By Ebony Chappel

This spring, visitors of the Conner Prairie Interactive History Park will have an opportunity to fly back in time. No, Conner Prairie’s newly improved balloon isn’t Marty McFly’s Delorean or Bill and Ted’s telephone booth time machine, but it is still super cool.

The 1859 Balloon Voyage, which began in 2009, has taken over 91,000 riders 377 feet in the air. The 140-foot helium-filled balloon, was created by Aerophile, a French company and cost $530,000 to create. Construction to create the new exhibit which accompanies the flight is estimated at $165,000. Reynolds Farm Equipment, a family-owned Hamilton county business, has pledged $75,000 annually for five years to be named the attraction’s presenting sponsor.

“This year we have replaced the envelope on the balloon and are reintroducing the exhibit to the public,” said director of exhibits Brian Mancuso. “It’s a great experience, you can see downtown Indy on a really clear day. If you’ve gone to Prairie Town and been to Conner Prairie, it’s a neat thing to see it all laid out beneath you. It’s a really fun flight; it’s not scary at all.”

The balloon voyage allows people to go back to Lafayette, Indiana in August of 1859 to re-experience the first ever recorded air mail flight in U.S. history with an adventurous gentleman by the name of John Wise; a renowned balloonist and pilot played by one of the actors employed at the living history museum. Wise, who hoped to fly his balloon Jupiter to “a great river of air which always blows from west to east,” known today as the jet stream, and deliver 123 letters to New York City, was derailed due to weather conditions and eventually landed due south in Crawfordsville.

Participants experience a detailed account of that day by first visiting a recently remodeled replica of Lafayette’s town square where a post office, general store, and photography studio are located. Here they learn about postal technology, and are also able to take photographs inside a balloon basket while donning fashions from the late 1800’s.

Visitors also learn about the scientific impact of Wise’s flight as they are led through experiments with lifting gases, and invited to step on a scale that measures how many party balloons it would take to lift them into the air. “It’s a really great flight and its very freeing to be up there,” said Mancuso. “Being able to tie that back to a historical event is really fun.

We’re really giving people the sense of why this was an important fascinating piece of Indiana history.” Conner Prairie’s 1859 Balloon Voyage opens March 26. The flight experience is open to museum visitors during regular business hours, weather permitting. The cost for Conner Prairie members is $12 and $15 for non-members in addition to museum admission. For more information, visit connerprairie.org.

By Leslie L. Fuller

Chicago-bound business travelers and celebrities can now choose to touchdown to luxury at the Gary/Chicago International Airport.

Surprised? While those unfamiliar with Indiana’s burgeoning aviation scene may not associate northwest Indiana with upscale travel, high fliers who routinely navigate to the Windy City know the expanding airport is offering increasing amenities, including the $9 million dollar B. Coleman Aviation hangar.

Named for the beautiful and daring African-American pilot Bessie Coleman, who soared to fame in air shows in the 1920s, the B. Coleman Hangar is the fruit of a project launched by Chicago real estate baron Elzie Higginbottom, a well-known Black entrepreneur.

During the ribbon-cutting last November, Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson expressed appreciation to Higgenbottom, who is also known as a political fundraiser for former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley as well as President Barack Obama. Members from the Chicago DODO Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. presented the entrepreneur with a trophy for assisting the organization for African American military pilots of World War II.

“There are Pintos and there are Cadillacs, there are Chevettes and there are Tahoes,” said Freeman-Wilson. “But this is the Cadillac of hangars.”

Benjamin Toles, the hangar’s general manager, singled Coleman out for praise on opening day. “Let us not forget on whose shoulders we stand, because Bessie Coleman was a pioneer in aviation. Thank you to Bessie for the doors she opened,” said Toles. Representing Coleman’s family on the milestone day was Gigi Coleman, the aviator’s grand-niece.

The hangar boasts 32,000 square feet of enclosed space and 20,000 more under canopy, and offers charter flights, as well as refueling and other services. A second B. Coleman Aviation facility is based in Palm Beach, Fla.

B.R. Lane, Gary’s newly appointed deputy mayor, still has oversight duties with the airport, although its ‘day-to-day’ operations are now supervised by private contractor AvPorts, which won a 10-year contract about a year ago. However, Lane is still tasked with interacting with various agencies, the Regional Development Authority, and other stakeholders.

“The Bessie Coleman Hangar is awesome and beautiful,” said Lane, who recently completed a stint as the airport’s interim director. “You’ve got to come out here and get the tour. As a fixed-based operator, it really is designed to cater to the pilots. These folks come in and go wherever they’re going to go, work, do whatever. They want the pilots to be as entertained and delighted as possible.”

