Project Overview
Phyllis Boyd, former Goundwork Indy director, leading IU Indianapolis students on a tour of Indianapolis’ Riverside neighborhood.
Indy Toxic Heritage: Pollution, Place and Power blends storytelling and historical research to create an exhibit and public conversations that recognize environmental damage and advocacy for justice as part of Indianapolis’s citywide heritage. It is a collaborative project of Indiana University Indianapolis museum studies faculty and students, Indy Parks & Recreation, Kheprw Institute, and community-based scholar and activist Kay Hawthorne.
Community stories and experiences are at the heart of our work. To support that, we’ve created the Indy Toxic Heritage community archive: a crowd-sourced digital repository intended to help document and amplify the perspectives of people living in affected communities. We are also curating a traveling exhibit that is scheduled to open at Indy Parks locations in June 2024.
Our goals are to:
- 1) deepen critical thinking about Indianapolis’ citywide toxic heritage,
- 2) amplify the voices of those working in the community for environmental justice, and
- 3) instigate conversations about how to move toward more sustainable and just futures.
Project Timeframe
August 2023-March 2024: Story gathering, community partner meetings, and historical research
- November 11, 2023, 10-12am, Cultural Compost, Spirit & Place Festival, Broad Ripple Family Center
- January 20, 2024, 3:15-4:15pm, Cultural Compost Storytelling Workshop, Eco-Justice and Wellness Expo, Friedens United Church of Christ, 8300 S. Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN 46217
- March 2, 11am-12:30pm, Environmental Justice Story-Sharing Workshop, Ujamaa Community Bookstore, 2424 Doctor M.L.K. Jr St, Indianapolis, IN 46208
- March 4, 6-7:30 pm, Environmental Justice Story-Sharing Workshop, Pride Park, 1129 Vandeman Street, Indianapolis, IN
- March 8, 2024, Indy Toxic Heritage: Storytelling Workshop, IUPUI Social Justice Symposium, IUPUI Campus Center
February-May, 2024: Exhibit and program development
June-September 2024 – Traveling exhibit display at select Indy Parks sites with public programs
Project Team
The Indy Toxic Heritage project team includes Phyllis Boyd, Ben Clark, Kay Hawthorne, Laura Holzman, Elizabeth Kryder-Reid, Kavita Mahoney, Terra McFarland, and Aghilah Nadaraj. Input from community leaders, experts, and advocates has been invaluable. We are indebted to Imhotep Adisa, Leon Bates, Paula Brooks, Sarah Bowman, Emily Djabi, Paulette Fair, Gabe Filippelli, Elizabeth (Liz) Gore, Greg (Coach) Harger, Angie Hermann, Chris Herrell, Tim Maher, Brenda McAtee, Matt Pleasant, Simona Reising, Jordan Ryan, and many others.
Funding
Project funding has been generously provided by a 2023 Charles R. Bantz Community Fellowship and an Action Grant from Indiana Humanities.
Project press
Learn more about Indy Toxic Heritage. Video produced by TRIP (Translating Research into Practice) and McLucas Film Production.
Digital Projects
Indy Toxic Heritage digital archive, OMEKA-S platform hosted at the University Library, Indiana University Indianapolis.
Indianapolis Toxic Heritage StoryMap collection: Student and faculty-authored StoryMaps:
- Environment and Race: Dry Cleaning and Environmental Justice in Indianapolis, Elizabeth Kryder-Reid, Owen Dwyer, Gabe Filippelli, David Kloster, May 26, 2021.
- Coal Ash and the Toxic Legacy of Fossil Capital: The Toxic Heritage of the Harding Street Generating Station, by Madeline Griem, December 4, 2022.
- Down in the Dumps: The story of Indianapolis waste management, by Emily McMath, Adrianna Hull, Brian Sams, & Sara Polk, November 23, 2022.
- Leadlining: Environmental Justice in Indianapolis, by John Terwilliger, Amanda Pavot, Shauna Keith, Hailey Barrow, December 5, 2022.
- Welcome to Sunshine Gardens, by Angela Campbell, Micaela Knox, and Katelynn Sinclair, November 27, 2022.
- Critical Incompetence: The 1994 Central Soya Plant Explosion, How one corporation’s neglect harmed an Indianapolis neighborhood, by Morgan Coffman, Nick Crone, Bryn Foreman, Aria Lyons, and Alanna Smollen, November 17, 2022.
- Rising From the Soot: Environmental Racism in Indianapolis, by Autumn Abbatiello, Abby Chamberlin, Parth Chaubey, Andrew Lohman, and Peyton Reicherts, November 28, 2022.
Digital projects created by students working on the Climates of Inequality project (2018):
- WHAT’S REALLY IN FALL CREEK? by Farah Gerber. An animated video of the environmental hazards in the Fall Creek waterway, their sources and effects.
- SITE 0153: A BLOGGER’S HISTORY by Topher Anderson. Stories from the history of Superfund-eligible groundwater contamination Site 0153 (designated in 2013) in Indianapolis’ near west Riverside neighborhood.
- THE FORGOTTEN CANAL by Laura Markley and Dan Will. A StoryMap exploring Central Canal between 16th and 30th Streets and the histories of disparate investment.