Flanner House Indianapolis

Flanner House Elementary Charter School
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HISTORY TIMELINE

1898 to 1984

1899 -- Dr. Morgan takes over the management of the program. A playground was developed with some equipment; a schedule of classes meeting the needs of the people: millinery, swing, first aid, cooking, etc., was begun.

1903 -- Flanner Guild was incorporated.

1908 -- Flanner Guild Rescue Home was established to care for unmarried mothers and their children; employment and education classes began.

1909 -- Mr. Flanner gave the institution additional property to provide larger working quarters; a much larger building was erected. Programs included a full-time employment department; recreation department with boys and girls clubs; vocational arts with classes in cooking, sewing and millinery; a music department with full orchestra of 73 pieces; and a day care nursery with a fee of 10 cents per day.

1912 -- Mr. Flanner passed away and following his death, the Board of Trustees appealed to the Christian Women's Board of Missions (Disciples of Christ) to support the work. The Christian Women's Boar of Missions agreed to do this an assumed financial responsibility for Flanner House programs an did so until 1923. The Flanner Guild Board was reorganized an the name was change from Flanner Guild to Flanner House. Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Brokenburr came to Flanner House as superintendent an matron.

1914 -- Mr. Charles O. Lee succeeded Mr. Brokenburr an continue to build the Flanner House program until 1925.

1918 -- Christian Women's Board of Missions purchased four buildings at the corner of West and St. Clair streets, and remodeled and equipped them for use by the settlement house. Programs at that time consisted of health clinics, which included a tuberculosis clinic, child care clinic, unmarried mothers home an Red Cross classes in first aid; a library; weekly Sunday school classes; and the Friendly Visitation Department, which offered lessons in "Teaching the Value of Money", "How to Get a Dollar's Worth," "Values of Health," "Sanitation," "Cleanliness" and "Wholesome Living."

1919 -- Makeover shop developed that taught women how to make attractive garments from old, cased-off clothing.

1923 -- Flanner House Employment Department Service continued and Flanner House laundry School was established; other vocational classes were also developed.

1924 -- Flanner House became a charter member on Indianapolis Community Fund.

1925 -- Rev. Henry L. Herod succeeded Charles O. Lee as superintendent and continued until 1935.

1935 -- Cleo W. Blackburn succeeded Henry L. Herod as superintendent.

1936 -- Flanner House Guild was organized. The Guild was a group of leading African-American women to be supporters of the Flanner House program.

1937 -- The organization of the Flanner House Track Meet and the toy library.

1939 -- The Indianapolis Foundation awarded a grant for comprehensive study of the social an economic needs of the African-American community.

1941 -- The City Park Board bought a city block of property at 16th and Missouri Street and leased part of it to Flanner House for 99 years; the Flanner House Carnival was organized.

1943 -- The Flanner House Guild sponsored the First Annual Fundraising Tea with 30 organizations participating. The "Flanner House Plan" was adopted by the Flanner House Board of Directors, and the construction on the $55,000 building began September 1st.

1944 -- The new building was dedicated on May 30. The work at Flanner House was organized into three related divisions: Social Services, Vocational Aides and Self-Help Services.

A. Social Services included recreation and group work for men, women, boys and girls; health clinics, tuberculosis, dental, well-baby, maternity/day nursery and counseling services.
B. Vocational Aides included employment services, knitting and sewing classes, music instruction, service clubs, cooking classes an nutrition education, Red Cross an nursing classes, typing and shorthand, and amateur photography.
C. Self-Help Services included a variety of cooperative and self-help projects giving the community the facilities and techniques to solve their own socio-economic problems. These projects included: garden clubs, canning and food preservation, a cooperative food store, a makeover clothes shop, a woodworking shop for furniture building and repairs, and labor pool organization for cooperative remodeling and house construction.

1946 -- The Indianapolis Foundation awarded a grant for health programs, enlarged the cooperative health program with Indianapolis Board of Health and Hospitals, and allowed for the construction of the Herman G. Morgan Health Center. Lilly awarded a grant for a vocational shop and cannery.

1947 -- A self-evaluation study was done by Flanner House and the Council of Social Agencies for the development of the U.S. Public Health Service first multiphase screening program for chronic disease.

1948 -- Flanner House operated a self-help cannery equipped with production machinery. A gardening service was set up in which plots, under the supervision of a trained agriculturist were made available at convenient locations for those families willing to work them and keep them above minimum standards. Cooking and sewing classes, which were supported by the Adult Education Division of the Public Schools, were sponsored by Flanner House in various parts of the city; nutrition classes were conducted at Morgan Health Center.

1950 -- THe Housing Program began under the auspice of Flanner House, Flanner House Homes, Inc., and the Board of Fundamental Education. This was a team-based, guided self-help program that enabled families to move into brand new houses that they built themselves.

1954 -- The Board of Fundamental Education was chartered by Congress. This was the first social service program chartered by Congress.

1960 -- The Flanner House Catering Service and Cooking School was formed.

1962 -- The Social Hygiene Clinic began.

1963 -- The Fayette Street Rehabilitation Project was instituted and community relations and industrial relations were improved with adult education, offering GED classes; sewing and upholstery; and with the cannery offering community education, food training and literacy.

