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James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Leavenworth

Indiana

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Unions, Organized Labor?

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Surely
Was there an ordinance?
Sign?
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?
Probably Not, Although Still Very Few Black People

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940 394 0
1950
1960 387 0
1970 330 0 0
1980
1990 320 7
2000 353 6 0
2010 238 6 0 0
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

On January 29, 1901, the _Chattanooga Daily Times__ published an article about the violent expulsions of blacks from their homes in the article:
“Anti-Negro Crusade; Indiana River Towns Are Taking Drastic Measures; To Rid Themselves of the Obnoxious; Scores Indicted for Selling Their Votes – In Many Places No Negroes Are Allowed to Live”
“Cities and towns along the Ohio river have begun a crusade against the Negroes. The entire trouble dates back to the lynching of the Negroes at Rockport and Boonville for the murder of the white barber, Simmons, at Rockport one night late last month. The board of safety of this city has ordered the police to arrest all strange Negroes and bring them before the city police judge. If they can not give reason for being here they will be sentenced to the rock pile. The object of this order is to rid the town of an obnoxious class of Negroes. It is estimated that there are 2,000 colored men in this city who absolutely refuse to work. The[y] spend their time in the colored saloons and low dives of the city and live the best way they can. On election day they are in the market and the man who bids the highest is the man who lands them.”
139 blacks in Rockport were indicted “for selling their votes on election day.” …
“Other towns in Indiana along the river are taking steps to drive the worst elements of Negroes away. In some towns no Negro is permitted to live. Vigilance committees have been appointed at Grand View, Enterprise, Tell City, and Leavenworth. Since the recent trouble at Newburg many of the colored people have left that town.”