Carrie Barnes Ross
Carrie Barnes Ross | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1880s Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | April 26, 1918 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Suffragist, educator |
Carolyn V. "Carrie" Barnes Ross (1880s[1] – April 26, 1918) was an American educator and suffragist, based in Indianapolis. She was founding president of Branch No. 7, a chapter of the Equal Suffrage League of Indiana.
Early life and education
[edit]Carolyn (or Caroline) V. Barnes was born in Kentucky in the 1880s[1] to Charles Henry Barnes and Lillie Peters Barnes. She was raised by her widowed mother and maternal grandmother in Denver, Colorado.[2] She graduated from Denver High School in 1902, and from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1905.[3][4]
Career
[edit]Barnes taught at Tuskegee Institute for three years after college.[5] In 1908 she moved to Indianapolis and taught school in the segregated schools of the Indianapolis Public School District.[6] She was active in the leadership for the Camp Fire girls and secretary of the Indianapolis chapter of the NAACP.[7] She gave addresses at church and community events,[8][9][10][11] and hosted meetings of a literary society in her home.[12]
Barnes attended a 1912 woman's suffrage meeting at the home of Madam C. J. Walker, organized by attorney Freeman Briley Ransom.[13] Ross was elected president of the resulting group,[14][15] which was known as Branch No. 7 of the Equal Suffrage League of Indiana.[16][17] "We all feel that colored women have need for the ballot that white women have, and a great many needs that they have not," she wrote of their work.[18] For four years she worked for suffrage in Indianapolis's Black community.[19] She often spoke at events with fellow teacher Frances Berry Coston.[6][20][21][22]
Personal life and legacy
[edit]Barnes married a dentist, Hubert Heaton Washington Ross, in 1916, and moved to Boston with him.[23] She died shortly after giving birth to her son in 1918, in her thirties, in Boston.[2][24] In January 2020, she was recognized by Congresswoman Susan Brooks on the floor of the United States House of Representatives for her suffrage work in Indiana.[25] In 2023, her image was included in a new mural at Indianapolis's Bicentennial Unity Plaza.[26]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Sources usually give 1883 or 1884 as the birth year of Carolyn Barnes.
- ^ a b "A Brilliant Denver Girl Dies". The Denver Star. 1918-05-04. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Black History Month: Historic Hoosiers". Southern District of Indiana, United States District Court. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ "City News". The Colorado Statesman. 1905-06-24. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Denver Doings". The Statesman. 1905-09-08. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Fernando, Christine (August 27, 2020). "'Black history is American history': How Black Hoosiers contributed to suffrage movement". The Indianapolis Star. Archived from the original on 2023-11-07. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ Bowling, Jean. "Biographical Sketch of Carolyn "Carrie" Barnes". Alexander Street Documents. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ "Colored Pulpits Lay Thanksgiving Plans". The Indianapolis Star. 1911-11-26. p. 21. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "News of Indianapolis Colored Folk". The Indianapolis Star. 1910-12-25. p. 24. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "News of Colored Folk". The Indianapolis Star. 1910-03-27. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Woman's Progressive Entertainment". Indianapolis Recorder. December 7, 1912. p. 2 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
- ^ "News of Colored Folk". The Indianapolis Star. 1910-02-13. p. 30. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Verderame, Jyoti A. (2022-12-15). "Carolyn (Carrie) Barnes". Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ Morgan, Anita (November 2022). ""A Great Many Needs": Black Women Suffragists and Voters in Indiana". Indiana Magazine of History. 118 (4): 276–301. doi:10.2979/indimagahist.118.4.03. ISSN 1942-9711.
- ^ "Branch Suffrage League to be Organized". Indianapolis Recorder. June 29, 1912. p. 4 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
- ^ "News of the Colored Folk". The Indianapolis Star. 1912-10-06. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "For Colored Suffragists; Branch No. 7 to be Organized at Indianapolis by Suffrage Association". The Indianapolis News. 1912-06-18. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Along the Color Line". The Crisis. 4 (5): 215. September 1912.
- ^ Nahmias, Leah (2020-03-11). "The Black Women Suffragists of Indiana". Indy Maven. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
- ^ "News of Colored Folks". The Indianapolis Star. 1909-06-20. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "News of the Colored Folk". The Indianapolis Star. 1912-12-29. p. 36. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "News of Colored Folk". The Indianapolis Star. 1910-01-30. p. 30. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Untitled social item". The Indianapolis Star. 1916-07-02. p. 14. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "News of Colored Folk". The Indianapolis Star. 1910-02-13. p. 30. Retrieved 2025-02-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Brooks, Hon. Susan W. of Indiana. "100th Anniversary of the State of Indiana's Ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution" Congressional Record (January 16, 2020): E53.
- ^ "Bicentennial Unity Plaza Mural". Indy Arts Council. Retrieved 2025-02-05.