100 Years Ago: April 23-29

From The Indianapolis Star, Friday, April 29, 1921: “Spite fences” are not legally recognized in Indianapolis or authorized by Indiana law said superior court Judge Theophilus Moll who ruled yesterday in favor of Dr. Lucius Merriwether, a colored dentist residing at 2255 N. Capitol Ave., who had sued his next door neighbors, Gabriel and Goldie Slutzky and Mary Grooms, for damages. The defendants were ordered to remove, “by noon tomorrow,” the wooden “spite fence,” parts which extended more than six feet above the ground dividing the Merriwether property from the adjacent properties. The court awarded Merriwether damages in the sums of $150 (2020: $2,220) from Mrs. Grooms and $350 (2020: $5,156) from the Slutskys. The case arose last summer when the Capitol Avenue Protective Association sought to prevent colored people from moving up Capitol Ave. into the white residential section.