Bloomington street signs change to Eagleson Avenue, honoring prominent Black family

Halson Vashon Eagleson, Sr. (1851-1921) [Photo from news release.]

Preston E. Eagleson (1876-1911) [Photo from news release.]

Frances Marshall Eagleson (1898-1987) [Photo from news release.]

The new street sign for Eagleson Avenue was installed by a crew from the city of Bloomington streets division of public works at 3rd Street in the early afternoon. of Jan. 31, 2022.

Tuesday, Feb. 1 is the date approved by Bloomington’s city plan commission last September for the official name change of a north-south street that cuts through the Indiana University campus.

That meant on Monday crews from the street division of the city’s public works department were out installing signs that say Eagleson Avenue, which honors four generations of a local Black family. The lineage started with Halson Vashon Eagleson, Sr. who was born a slave and arrived in Bloomington in the 1880s.

The street crews were swapping out signs with the old name, Jordan Avenue. The street had been named after David Starr Jordan, who was Indiana University’s president from 1885 to 1891.

Jordan was a proponent of eugenics, which advocates for the improvement of the human species through selective mating. It was that part of Jordan’s biography that led the IU Board of Trustees in October of 2020 to a decision to remove the name from Jordan Hall, Jordan Avenue Parking Garage, and Jordan River.

A joint IU and city task force worked on the Jordan Avenue renaming from April through July of 2021. A report recommending the renaming of the street to honor the Eaglesons was delivered by the task force in July 2021. Continue reading “Bloomington street signs change to Eagleson Avenue, honoring prominent Black family” →

Bloomington street sheds eugenicist’s name on unanimous plan commission vote, will now be called Eagleson Avenue

bordered Extent of renaming OCR PlanCommission20221-09-13

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The north-south street that cuts through the Indiana University campus in Bloomington will no longer be named after David Starr Jordan, the school’s president from 1885 to 1891.

Jordan was a proponent of eugenics, which advocates for the improvement of the human species through selective mating.

On a unanimous vote taken Monday night, the city’s plan commission changed the name of the street from Jordan Avenue to Eagleson Avenue—for the portion of the road that runs from Davis Street to 17th Street.

The name change does not take effect for another four and a half months. It’s not effective until Feb. 1, 2022.

The street is being renamed for four-generations of the Eagleson family, starting with Halson Vashon Eagleson who was born a slave in 1851.

According to a mayoral-appointed task force report, Halson Eagleson arrived in Bloomington in the 1880s and became a prominent barber. His five children attended Indiana University. The report describes how in 1910, he opened Industrial City, a home for “colored” orphans in Unionville.

A little less than a year ago, in October 2020, the IU Board of Trustees voted to remove the name Jordan from Jordan Hall, Jordan Avenue Parking Garage, and Jordan River.

To make its recommendation, a joint IU and city task force worked on the Jordan Avenue renaming from April through July of 2021.

Despite the unanimous vote, the renaming of the street was not an easy decision for some of the Bloomington plan commissioners. Continue reading “Bloomington street sheds eugenicist’s name on unanimous plan commission vote, will now be called Eagleson Avenue” →

New Bloomington mural, planned renaming of street both send same message: Black Lives Matter

IU nursing student Alexandria Lisembee helps paint the Black Lives Matter mural on the campus street to be renamed Eagleson Avenue. (July 5, 2021)

IU public health student Brittany Dobbins helps helps paint the Black Lives Matter mural on the campus street to be renamed Eagleson Avenue. (July 5, 2021)

Looking north on the the IU campus street to be renamed Eagleson Avenue. (July 5, 2021)

IU public health student Brittany Dobbins helps helps paint the Black Lives Matter mural on the campus street to be renamed Eagleson Avenue. (July 5, 2021)

Siera Thompson helps paint the BLM mural on the IU campus street to be renamed Eagleson Avenue. (July 5, 2021)

Last week came the announcement that a Bloomington task force has recommended new names for two parts of Jordan Avenue, a north-south street that splits the Indiana University campus.

In its report, the task force recommended renaming Jordan Avenue south of 17th Street as Eagleson Avenue.

North of 17th Street, the street is recommended to be called Fuller Lane.

Both names honor the contributions of Black residents to Bloomington.

The announcement of the task force report came just a month after the installation of a “Black Lives Matter” mural—on the street that is now slated to be renamed for four-generations of the Eagleson family, starting with Halson Vashon Eagleson who was born a slave in 1851.

According to the task force report, Halson Eagleson arrived in Bloomington in the 1880s and became a prominent barber. His five children attended Indiana University. The report describes how in 1910, he opened Industrial City, a home for “colored” orphans in Unionville.

Joa’Quinn Griffin, an Indiana University student who helped lead the effort to install the street mural, told The B Square that the choice of Jordan Avenue was deliberate, for two reasons.

First, the mural would provide a counterpoint to the legacy of the past IU president for whom the street was named. David Starr Jordan was a proponent of eugenics, which advocates for the improvement of the human species through selective mating.

Second, the place on Jordan Avenue selected for the mural installation is in front of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.

Continue reading “New Bloomington mural, planned renaming of street both send same message: Black Lives Matter” →