Preferred Name
Kelsey Snyder
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Date of Graduation
5-15-2025
Semester of Graduation
Spring
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Department of History
First Advisor
Margaret Mulrooney
Second Advisor
Andrew Witmer
Third Advisor
Jonathan Jones
Abstract
Sundown towns were a prominent aspect of the northern life from the early 1900s till in some places till the 1970s but they have been lost to history. These towns have been silenced and erased not just from the history books but from public memory. Indiana is my home state and the three towns that will be discussed have all had an impact on my personal development especially in understanding race. Decatur and Huntington places I have called home, both have been classified as sundown towns. The third, Marion was the location of the one the last known lynchings in Indiana in 1930. All three of these towns have a racist past which have impacted them to this day. Through primary source analysis their racist past will be revealed. This will be done by mapping where African Americans lived in these towns and how the white citizens of these towns discriminated against them. The power of memory is an important aspect of this history. These towns’ racist pasts have been silenced and erased. These memories need to be acknowledged for these towns to move forward and become a more inclusive and integrated communities.
Included in
African American Studies Commons, American Politics Commons, Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Human Geography Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social History Commons, Social Justice Commons, United States History Commons