She described one typical scenario: “I’m rich, and I have a meeting in downtown Chicago with other rich people. Instead of flying into Midway, I’m flying into Gary. They’ll send a car for me. But my pilot will stay here, work out, shower and watch the television,” Lane explained.

Boeing long-standing tenant

Since 2003, Chicago-based Boeing has maintained its corporate jet fleet at the Gary airport. The move surprised some at the time, but Boeing representatives explained that they were attracted by the hangar space that Gary afforded. The switch gave Boeing office space, an executive lounge and full-service kitchen. In 2014, Boeing also recognized the Gary Jet Center as one of only 51 companies worldwide to win their “Supplier of the Year”award. At the time, Lane responded, “the airport is very proud of the Gary Jet Center for their outstanding recognition and distinguished honor. We commend the Gary Jet Center for being recognized as an intentional platform and thank them for continuing to shine a bright light on Gary.”

Boeing, as well as visiting tenants at the B. Coleman hangar, have recognized the value offered by the airport, the city of Gary, and the state of Indiana, Lane said. “Boeing has a better tax structure here in Indiana, fuel is cheaper here,” said Lane.

“We have an awesome lakefront, pretty much the same lakefront Chicago has, we’re on the other side,” she said. “We’re also considering how to continue to develop our transportation. We have three highways, 65, 80, 94. We have I.U. Northwest, we have a project underway in University Park, where the state is building a new facility that is both IU and Ivy Tech. We’re going to use those projects to anchor development,” said Lane.

“We’re the third airport in the Chicago airport system,” she pointed out. “We strongly need to focus on our strategic positioning. When we consider this from a system standpoint, how the system can best support us as well, our future may lie in general aviation, expanding our footprint, as Chicago continues to grow. We’re crafting a vision that is sustainable. Here’s what we know. Chicago is not going to move. We’ll always be the same proximity as we are right now. As they really make this push to bring back corporations back to Chicago, we’ll provide aviation services for those executives.”

Lane’s point is well-taken. The airport is located near the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, railroads, and is 25 miles from downtown Chicago, a short trip via the Chicago Skyway, the Dan Ryan Expressway, and Lake Shore Drive.

In past years, the Gary/Chicago International Airport offered service through airlines including Pan Am, Southeast Airlines, SkyValue Airlines, Skybus Airlines and Hooters Air. JetBlue Airways considered Gary before deciding to go with Chicago O’Hare in 2006. The airport is hoping to complete its ambitious runway expansion project in summer 2015, which could open doors to the return of commercial passenger service, city officials said. For more information on Gary’s B Coleman Aviation, visit B-coleman.com.

Indiana, or “the land of the Indians” became the 19th U.S. state Dec. 11, 1816. Despite discrimination, today the Hoosier state’s heritage is still represented by the lives of its proud Native American residents.

Indiana’s strength as an economic and cultural leader arises from its civil rights history and diversity, with Hoosier citizens who claim Hispanic, African, Asian and European heritage, and hail from every nation on Earth.

Over the years, this midwestern state has defied stereotypes. For example, although Indiana has typically voted Republican, it supported Democratic candidates Woodrow Wilson in 1912; Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936; and then Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. And in 2008, Democrat Barack Obama won the state over John McCain.

As represented by war memorials, particularly in its capital city, Indianapolis, Hoosiers have proudly served in the nation’s military. In 1861, when the union called for soldiers to fight the Civil War, so many Hoosiers volunteered for duty that thousands were turned away.

Yet along with its long tradition of military service, the state has also been represented by patriots of pacifism, in its historic Quaker churches and settlements, such as Plainfield.

Indiana has known shameful chapters, such as the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, which successfully comprised a shadow government during the 1920s. Yet, against the scandal, and aided by the press and judicial system, the Klan’s influence and its threat to Catholics, Jews, immigrants and African-American citizens was brought under control.

Indiana’s past also includes segregation. Crispus Attucks High School was constructed in Indianapolis for the education of African-American youth. Attucks’ graduates are known today for excellence and achievement in the business, medical, legal, and arts and entertainment fields.

Attucks graduate David Nathaniel Baker Jr., a famed jazz trombonist, was forced to learn another instrument after a car accident, and the denial of timely medical care from a white hospital. But Baker reinvented himself as a performer and composer, and today is the former chair of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Jazz Studies program.

Although the state long denied women the right to vote, generations of Catholic female students have been educated at Indiana’s historic St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, and one of Purdue University’s most famous professors remains none another than legendary pilot, Amelia Earhart.

Indiana’s diverse economy is reflected in its gross state product of $298 billion in 2012, with its pharmaceutical, manufacturing, agricultural, governmental and academic centers, as well as its proud lineup of numerous major sports teams and organizations, including the Indianapolis 500; Brickyard 400 motorsports; the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, the WNBA’s Indiana Fever.

