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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.

English

Indiana

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Don’t Know
Unions, Organized Labor?
Don’t Know

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Surely
Was there an ordinance?
Don't Know
Sign?
Perhaps, Some Oral Evidence
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?
Probably

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 704 0
1940 757 0
1950
1960 698 0
1970 664 0
1980
1990 609 0
2000 673 0
2010 645 2 1 4
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

Emma Lou Thornbrough writes in The Negro in Indiana (Indianapolis: IN Historical Bureau, 1957):
“Crawford County, just across the Ohio River from Kentucky, also barred Negroes.” “It was an established policy that no member of the race was allowed to come in, even temporarily. In 1881 a contractor for the Louisville, New Albany, and St. Louis Railroad, who had hired a gang of colored construction workers, was warned that they would not be allowed to work. When he sought protection from the county officials, they confirmed that it was an unwritten law that Negroes were not permitted in the county.” Leavenworth is principal town. (p. 225-26)
English was said to have a sign up to warn blacks about the sundown law. Leavenworth was the same. Leavenworth was said to be the most anti black community on the Ohio River.
When the Airline railway was built 1880 1882 the blacks had to stay on the railroad property.
The sheriff was sent to warn blacks about the law.
English was the county seat after 1896 and people from the Taswell area would travel to English to pay their taxes. Individuals make remarks about the sign for blacks. An older resident remembered that when he lived in Leavenworth during the 1960’s, the older men make reference to the sign for blacks.
Two black households in county, 2000.