Art,

I am so grateful that you and others have found more benefits and value in the digitized articles of the Indianapolis Recorder. As a backdrop to your posting, did you know that the first black principal of Crispus Attucks was Matthias Nolcox, who was born and raised in Lyles Station, Indiana? I wish you many more happy returns from the Indianapolis Recorder.

I am encouraging the other searchers for Indianapolis Recorder articles to consider the business (were they barbers, realtors, contractors, etc.) your ancestors may have been in. As Wilma Moore's article pointed out, there were many ads posted in the newspaper by black entrepeneurs and quite a few bore photos or drawings/likenesses of the black business owners. A cousin of mine was married to a saloon keep, Andrew (A.L.) Burney and I found a 1904 ad in the paper, with his photo, advertising him as a purveyor of "wet" (alcohol) goods at Burney's Saloon.