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Thursday, March 28, 2024

‘History Makers’ to visit 2 IPS high schools

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Indianapolis students will have a chance to hear from two local women who have been described as “history makers,” and possibly get inspired to make history of their own.

Students from two area high schools will hear the stories of television host and minister Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith and newspaper owner, editor, and nonprofit chief executive Eunice Trotter on Sept. 27.

Walker-Smith and Trotter will speak at the schools at the request of the History Makers, the nation’s largest African-American video oral history archive. Walker-Smith will visit Broad Ripple Magnet High School for the Arts and Humanities, and Trotter will speak at Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet High School.

Walker-Smith and Trotter will join more than 500 African-American “history makers” visiting schools in other cities nationwide for the 4th Annual Back to School with the History Makers program, which is designed to encourage students to commit to excellence and their education.

“By bringing these living leaders into today’s educational system, we are raising awareness about the achievements of the accomplished African-Americans in local communities and bringing these leaders into schools to see things firsthand, while providing important role models for today’s youth,” said Julieanna Richardson, founder and executive director of The History Makers.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is chairing the nationwide effort with the goal of having nearly 500 Black leaders go “back to school” in 68 cities and 30 states. This program is putting History Makers in direct contact with over 25,000 students across the nation to tell their stories and to encourage youth to strive for excellence.

The theme of the day is commit, and Black leaders will recount their own school experiences and the struggles they encountered on their paths to success. They will also encourage students to value their education.

The History Makers is beloved by researchers across the country for its extensive history archive. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to recording and preserving the personal histories of well-known and unsung African-Americans.

To date, the organization has interviewed over 2,000 African-American leaders, with the goal of creating an archive of 5,000 interviews (30,000 hours) for the establishment of a unique digital archive.

Walker-Smith is currently the executive director of the Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis, the first African-American and woman to hold the position. She was the first African-American woman to graduate from the Doctor of Ministry Program at Princeton Theological Seminary.

She is the host of PAX Television’s “Faces of Faith,” co-host on the Odyssey Hallmark Cable Network, and has been a frequent speaker at the Indiana Women’s Prison since 1991.

“I am looking forward to being there for the young people and hopefully I can be a source of encouragement for their future,” Walker-Smith told the Recorder.

This is Walker-Smith’s third year as a History Makers presenter, and she enjoys seeing “the light in the students’ faces” when they participate.

“My style is not to come and lecture at kids, but to interact with them, and to try to pull out what their gifts are and get to know who they are,” she said. “I love when they step forward, share their stories and say what is important to them. I think most of the History Makers are trying to do that and understand what the young people are thinking.”

Trotter is founder of Mary Bateman Clark Enterprises, a non-profit working to incorporate the history of African-Americans in Indiana into mainstream U.S. history.

She has also been the owner of the Indianapolis Recorder, the newspaper’s first African-American woman owner, and has served as its editor-in-chief. Trotter has been an editor and reporter for national news outlets, including the Stockton Record, New York Post, and The News-Sentinel, among others. She is currently a communications specialist at American Senior Communities and an author.

Last year’s successful Back to School with the History Makers program sent nearly 500 of the History Makers into schools in 77 cities and 35 states, including 102-year-old “Bloody Sunday” civil rights pioneer, Amelia Boynton Robinson, neo soul artists Kindred the Family Soul, singer and actress Freda Payne and actor Harry Lennix. Many of the History Makers have now adopted a school, one of the goals of the initiative.

For more information, visit the History Makers website at Thehistorymakers.com and the History Makers education page at Thehistorymakers.com/education.

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