Documenting History

Indiana Landmarks Black Heritage Preservation Program aims to help tell the story of places where Black history happened, even where little physical evidence remains. This year, the program plans to unveil an interactive map sharing the history of over 60 African American settlements established in Indiana from the early 1800s until the start of the Civil War.

The project is the result of a unique partnership between the Black Heritage Preservation Program and The Nature Conservancy to research sites with potential connections to Black history within some of the Conservancy’s nature preserves, starting with Boone’s Cave in Owen County. Located within Green’s Bluff Nature Preserve, the cave was rumored to have been used for holding kidnapped African Americans before they were sold into slavery or as a hideout along the Underground Railroad trail believed to have existed in that county.

By looking at property records and interviewing local historians, researchers revealed the cave was more likely to have been a place where freedom seekers hid, located on land once owned by former slave Zilpha Boon, who is buried in a Black cemetery near the preserve. Indiana Landmarks funded a short film documenting the site’s story, due to be completed later this year.

After exploring Boone’s Cave, the partners are expanding their collaboration to include research of The Nature Conservancy’s preserves statewide. The Nature Conservancy funded the Black Heritage Preservation Program’s work, underwriting interns and costs of the documentary, and contributing information collected from its own initiative to map their nature preserves and share historic uses of the land with the public.

“For us, the conversation has been very exciting,” says Melissa Moran, director of community programs for The Nature Conservancy’s Indiana chapter. “Now where we’re looking at properties where we’ve been made aware of their proximity to historic Black settlements, we’re able to open up conversations with partners we may not have reached out to previously.”

Along with identifying the location of historic Black settlements, the new interactive map will include a brief history of each site, and resources for further research, such as census records and historic photographs.

“We hope this map will broaden awareness of early Black history in the state and spur further research,” says Eunice Trotter, director of Indiana Landmarks Black Heritage Preservation Program.

Watch our Indiana Landmarks Black Heritage Preservation Program page for updates on launch of both the interactive map and the short film on Boone’s Cave.

This article first appeared in the November/December 2024 issue of Indiana Preservation, Indiana Landmarks’ member magazine.