Madam C.J. Walker was a brilliant entrepreneur who built a haircare empire and became the first African-American woman millionaire. You might have heard about her, but not many people know that her headquarters used to be located in Indianapolis, along a once vibrant Black corridor called Indiana Avenue, a place that today is known for parking lots, high-speed traffic, and uninspiring university buildings.
Why do so few people know this story? Because, over decades, government planners and private developers slowly and systematically erased Indiana Avenue’s history. Luckily, however, some Black Hoosiers are working to uncover, and reclaim, what almost disappeared without a trace. In this episode, we tell their, and the Avenue’s, story.
GUESTS:

A’Lelia Bundles, Journalist and Madam C.J. Walker biographer
Susan Hall Dotson, Indiana Historical Society
Claudia Polley, Urban Legacy Lands Initiative
Wildstyle Paschall, artist and community advocate
Devon Ginn, Walker Legacy Center
Mr. Thomas Hart Ridley, centenarian and Indiana Avenue author

The post Urban Roots: Madam Walker and the Rise & Fall of Indiana Avenue appeared first on KPFA.

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