"Monuments Matter"

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MONUMENTS MATTER...

BLACK HISTORY MONTH SPEECH
Given February 21, 2010 at the Alexandrian Public Library, Mt. Vernon, Indiana
By Judge James Redwine

I was born and raised on the Osage Indian Nation in the state of Oklahoma at a time when Oklahoma legally segregated African Americans from the rest of us. They could not go to our schools, eat in our restaurants, sit downstairs in our movie theaters or even attend our white churches. Of course, my Native American friends were not kept separate from the white community by law, but their culture was systematically disrespected by the dominate white society. Please stop and think for a moment about our community of Posey County, Indiana and envision all of the important monuments erected to the memory of our heroes and significant events. Can you think of one monument erected to African Americans or to Native Americans? I thought not. Let me assure you the same is true as to African Americans in my old home county in Oklahoma and, ironically enough, is pretty much true even as to Native Americans in the state that bills itself as “Native America”. It is my opinion it is not a mere happen stance that there are few, if any, monuments to African and Native Americans, especially in our nation’s capital.During this important celebration of black history I would like to discuss with you why, I believe, monuments matter. History can quickly forget even the most horrendous tragedies. We humans have but scant time to complete our individual struggles. We are not prone to dwell for long on the misfortunes of others, especially if we ourselves or our ancestors contributed to those misfortunes. It is not a coincidence that there is a memorial on our Capital Mall to the atrocities committed by Nazi foreigners but no memorials to the holocausts we ourselves committed against Native Americans and African Americans. As Jesus said, why do we search for the sins of others and ignore our own? That normal but inglorious human weakness is why monuments matter. Out of sight truly is soon out of mind and the facts of history are often changed to appease our nagging consciences. We need public admission and remembrance of our collective sins even more than we need public veneration of our heroes. These truths are self-evident from the way we have conveniently and comfortably rewritten or left unwritten hundreds of years of our systematic destruction of Native American and African American cultures. Thanks to white Americans, the histories of both of these races are similar and inextricably intertwined. And speaking of truth,“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Thomas Jefferson wrote those words in 1776. Thomas Jefferson owned many of his fellow human beings. And, at the time fifty-six of our famous forefathers signed this Declaration of Independence, several of them owned their fellow human beings. George Washington did not join Jefferson and the others in signing the Declaration of Independence, but Washington did join Jefferson in owning his fellow human beings. Our United States Constitution took effect in March 1789, and provided in Article IV, § 2 (3) that it was illegal to refuse to surrender an escaped slave to his or her owner. This provision was later made significantly more odious by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Our Constitution based the number of each state’s congressional representatives on a census of all free persons and certain indentured servants, but excluded Native Americans and included only 3/5 of each slave (Article I, § 2). Article I, § 9 provided that the importation of slaves (mainly from Africa) could not be legally stopped by Congress until 1808. And the lawful breeding and trading of domestic slaves continued until December 1865, eighty-nine years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We have erected impressive monuments to Washington and Jefferson. Abraham Lincoln, who ran for the presidency on a promise that he would free none of the slaves or some of the slaves or all of the slaves, depending upon which out-come would best preserve the union, and who endorsed the forced removal of Native Americans from their homes, is honored with many monuments. We have carefully enshrined the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in impressive displays in our nation’s capital. And we still venerate Posey County’s own Alvin Peterson Hovey, who, as a Posey County delegate to Indiana’s Constitutional Convention of 1850, voted to deny African Americans the right to even move into Indiana or vote or testify in court or serve on juries. Further, Hovey lived right across the street from the campus of our Posey County courthouse where five African American men were murdered by a well disciplined group of two to three hundred Posey County white men in October of 1878. There is a monument to Hovey at the entrance to Bellefountaine Cemetery and, also, at our state capital in Indianapolis. But there is no memorial to the victims of those horrific crimes of 1878. I suggest it is long past time that the United States of America acknowledges the greatest stains on our country’s honor by creating fitting memorials to Native Americans who were treated as savage trespassers on their own lands and African Americans who were treated as so much livestock. And we in Posey County should lead the way by installing a fitting tribute to those African American men who were murdered in October 1878, and to all the black families who were driven out of our community in the pogrom that followed. This monument to justice should be established on the courthouse campus where that great injustice was committed then covered up by a conspiracy of silence.

- Submitted by Don Counts

THE CAPTAIN'S LOG –TSGS News

TSGS had a great dinner meeting last night at the Sirloin Stockade with a nice crowd. Everyone seemed to have a great time. We recognized 3 individuals for their contributions toward the society's blog (TSGS Cruiser Blog that you are reading now). These three each were awarded a TSGS Certificate of Appreciation for being great TSGS Bloggers: Don Counts, Brenda Jerome and Chris Myers.