1966 -- The revitalization of the multiphasic screening program took place and the Vista volunteer training program began.

1968 -- Employment service was established at Flanner House. This service offered employment counseling, employment training, industrial relations, and job development and placement. Urban Life Services were established. Flanner House Job Mobile cruised the city making contact with the hard-core unemployed of the city. The Job Mobile was staffed with Flanner House workers who interviewed, counseled and took applications to help locate employees for employers. Flanner House established four satellite offices to provide service for all the people. Lockefield Library began, along with an experimental and demonstration project that consisted of education and development, on-the-job training, employment clinics and job development.

1969 -- Flanner House Homes opened River House, a 294-unit apartment development built under the federal government's 221(d)(3) program, that was to be converted to a cooperative in three years. Flanner House joined the Indiana Junior Football Conference (ages 13 and 14) along with Lawrence, Wood, Broad Ripple, indiana School for th Deaf and the Park School Junior High School. Flanner House wins the championship the first year. Flanner House senior citizens formed a choral group, "Silver Strands."

1971 -- Urban Experience/Urban Semester was offered in conjunction with IUPUI.

1972 -- The Residential Youth Center, 3203 N. Pennsylvania St., opened to provide residential facilities for 16 young men, ages 9 to 18, who had been referred to the home by the Marion County Juvenile Court and the Youth Service Bureau. Funding sources were the Metropolitan Manpower Commission ($87,000) and the Lilly Endowment ($15,000). The Center housed a live-in couple, a cook, a driver, a secretary and four counselors. The counselors were responsible for outreach activities to assist 75 young men, who were potential delinquents, by developing attitudes that would help them stay in school, find part-time jobs, if required, and develop a respect for the rights of others and themselves.
The Veterans Service Center was established as part of the Talent Search-Upward Bound program; Human Awareness Training Program began for guards and inmates at Pendleton Reformatory (BFE directed); and, Group Work Program was initiate. The Barrington Neighborhood Program began being researched. The residents of the Barrington neighborhood requested assistance in setting up a community recreational youth center, a health and drug clinic, and other services. Mr. McFadden received encouragement from both neighborhood and civic leaders to continue his research and define a proposed program. A Pre-delinquent Juvenile Program started and the Scarborough Peace Games were organized.

1973-1974 -- Four neighborhood centers existed: WEST, 854 Indiana Ave; NORTH, 2424 Northwestern Ave. (now Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. St.); SOUTH, 1624 Quill St.; EAST, 1540 Columbia Ave.
Adult education was providing instruction in sewing, cooking, weaving, upholstering, gardening and canning; as well as conducting educational programs for the community at large, enrolling students and raising them to high school equivalency. This program was conducted on three levels: kindergarten through 4th grade; 5th through 8th grade; 9th through 12th grade. The Indianapolis Boar of School Commissioners provided the instructors.
The Morgan Health Center altered a diversified health program for children and adults, making such changes as dental an X-ray for children; well-baby and prenatal clinics; public health nurse station; Weight Watchers Club; and Alcoholics Anonymous. In cooperation with the Metropolitan Health Council, Flanner House operated a treatment and health clinic, Martindale Area Citizens' Service, serving the Eastside community at the Eastside Center, 1540 Columbia Ave.
The Indianapolis Leadership Committee, Inc. (ILC) was offering adult recreation by instruction, and team sponsorship in such activities as boxing, weight lifting, body building, judo, karate, track and field, fencing, etc.
Home for Low Verbals was established. The Home was intended to service those young deaf individuals who had been evaluated as having a need for this structured personal service and who had the potential of eventually moving in the community as an independent. The Northwest Multi-Service Center began, which was a project of stressing citizen participation within the community. The Inner City Youth Council was functioning. The Council represented organizations involving youth of Metropolitan Indianapolis, coordinated established group action, expressed ideas and assisted in the formation of representative groups of young people throughout the city. Approximately 1,400 young people were members of this group.
Work Camp was a specialized program that annually brought hundreds of people from colleges and churches throughout the state into Indianapolis to live with, work with and help the poor of the inner city. During the summer, Work Camp groups spent one week working out of Flanner House in organized, directed programs in the poor areas. At other times, the period of service extended over a weekend.

1975 -- Flanner House moved to 2110 N. Illinois St. and Mr. Reuben Hill succeeded Dr. Cleo W. Blackburn as executive director on July 1.

1978 -- The ground-breaking ceremonies for the new building were held Sat., Oct. 9.

1979 -- Moves to new building at 2424 Northwestern Ave.; the dedication and grand-opening ceremonies were held Sunday, Oct. 28.

1982 -- Mr. Richard L. King, ACSW, succeeded Reuben B. Hill as executive director in October. The title of "executive director" was changed to "president."

1983 -- Homemaker Service Program began in August and the Flanner House Guild was reactivated, with Libby Martin elected as president.

1984 -- Guardianship Assessment Program (GAD) was approved in September; the Child Support Services of the Marion County Prosecutor's Office opened in May; Senior Aides Program began.

History as of 1946
History Highlights
Locations

"Year-by-Year History" is the property of Flanner House. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.