Last Updated 4 days by Amnon J. Jobi | Amnon Front Page
The history of a segregated Indianapolis fire station
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An all-too-forgotten chapter of Indianapolis’ history is the focus of an upcoming community conversation that you can join.
“Fire Station 9. The brick building at 16th and Carrollton was opened in 1881 – and unfortunately opened as a Jim Crow fire station,” local historian Leon Bates said.
The original home for the station is at the corner of 16th Street and North Carrollton Avenue. Bates will lead a discussion about the station and its significance, as part of the Freetown Village series “Conversations in Indiana African-American History and Culture.”
Organizers of the event call the history of the men who served at the station and other segregated firehouses “little-known, unappreciated, tragic, triumphant, and intriguing.”
Bates says that prior to the first Black firefighters who joined the force, Indianapolis had an all-white fire service.
“One of the reasons it was created was that some of the people in the Black neighborhoods complained that the fire department was slow to come to their homes or was heavy-handed in putting the fire out. And one of the suggestions was, well, maybe we need Black firefighters. And that sparked that whole conversation.”
It would take nearly a century for the Indianapolis Fire Service to fully integrate.
Bates says many of the stories of those long-ago generations still need to be rediscovered and shared. He’s hopeful the community conversation will fill some of those gaps.
“Absolutely. I mean, this kind of research never really ends. There’s always something else that comes up. Someone will know a little piece, or someone will say, ‘Hey, look, I know where this is. Or my grandfather, my great-grandfather had this.’ And they show it to you, and you’re going like, ‘This is the piece we’ve been looking for!’ Or ‘We didn’t know that!’ and then the story grows and becomes even more interesting.”
If you’d like to listen or share, the event is April 17, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Indiana Landmarks Center on Central Avenue. It’s free to attend or watch online, but organizers ask you to register ahead of time.
