Mary Bryant Tandy, who worked for the Indiana Herald since 1970, was inducted this year into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.
Tandy began her career at the Indiana Herald as a secretary and transitioned to office manager before 1983, when she found herself in the role of owner, publisher and editor following the deaths of the newspaper’s owner, Opal Tandy and her husband, according to a press release. Tandy made history as one of the few African American women to be a newspaper owner, editor and publisher.
Upon taking the position, Tandy said, “The Indiana Herald is a big responsibility, and I love the challenge,” according to her family.
In her new role, Tandy would go on to make major changes to the weekly metropolitan newspaper, which was located in Downtown Indianapolis at 2170 N. Illinois St. In addition to switching its format from a tabloid to a broadsheet, Tandy worked to offer readers more variety in local news, according to a press release.
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“We’re trying to write more about the community, people in the community, what they are doing,” Tandy told a reporter from The Indianapolis News. “It seems like they know the bad things but not the good things that are happening in the community.”
Under Tandy’s leadership, The Herald’s distribution network expanded, targeting grocery stores, drug stores and all local newsstands. As the internet gained popularity, Tandy oversaw the publication of the Herald’s first online news edition on a website via Earthlink.
The Herald also became one of the first papers to feature an eyewitness report from a local freelance writer about the March on Forsyth County on Jan. 24, 1887 — also known as the Brotherhood March — the momentous civil rights demonstration led by Coretta Scott King and Hosea Williams in Georgia.
Eunice Trotter, a fellow Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame member, previously owned and ran the competing newspaper, the Indianapolis Recorder. Trotter said she considered Tandy to be “a singular force” in the city’s media landscape, continuing and furthering Opal Tandy’s legacy.
“Always quiet and unassuming, she worked to deliver important, significant information to Herald readers,” Trotter said in a statement. “Mary was also a quiet force in the Democratic Party, working at the grassroots level to make sure African Americans in Indianapolis were represented.”
Tandy continued to oversee the Indiana Herald’s operations until the age of 90, when her health declined. She made editorial decisions for more than 30 years and never missed a deadline. When publishing deadlines drew near, those within earshot could count on Tandy to remind them: “We need to get the paper out.”
For more information about Mary Bryant Tandy and her Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame induction, visit ijhf.org/members/2026/mary-bryant-tandy.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
Chloe McGowan is the Arts & Culture Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Columbus, OH, Chloe has a bachelor's in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and has previously worked for Indy Maven, The Lantern, and CityScene Media Group. In her free time, Chloe enjoys live theatre, reading, baking and keeping her plants alive.
