Schooled in Indianapolis book

The book's 100 storytellers include past students who went on to teach, push brooms, practice law, tend bars, fight wars and do time. Each chapter presents a new voice and a new perspective on school and life, including those of parents and other guardians. Together they chronicle eight decades of segregation, busing and the rise of charter and online schools. Their personal remembrances show us w

here African Americans crossed into forbidden territories, highways paved over homes and jobs evaporated along with the “good” school ratings. Their stories illustrate that school, like life, is plagued by an eternal battle for resources and by ongoing prejudices. Schooled in Indianapolis is based on the Families Talk Oral History, which was created by interviewer Josefa Beyer. In 2012 and 2013, Beyer recorded 200 school memories that took her as far back as the1920s. One hundred Families Talk transcripts are now archived (along with scores of recordings) with the Indianapolis Public Library Digital Collections at www.digitalindy.org.