Today, Indiana still faces challenges to ensure opportunity and civil rights for all, not only in the workplace, but in all spheres of life. Yet many believe the future for Indiana’s residents is brighter than ever, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, national origin, race, or religious views.

By Leslie L. Fuller

In 2016, the Hoosier State will celebrate its 200^th birthday. As Indiana draws nearer to this bicentennial celebration, how well is the state, as well as its capitol city of Indianapolis, performing in offering opportunity to all its diverse citizens?

As of the end of 2014, here’s a snapshot of some of the Hoosier State’s and Indy’s proudest moments, and a look at some sectors where gains are eroding.

JUDICIARY & ELECTED OFFICES:

As of 2014, the state office of Indiana Governor and the city office of Indianapolis mayor have been held exclusively by white men. In other elected positions and offices, there has been movement toward greater diversity.

On Indiana’s Supreme Court, Justice Robert D. Rucker, continues to serve as the second African-American on the state’s high court, as successor to Myra Selby, who made state history as both the first female and African-American. The Justice Rucker and his son, Judge Fanon A. Rucker of Ohio, are noted as the first African-American father and son to become Justice and Judge in American History.

The Gary-born Justice, appointed by then-Governor Frank O’Bannon in 1999, is the only Court of Appeals judge to ever be elevated to the Supreme Court. As the 105^th Justice for the state, Rucker has authored more than 450 majority opinions and issued over 100 dissents during his combined tenure on the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. His term expires in 2022.

 The November 2014 election brought historic change to some Indiana courts:

Sheryl Lynch made history as the first woman, and African-American, to be elected judge of the Marion County Circuit Court. Lynch served as that court’s presiding commissioner for more than ten years. Her judicial term expires Dec. 31, 2020.

Kimberly Bacon, an African-American, won election to the judgeship of the Indiana Small Claims Courts in Indiana. Her term expires Dec. 31, 2018.

On other elected offices, Myla Eldridge, the former deputy director and director of elections, a Democrat,become the first African-American to be voted Marion County Clerk.

Openly gay city-county councillor Zach Adamson continues to serve. He married partner Christian Mosburg in Washington D.C. in 2013 when same-sex marriage was not yet legal in Indiana.

In the State House of Representatives, Indiana’s two Latina incumbents were re-elected: Democrats Mara Candelaria Reardon and Christina Hale.

In 2014, Ernest Malone, a veteran firefighter with the Indianapolis Fire Department, became the second African-American to become Chief of the IFD.

Richard A.J. “Rick” Hite continued to serve as chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

THE MEDIA:

Sadly, as newsrooms grew smaller in Indianapolis and around the Hoosier State, mirroring a national trend, some say they have noticeably become less diverse, with fewer women and minorities in management roles.

There are some notable exceptions. In 2010, Karen Ferguson Crotchfelt,, was appointed Publisher of the legacy print newspaper Indianapolis Star, succeeding Michael Kane, by the paper’s owner, media giant Gannett. During her tenure, the Star moved out of its longtime home at 307 N. Pennsylvania St. to rent office space at the Centre Mall, a switch that was promoted by “revenue-sapping competition from the Internet” according to Star reporter Jeff Swiatek. However, Leisa Richardson, an African-American journalist who was a Star editor, was demoted to a reporter, noted longtime journalist and pundit Amos Brown III. Brown also noted that well-respected minority journalist Angela Cain was recently laid off at WTHR Channel 13, where she served as Community Affairs Director.

“From the perspective of someone who has been in the business 40 years and in management for 37 years, my question is, who is following in my footsteps?” commented Brown, of WTLC-AM. “If someone had told me 30 years ago, that the only African-Americans in management would still be in black media, I’d say that they were crazy.” Brown recalled that during the 1980s, high-power African-American journalist Loretta Mouzon was on staff at Channel 13. She left, ultimately becoming a News Producer for Entertainment Tonight.

Terri Cope-Walton, RTV6’s news director, is one role Hoosier model for minority journalists. Cope-Walton was previously assistant news director at RTV6 and has been interim news director since Nov. 2012.

Brown also points out that African-American business woman Taja Graham is the General Sales Manager for WLHK, an Emmis Communications property. Graham, a Butler grad, started her radio career as an intern with WZPL in 1991.

SPORTS

In Sports, it’s a familiar story of minorities welcomed as athletes, but not as head coaches or other managerial roles. Indianapolis Recorder Sports Writer Danny Bridges says that the local picture mirrors a national trend. “Whether Indianapolis or nationally, the numbers are woeful,” he said.

