Indiana Landmarks welcomes Eunice Trotter as director of the statewide organization’s new Black Heritage Preservation Program. Trotter will assume the new role beginning September 1, 2022.
A longtime journalist, historian, and community organizer, Trotter brings more than 30 years of experience focused on communications, research, advocacy, and mentorship. In her new position, she will coordinate a broad initiative to identify, save, and celebrate places significant to Indiana’s Black history.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to have Eunice join our staff,” says Indiana Landmarks President Marsh Davis. “Her experience and passion will be powerful assets as we seek to expand Indiana Landmarks’ work in Black heritage preservation.”
A native Hoosier with roots in Indiana dating back to the 1700s, Trotter began studying Black history as a teenage intern at the Indianapolis Recorder, one of the oldest African American weeklies in the nation. She went on to own, edit, and publish the Recorder from 1987 to 1991. Trotter has worked as a reporter and contributing writer for newspapers and publications in Indiana, Florida, New York, and California.
She served as the first Black editor at the Indianapolis Star and was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 2017. Trotter’s award-winning book, “Black in Indiana,” details the history of Mary Bateman Clark, her great-great-great grandmother, whose 1821 Indiana Supreme Court case resulted in a precedent-setting decision against indentured servitude in Indiana. In 2016, Trotter received the Indiana Historical Society’s Dorothy Riker Hoosier Historian Award, honoring historians who make distinguished contributions to the field of historical scholarship.
Most recently Trotter has worked in public relations as owner of her own communications and media relations firm, and as senior communications specialist for American Senior Communities. She has served on boards and committees of several organizations, including the Indiana Debate Commission, the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, and the Indiana Remembrance Coalition.
Indiana Landmarks’ Black Heritage Preservation Program aims to expand the work of the organization’s African American Landmarks Committee, established in 1992 to help identify and save historic African American sites.
Among other goals, the new program will bolster efforts to recognize Black heritage by identifying places that should be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Another key element of the program will be building sustainable futures for Black heritage sites through new funding and strengthened support for local partners.
Indiana Landmarks’ Black Heritage Preservation Program is funded by a $5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., and generous commitments from private donors and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.
