From The Indianapolis News, Monday, October 18, 1915: Mrs. Salina Ratliffe, an African-American, sued the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners because her children were not permitted to attend public school No. 32 which is within two and one half squares of her home. When she took her four children to public school No. 32, they were not admitted, and she was told that her children had to attend the African-American school that was a mile from her home. Circuit Court Judge Louis B. Ewbank ruled the IPS Commissioners have power in their discretion, under Indiana state statutes, to provide schools for white children in the city and separate schools for the African-American children in the city. This discretion includes the power to district the city separately for African-American schools and the children attending them.