A leading figure in the movement to preserve Black history across Indiana is leaving her role at Indiana Landmarks.
Eunice Trotter, director of the nonprofit’s Black Heritage Preservationist Program, is stepping down from her position at a time when diversity initiatives face heightened scrutiny. She said she plans to focus on other projects but that her decision came in part out of concerns the program would lose the financial support needed to ensure its success.
The program launched in 2022 with a $5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment. That grant funding is set to expire in 2027.
“While we are grateful for the initial Lilly Endowment investment, we have not found a source to replace that funding,” Trotter, 73, told Mirror Indy. Her last day will be Oct. 15.
The program is also supported by private donations and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. Trotter, though, fears that will not be enough cash.
Brad Ward, president and CEO of Indiana Landmarks, said the organization hopes to “embed” the program further into the institution and its budget. He said Trotter will remain on as a consultant and work with her successor to ensure it remains successful. He praised her work.
“We’re going to leverage the capacity of the organization to do what we can to support the program to make sure it has the same sort of institutional capacity that a singular individual like Eunice Trotter was able to offer,” Ward told Mirror Indy.
He said the organization plans to announce Trotter’s successor in the coming weeks.
The program identifies sites to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It also offers scholarships and internships to aspiring historians, as well as grants for restoration and preservation of sites important to Black heritage in Indiana.
Olon Dotson, who serves on the board of directors for Indiana Landmarks, said the organization is focused on making Black heritage more central to the organization. But he recognized the funding obstacles that lie ahead.
“That’s gonna be a challenge when we move forward, whether that’s Eunice in that position or not,” Dotson said.
Leon Bates, a local historian who Trotter recruited to assist with her efforts to preserve Greenlawn Cemetery, a collective name to describe four historic cemeteries along the White River, said Trotter displayed a unique passion for celebrating Black history in Indiana.
“It was Eunice’s passion to ask questions and challenge misconceptions that really got this started,” Bates said. “For most people, it was not on their radar.”
Trotter and Bates were part of a community advisory group that pushed for city officials to preserve Greenlawn Cemetery.
Following those efforts, Mayor Joe Hogsett withdrew his support for a soccer stadium that was set to be built on the site, instead suggesting that the historic land be turned into a memorial or park to honor some of the city’s oldest Black residents who were buried there.
The city is building the Greenlawn Memorial Bridge on Henry Street over the White River near there.
Concerns emerge amid attacks on diversity
Bates said Trotter’s departure comes at a concerning time for Black people in the United States as the federal government takes aim at other historical institutions and diversity initiatives.
He pointed to the resignation of Lonnie Bunch, who recently retired as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The Trump administration has accused the museum of “extreme political activism” and pushed for the institution to “celebrate American exceptionalism.”
At the state level, the Braun administration has eliminated programs that promoted “diversity, equity and inclusion.” State lawmakers also passed legislation preventing agencies from funding DEI offices or employees.
“It’s why Eunice leaving right now is in some ways concerning to folks in the historic community,” Bates said.
Ward, when asked about efforts at the state and federal level to roll back DEI efforts, said the organization remains focused on preserving history.
“You have to be willing to appreciate that this work is not just about identity or representation of Black heritage, but it is about the completeness of Indiana history,” Ward said. “It is about preventing historical erasure as much as it is about honoring the contributions of our past generations.”
Trotter, meanwhile, plans to launch an organization that would support artists in Indianapolis who she says have faced challenges finding sites to exhibit their work.
“My hope is that (Indiana) Landmarks, through the Black Heritage program and through the organization itself, will continue to advocate for the preservation of the rich and deep Black heritage that exists in this state but is little known to the public,” Trotter said.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him by phone or Signal at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
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