Indianapolis News and Headlines

Actions

Petition wants part of mural depicting KKK rally removed from Indiana University lecture hall

Posted at 12:15 PM, Aug 30, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-30 19:49:35-04

BLOOMINGTON -- An online petition calls on Indiana University to remove part of a more than 80-year-old lecture room mural that depicts a Ku Klux Klan rally. 

The petition, started by Jacquline Barrie, calls on the university to take a stand against hate by removing the section of the mural. 

“It is past time that Indiana University takes a stand and denounce hate and intolerance in Indiana and on IU’s campus,” the petition states. “The presence of this mural on the 9th panel in Woodburn Hall violates the University’s diversity statement which says ‘… We must include all who compromise our diverse university community and foster a campus climate in which those diverse influences are respected and valued.’”

The 12-foot-by-12 foot mural was created by Thomas Hart Benton for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. The mural depicts the social and industrial history of Indiana. The controversial section depicts robed Klansmen in the corner of one of the panels burning a cross and a white nurse caring for a black and a white child.

According to the university, the mural has been a source of controversy on the IU Bloomington campus since 1941 when Indiana University President Herman B. Wells had the paintings installed in the IU Auditorium, the IU Theater and Woodburn Hall.

The university made the decision in 2005 to allow the mural to remain in Woodburn Hall, despite criticism.

Indiana University's Commission of Multicultural Understanding says the mural “serves as a reminder and testimonial to an unsavory and criminal portion of Indiana’s history” and that the mural does not signify approval of the KKK – past or present.

“One of Indiana University’s missions is to preserve the arts,” COMU states on their university page. “Removing the panel could result in damage or destruction of the panels.”

But those supporting the petition disagree, saying the mural fosters an unsafe and hostile environment for students and staff because the events it depicts are not only from the past but the present as well.

“While it is understood that the university supports freedom of expression through art, this petition requests the removal of the 9th panel to foster a safe and inclusive environment for all students and faculty at Indiana University as these are in fact modern depictions and not just depictions of a historical time in Indiana.”

COMU commissioned a video project in 2012 to provide an educational context for the controversial murals. You can watch that video below. 

 

MORE TOP STORIES | State website offers advice to Hoosiers in event of nuclear attack | Best public high schools in Indiana for 2018 | These are the hate groups operating in Indiana | Over 60 eviction notices posted on doors at apartment complex on Indy's east side | PHOTOS: Inside look at the Mass Ave Coke plant