We had a very interesting program concerning the newly published book "Judge Lynch" written by Posey County Circuit Court Judge James M. Redwine. A huge list of microfilm was read off to those attending that will be soon available to everyone at Willard Library thanks to the Acquisitions Committee: Brenda Jerome (Chair), Mary Lou Bevers, Rena Goss.

John G. West, TSGS President

THE CAPTAIN'S LOG –TSGS News

Tonight is the TSGS Annual Dinner Meeting at the Sirloin Stockade on Bellemeade Ave. near Green River Road. From 5:30 t0 6:30 we will eat and enjoy some fellowship (genealogists usually have little trouble visiting with one another!). We will have a very short meeting with some Certificates of Appreciation presented to some TSGS members for contributing to the success of our society. About 7PM our guest speaker, Judge Redwine, will speak concerning Judge Lynch. I am really looking forward to hearing his program. Come join us. You do not need to be a member to attend our meetings.

Our regular web site has recently jumped to over 1,500 visits since last Thanksgiving (less than five months) which gives us about 300 visits per month or an average of 10 visits a day. Before this time we got about 10 visits every two or three weeks! Our Clustra-Maps Counter shows that we have had visits from people in 29 countries with 12 having two or more visits. These are unique visits meaning that each person is only counted once in a 24 hour period. The number of hits during this time is over 5,350! Which is over 1,000 hits per month. We are attracting some visitors to our web sites. Since 14 Dec 2008, the TSGS Cruiser Blog has had over 4,400 hits - 4 months... an average of 1,100 visits per month.

I invite everyone to consider submitting short articles, photos, links or even ideas to make this blog a further success and to make it a diverse blog made up of genealogists with all kinds of interests and experiences. Share with others some of your stories.

Tomorrow is Tax Day, but it is also the deadline for submissions for the Tri-State Packet - our members quarterly journal.

TSGS member, Ken Gilkey is in the hospital... remember him in your prayers.

See you tonight!
John G. West, TSGS President

THE CAPTAIN'S LOG –TSGS News

Make plans to attend our Annual TSGS Dinner Meeting on 14 Apr 2009 (next Tuesday night). The dinner will be held at the Sirloin Stockade, 4610 Bellemeade, Evansville, Indiana (near Green River Road). Dinner & fellowship will be from 5:30 to 6:30PM. About 6:30PM we will have welcoming remarks and announcements and present a few rewards to society members who have made a special contribution to the society or to genealogy in general. If anyone has any candidates, let me know. The President selects the recipients with the help of the TSGS Board.

About 7PM we will introduce our featured speaker - Posey County Circuit Court Judge James M. Redwine... presenting a look at his published book "Judge Lynch! - A Novel Based on Real-Life Accounts Exposing Secrets of a Small Southern Indiana Community." My wife, Becky, has read the book and said that it is very good and was hard to set it down until it was finished. She really enjoyed reading it. Visit Judge Redwine's Web Site.

Reminder: The deadline for submission of articles and information to the Tri-State Packet, our member's quarterly journal, are due no later than 15 April 2009!

John G. West, TSGS President

THE CAPTAIN'S LOG -TSGS News

10 Mar 2009 Tri-State Genealogical Society Meeting Porograms:
6:30 p.m. Help Session "FALSIFIED LEGAL RECORDS AND OTHER PITFALLS " Led by Mary Lou Bevers, Genealogist
7:30 p.m. Regular Meeting "Browning Genealogy" Presented by Browning Associates.

Special thanks to Mary Lou Bevers for volunteering at the last minute to give the HELP Session when the scheduled speaker cancelled. The Browning Genealogy concerns the Online Browning Database of obituaries and news clippings found in the Evansville newspapers. Both of these programs will be great to attend and are free to members and non-members alike – reservations not required. Come and visit us and enjoy these two very good and useful programs.

Next month's Annual Dinner Meeting will be 14 Apr 2009 - It will be at the Sirloin Stockade! "Judge Lynch! - A Novel Based on Real-Life Accounts Exposing Secrets of Small Southern Indiana Community.” Presented by Posey County Circuit Court Judge James M. Redwine, Speaker & Author.

I promised to list the names of those in the 1994 TSGS Annual Seminar photo. Here is what I have: (L to R) Mary Lou Bevers, Unknown Lady (Rena Goss?), Mary Lou Winsett, Joan Elliot Parker, Unknown Man, Unknown Woman, Karin Kirsch, Cynthia Maasberg, Judy Lee, Seminar Speaker - Helen Leary, Bettie Ann Cook and Betty Ewers.

This afternoon the TSGS Board will meet to map out the 2009-2010 Budget and plan the balance of the 2008-2009 fiscal year with an expected purchase of some great Kentucky & Virginia County court records on microfilm. This will be a very nice addition to the already great Willard Library Genealogical Collection. All genealogical research materials purchased by TSGS are housed at Willard Library for the free use of anyone that visits the library.

John G. West, TSGS President