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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.

Pendleton

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?
Probable
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 1538 0
1940 1681 0
1950 2082 0
1960 2472 0
1970 2243 0 2
1980
1990 2309 0
2000 3873 15 18 4
2010 4253 43 34 11
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

email message 1/11/08:

As I remember, Pendleton used to be a sundown town, way back when.

Since my family lived there, and we have no ancestry there, it was not an acting sundown town, that I know of. It was, however, extremely dominated by white people.

In the course of being a part of the South Madison Community Schools for more than 12 years, I saw only a handful of black people join the community, and they usually quickly left.

I can’t remember any instances of them being forced to leave or experiencing hate crimes or violence, but I’m sure being that small of a minority was enough.

Older people do remember when the town had signs up that specified that black people were not allowed in town after dark, but I couldn’t tell you which older people told me that, as I heard these things as a child (Now I’m not so sure I’m being helpful to you at all!).

I think if you studied the population figures for Pendleton you would find around 10 or less black people there at any given time, confirming what I said about the black people in my school system. It is strange, however, because just down Interstate 69 (one exit north to be exact) is the city line for Anderson, which has a fairly mixed population.