said Stith.

Those interviews eventually netted a wealth of information that helped make sure black people were included in the bicentennial history of Fort Wayne. But, there was more.

Realizing that too many people were unaware of that aspect of local history, Stith and others, including her husband, the late Harold Stith—himself a historymaking businessman in the community as the area’s first master plumber contractor—created a traveling exhibit on black history to share with the community. Thanks largely to a $980 grant then-old Fort YMCA Director Brenda Robinson was able to secure, Stith’s husband used his expertise to put together the traveling exhibit which debuted at the Old Fort Y.

“We had the whole hall just full of stuff at the Old Fort Y,” explained Hana Stith.

Among the exhibit were sections on William E. Warfield, publisher of the area’s first black newspaper and whose diaries chronicled black life in Fort Wayne from 1909 to 1936. There was also information on the city’s first black police officers including men like Oliver Lee and Samuel Stuart Sr., along with much more.

Stith said the exhibit was displayed at a number of other locations in the city’s but after the bicentennial, was put into storage at Harold Stith’s plumbing business. But, she said, recognizing the value of it, she held onto it and continued collecting more local black history information and artifacts.

Skip ahead to 1997 when Anne Fairchild, education director for the Fort Wayne Allen County Historical Museum, called together a group of local black folks to talk about her concern over the lack of black history information in the museum. Fairchild also was surprised that there was no offical black history organization in the city.

Stith was among that group of people she called together as was Will Clark, who eventually suggested that there should a Martin Luther King Center or something along those lines in Fort Wayne.

“Out of these ideas grew the idea that we should have a museum,” said Stith.

In addition to Fairchild, Clark and Stith, Edwards, educator Mary Ray, Urban League administrator Carol Cartwright and community activist and history buff James “Jim” Blanks were among those who started the ball rolling, said Stith. Blanks, who had made history as the first elected black county councilman, already had collected a wealth of information and artifacts.

“Jim had his stuff together,” said Stith.” Jim had a lot of stuff.”

Stith was elected as acting chairperson of the fledgling African American Historical Society. Others came on board, including Raytheon executive Al Brothers, who brought in Marc Warsco to serve as the group’s attorney. Pam and Glynn Hines also made a huge contribution to the project.

“Pam and Glynn had thought we should have a black museum in Fort Wayne. She had already written bylaws for a museum. She was calling it the Gifts of the Fathers,” explained Stith.

But, already being extremely busy, the Hineses weren’t able to devote much time to the project so they passed the bylaws on to the society.

“We took them to Al and Marc and they refined it,” creating the legal structure for the parent entity to the African/African-American History Museum, said Stith.

“Before we knew it, we were well on our way,” she said.

The group kept moving forward, eventually to the point where they were ready to occupy a building. The group targeted the Douglass Street structure owned by the Fort Wayne Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA) which, at the time, was vacant. Stith approached the Rev. James Bledsoe, the organization’s president, about leasing the building.

“I went to Rev. Bledsoe and he told me he would have to think about it and get the approval of the Ministerial Alliance,” she said.

Initially, the IMA offered the group a five-year lease, stipulating that the African/African American Historical Society would be responsible for all repairs except major structural work. Unfortunately, the society and the IMA found that the roof had caved in and that the building would require extensive work to serve as the museum’s home. That, however, turned out to be a blessing for the society in that they were able to secure an initial 10-year lease in exchange for making the structural repairs.

The group embarked on a fundraising campaign to get the money to get the building in shape, scheduling a dinner at Turner Chapel AME Church. Sadly, before that happened, Blanks passed away.

“We organized on a Sunday, May 18, 1998,” said Stith, “and Jim died that Thursday.”

Someone gave $30 in Jim Blanks’ name toward the dinner and the group went to work. The community also pitched in to make the needed repairs happen, explained Stith.

Jim Winters, a former Wayne Township trustee helped gather part of the labor resources needed for refurbishing the property through a program he was running at East Wayne Street Center, while Lincoln life gave $10,000 to go toward roof repair. Ream Steckbeck supplied free and reduced price paint and Harold Stith brought in work crews to get the job done. The City of Fort Wayne Neighborhood Code division and National Serv-All also helped out.

“It’s just amazing how things fell into place,” said Hana Stith.

A number of black business people also gave generous donations, in part to help replace two furnaces in the facility and to put in 44 new windows. Despite the extensive remodeling of the building, Stith said the made sure to keep one old piece in place—the front door which was designed by Edwin Gibson, the first black architect in Fort Wayne. That door is still in place.

When the doors finally opened to the public in May 2000, the Fort Wayne African/African-American Historical Museum became a history making facility in itself as the first official facility of its kind in the area. Stith said it is a legacy for the community.

“Our people can take pride in the contributions we have made. This place contains our history. They can say, ‘My ancestors in this community made many contributions and I can hold my head up.’ It’s inspirational and motivation,” she said.

Stith said the museum will continue in its mission because the community cannot afford to have it otherwise.

This is part of the February 10, 2010 online edition of Frost Illustrated.

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