100 Years Ago This Week: Dec. 2-8

From The Indianapolis News, Saturday, December 2, 1916: Freeman B. Ransom, The Good Citizens’ League president, has called a mass meeting at Pythian Castle Hall, 234 W. Walnut, for Monday evening to discuss caring for the large number of African-Americans coming to Indianapolis as the result of the economic conditions in the South. A social welfare committee will be appointed to assist in properly adjusting strangers to their new environment. Many recent arrivals are unacquainted with city conditions and are compelled to pay higher rents for properties totally unfit for human habitation. Unemployment is especially serious among new residents, and in some instances parents are unable to cope with the higher cost of living. Children are being kept out of school because they lack proper clothing, and in some cases older children are being sent out to find work.