Louise Terry Batties

Louise Terry Batties (September 13, 1911 – October 4, 2014) was an American clubwoman based in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Louise Terry Batties
blurry, black-and-white image of a smiling young African American woman with dark glossy hair parted and curled
Louise Terry Batties, from a 1937 newspaper
Born
Louise Terry

September 13, 1911
Kosciusko, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedOctober 4, 2014 (aged 103)
Occupations
  • Clubwoman
  • churchworker
  • community leader
Years active1930s–2000s
Known forDecades of charity and volunteer work in Indianapolis

Early life and education

Louise Terry was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, the daughter of Curtis Franklin Terry and Mary Ellen Terry. The Terry family moved to Indianapolis when the three daughters, including Louise, were young, part of the Great Migration. Curtis Terry had a jewelry and watch store in Indianapolis.[1] As a young woman, Louise was a friend of pianist Nerissa Brokenburr Stickney; they were both active in the Ethical Culture Society in Indianapolis as teenagers.[2]

Terry earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana University and a master's from Butler University in 1931. She pursued further studies in theology at the University of Chicago Divinity School and in law at the Indiana University School of Law. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.[3]

Career

Terry was executive director of the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Indianapolis through the 1940s[4][5][6] and represented the city at national YWCA meetings.[7] She helped run the city's Christmas Cheer fund and Easter parade, as founder and head of the Recorder Women Sponsors (later the Indianapolis Recorder Women’s Auxiliary), a churchwomen's charity fundraising group associated with the Indianapolis Recorder newspaper.[8][9][10] She also raised scholarship funds for Crispus Attucks High School students.[11] Terry served on the Mayor's Commission on Human Rights in the 1950s and was active in the League of Women Voters, the National Council of Negro Women, Church Women United,[12] and other civil organizations.[13][14] She was an English teacher at Arlington High School for twelve years.[15]

In the 1970s, Terry and her family donated the large clock that stood in front of her late father's watch shop to the city of Indianapolis, where it now stands on the East plaza of the Indianapolis City Market.[16][17] In 1981, a large testimonial dinner was held in honor of Terry, with a program of speakers and entertainers, including broadcaster Bea Moten-Foster.[18] She was honored again in 2000, for her work teaching Bible study for fourteen years in her seventies and eighties.[15]

Personal life

Terry married a physician, Paul Andrew Batties, in 1937; Nerissa Brokenburr was one of her bridesmaids.[19] Their son, Paul Terry Batties, also became a doctor.[20] Her husband died in 1977, and she in 2014, aged 103 years.[3] The Indiana Historical Society library holds a small collection of her papers.[1]

References
  1. Louise Terry Batties Collection, ca. 1981–2001, Indianapolis Historical Society Library.
  2. "Ethical Culture Begins Out of Doors Meetings". The Indianapolis Recorder. July 26, 1930. p. 6. Retrieved February 6, 2021 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  3. "Louise Terry Batties". The Indianapolis Star. October 2, 2014. pp. A12. Retrieved February 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Walker, Heber P. (1951). Indiana at War: A Directory of Hoosier Civilians who Held Positions of Responsibility in Official, Volunteer, and Cooperating War-time Organizations. Indiana War History Commission. p. 394.
  5. "Wheatley Y. W. to Have Party". The Indianapolis News. February 8, 1941. p. 15. Retrieved February 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Friends Pay Tribute to the Work and Accomplishments of Former YW Head". The Indianapolis Recorder. March 18, 1950. p. 3. Retrieved February 7, 2021 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  7. "Mrs. Batties Attends Y. W. Convention". The Indianapolis Recorder. March 12, 1949. p. 3. Retrieved February 7, 2021 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  8. Key, Jessica R. (October 2, 2014). "The Recorder Remembers Louise Batties". The Indianapolis Recorder. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  9. "Recorder Women Sponsors Enter 11th Year of Service to Charities". The Indianapolis Recorder. October 7, 1961. p. 5. Retrieved February 6, 2021 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  10. "Recorder Women Sponsors Hold Opening Fall Inspirational Meeting of Season with Director". The Indianapolis Recorder. October 7, 1967. p. 4. Retrieved February 6, 2021 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  11. Crispus Attucks Scholarships (June 1963), page 6, in the Thirty-Sixth Annual Commencement Activities of Crispus Attucks High School program, Crispus Attucks Museum.
  12. Blair, Melissa Estes (2014). Revolutionizing Expectations: Women's Organizations, Feminism, and American Politics, 1965-1980. University of Georgia Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-8203-3979-5.
  13. "History". H. C. Gemmer Family Christian Foundation. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  14. "At Second Baptist". Anderson Herald. March 3, 1963. p. 8. Retrieved February 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Louise Betties Honored by Bible Study Group". The Indianapolis Recorder. January 7, 2000. p. 7. Retrieved February 7, 2021 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  16. Rice, Sue. "The Clock" Wynnedale News (Summer 2020): 7.
  17. "Points of Interest". The Indianapolis Star. July 19, 1987. p. 32. Retrieved February 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Louise Terry Batties Testimonial Dinner, a Day Long to be Remembered". The Indianapolis Recorder. September 26, 1981. p. 18. Retrieved February 7, 2021 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  19. "Bride of Doctor". The Indianapolis News. August 7, 1937. p. 15. Retrieved February 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. Batties, Mrs Paul A. (April 14, 1964). "Our City's Plus and Minus". The Indianapolis News. p. 25. Retrieved February 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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