Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street now has a new Indiana State historical marker, commemorating the Indianapolis Phyllis Wheatley YWCA.
Named after the first published African American poet, the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA opened in 1929, providing a safe space for young Black women and girls to engage in recreation, education and community building. On April 26, the community gathered at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church to unveil a historical marker honoring the institution’s legacy.
“This marker isn’t just a symbol of brick and mortar, it is a tribute to community, to connection and to the enduring strength of Black women who have carried the weight and wonder of this city on their shoulders,” Carlos Perkins, senior pastor at Bethel AME Church and City-County Council member, said during the ceremony. “The legacy of the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA calls us to each other, really, to see each other and to understand that the strength of our future depends on the strength of our ties.”
The faith-based institution stood on West Street, across from St. Philips Episcopal Church on what is now the northbound lane of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street and remained open until 1959. The building was eventually torn down in 1983.
In addition to being a haven for Black women and girls, the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA also housed meeting spaces, supported Black women’s leadership and advocated civil and labor rights. The organization offered services to meet spiritual, educational and health care needs and had a pool where Black and brown girls could learn to swim.
The historical marker is in front of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, which played an integral part in financially supporting the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in the mid to late 1920s. The institution was also part of the historic Indiana Avenue cultural area.
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Over the last five years, a team of researchers — including Dr. Kim Williams-Pulfer, Dr. Joseph L. Tucker Edmonds, Dr. Nancy Marie Robertson and Ms. Olivia McGee-Lockhart — worked to uncover and document the lost history of the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA.
The findings were compiled in a documentary entitled “Abundant Life: Remembering the Phyllis Wheatley Young Women’s Christian Association,” which was screened inside the church before the marker unveiling.
“Today, we take control of the narrative with the documentary film and the placing of this historical marker,” said Bishop Jennifer Baskerville Burrows, the first Black woman elected to diocesan bishop in the Episcopal Church. “We lift up and we tell the stories of the Black women and girls who have and continue to make a difference in the city of Indianapolis and beyond, all of those whose names we know and whose names are known to God, who are nurtured at the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA are not forgotten because of what we do here and now.”
For more information about the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA dedication marker, contact Dr. Joseph Tucker Edmonds with the Research Team at pwywca@iu.edu or call 317-274-7366. To read more about the project, visit cainkaur.wixstudio.com/indypwywca.
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 graduated with a degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and her previous work includes freelancing for Indy Maven, Assistant Arts & Life Editor for The Lantern, and editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Chloe enjoys covering all things arts and culture — from local music, visual art, dance, theater and film, as well as minority-owned businesses. In her free time, Chloe enjoys reading, cooking and keeping her plants alive.
