Reviving a Forgotten Freetown: The Lives and Legacies of the US Colored Troops in Southeast Indianapolis

Event Details

Founded officially in 1872, Norwood is a Reconstruction Era settlement
outside the boundaries of Indianapolis. Norwood’s founders were African
American veterans from Kentucky because of their service beside the
Indiana 28th Regiment during the last years of the Civil War. Norwood and
its partner community Barrington sat as stable, independent Freetowns until
they were annexed into Indianapolis in 1912. Using these oral histories and
family archives, we have reconstructed the story of the Southeast side of
Indianapolis from the perspective of the USCT that first called it home. These
stories have been left out of the dominant narratives of our culture and have
only been revived through the voices of their descendants.

Kaila Austin (she/her) is an artist, public historian and community activist
from Indianapolis, Indiana. In 2019, she began Rogue Preservation
Services, a historic consulting firm, to work with underserved communities
to help them mobilize their histories to protect their ancestral spaces. Since
2021, she has been working with six Reconstruction Era communities on the
Southeast side of Indianapolis founded by the US Colored Troops:
Norwood, Barrington, Hosbrook, Babe Denny, Bean Creek and Zuniville.

Street parking is available, in addition to a parking lot behind the Carnegie Center. Please park in the half of the lot closest to the museum.