Home » Indiana » Greenwood

James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Greenwood

Indiana

Basic Information

Type of Place
Suburb
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Don’t Know
Unions, Organized Labor?
Don’t Know

Sundown Town Status

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

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
1940
1950
1960 7169 1
1970 11408 2
1980 19327 0
1990 26,265 20
2000 36037 159 490 67 687
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Threat of Violence
  • Reputation

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

Used to be an independent town, and now is a suburb of Indianapolis
A Greenwood resident writes that when he moved to Greenwood in 1976, he was told that the sundown sign “had come down just a few years earlier.”
A black resident of Indiana writes that blacks don’t like to drive through it, even though there are some black executives who live there now, it remains overwhelmingly white.

Another black Indiana resident writes, %u201CI wasn’t here two days, and everyone said %u2018stay away from Greenwood!%u2019%u201D

Another black Indiana resident writes,
%u201CI’m writing to relay the story about my trip with my parents to Greenwood Indiana (circa 1960). I recall my parents had gone to Greenwood to pick up a puppy from one of my mother’s co-workers who lived there. I overheard the grownups talking about how we had to get out of town because Black people were not allowed in town after dark. I remember being terrified sitting in the back seat of our car holding my new puppy as we drove from Greenwood to Indianapolis. I believe this memory is behind my fear of driving rural highways and traveling through small rural towns (particularly in Indiana). I confirmed with my mother that the town was Greenwood Indiana. She mentioned that there was one Black family, The Johnsons that lived in that town. One of the family members was also a co worker. My mother reported that the Whites in that town “just loved” that Black family. Apparently so, because they did not come to any harm.%u201D