However, there are some rays of sunshine. He points to Carl Daniels, Vice President of Player Relations at Pacers Sports & Entertainment, as one example of an African-American role model for those aspiring to leadership jobs in the world of sports. “His job is to be a liaison between the club and the players,” commented Bridges.

Avis Roper, senior director of communications for the Indianapolis Colts, also has a high-profile, prestigious post, Bridges said.

One of the finest examples of diversity in Indiana sports leadership is Kelly Krauskopf of the Indianapolis Fever, Bridges said, After the Fever won the 2012 WNBA championship, the ownership group promoted Krauskopf from general manager to president of the successful franchise. “She calls all the shots at the Fever, and they’ve done very well,” said Bridges. “She’s a smart cookie, a former player, she was instrumental in their television package with ESPN.”

And, Bridges said, Indianapolis shouldn’t forget Anthony Kevin “Tony” former head coach of the Colts from 2002 to 2008. Dungy made history as the first Black head coach to win the Super Bowl when his Colts defeated the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.

Bridges points out that since the 2003 inception of the Rooney Rule, every NFL team with a coach or general manager opening to interview at least one minority candidate.

By Ebony Chappel

The city of Gary, Ind. has often been referred to as the land that time forgot. Other references include “ghost town,” and “the forgotten city.”

Despite the thoughts of outsiders, the life breath of Gary – it’s residents, and supporters believe that this town has something to offer and is a treasure just waiting to be unearthed from the overwhelming scourge of its past, blighted by white flight, economic instability, corruption, crime, and politics.

Former Mayor Richard Hatcher is one of those people who still believes in Gary. He, along with an impressive roster of advisory board members which includes; longtime NAACP supporter Julian Bond, comedian and activist Dick Gregory, and newspaper publisher Dorothy R. Leavell, are planning to construct a National Civil Rights Hall of Fame Museum in the city of Gary.

Hatcher said the idea came about in the 1960s following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “I was not able to attend the funeral so a week or so afterwards I called Mrs. Coretta Scott-King and expressed my condolences,” said Hatcher. “As we were talking I told her what a powerful image the picture of the mules pulling the wagon in the funeral procession was. I asked her what happened to the wagon and she said, ‘Oh, it’s lost unfortunately.’ She said no one knew where it was. It was at that point that the idea came to have a place where we could house artifacts, documents, and other items related to the civil rights movement in this country. The idea was born in that moment and we’ve been working on it ever since.”

Hatcher said although there is a lot of enthusiasm and anticipation surrounding this endeavor, it has not been met without controversy. Attempts to acquire appropriate funding from a variety of state and federal governmental sources including the office of Housing and Urban Development has not happened under three different mayoral administrations. Mayors Rudolph M. Clay, Thomas V. Barnes and Scott L. King have all rejected different funding attempts.

“We would have been at a point to go forward and build were it not for the intersection of politics in the city of Gary,” said Hatcher. In 2001, the Gary City-County Council voted to give Hatcher a grant in the amount of $5 million to begin construction. However, then mayor Scott King vetoed the council’s decision and a court upheld his veto. “We have run into that kind of thing over the years with three mayors who were not in support. The good news is that the current mayor, Karen Freeman-Wilson has stated publicly that she supports the hall of fame.”

Despite the setbacks, Hatcher said the team is prepared to continue progressing toward making this idea a reality.

“We’ve been able to retain architects and engineers who have drawn the plans for the hall of fame and in addition we have been able to acquire a 10-acre site which is located on the southwest side of Gary off the I-94 expressway,” he said.

According to estimates, the cost to begin construction on the hall is $10 million. Hatcher said that the generous efforts by fundraising partners such as Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte have helped jumpstart their efforts. Last October, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. headlined a fundraising dinner at Gary’s Genesis Convention Center. In an interview with the Post-Tribune, Jackson said this museum “will be just another example of the former mayor’s extraordinary work.”

Dorothy Leavell, editor and publisher of the Crusader Newspaper Group, said that she considers serving on the board of director’s for the hall of fame a true pleasure and honor. “(Hatcher) sees this as a dream and guess what? He’s got me and others to buy into it. I’m with it and I think we ought to have it.”

Hatcher envisions the hall of fame as a state of the art space that rivals similar structures in Mississippi and Tennessee. In addition to traditional exhibits, the museum is planned to feature holographic technology, educational institutes, and training for budding entrepreneurs. It is also poised to bring much-needed tourist dollars to the city.

“We’ve had a very expensive study done to answer impact questions,” said Hatcher. “The study says that the hall of fame as we have proposed it would attract more than 500,000 visitors a year – the impact on Gary’s economy would be between $7 and $10 million annually. If that kind of money was coming in through tourism you can see that it would have a tremendous impact on the city.”

Construction of the National Civil Rights Hall of Fame is set to begin in later this year.