Mary Ellen Cable

Last updated
Mary Ellen Cable
BornSeptember 19, 1861
Leavenworth, Kansas
DiedSeptember 18, 1944
Indianapolis, Indiana
Other namesMary Ellen Montgomery

Mary Ellen Cable was an American educator and activist. She served as an educator and principal of Indianapolis Public Schools no. 4, Indianapolis' first African American elementary school located in the Ransom Place neighborhood during segregation. She also founded Indianapolis' first chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Contents

Early life and education

Mary Ellen Cable ( née Montgomery) was born in Leavenworth, Kansas in September 19, 1861. In the 1870s, she earned a degree from Leavenworth Teacher’s Normal School allowing her to teach elementary students in Fort Scott and Topeka, Kansas. She went on to marry George Cable, a teacher, and together had one son, Dr. Theodore Cable. [1] [2]

Career

Cable and her family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1893. George worked as an educator and for the post office while Cable began her 35 year career in Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS). There she worked as a teacher, director of practice teaching, and principal at IPS No. 19, 23, 40, 24, and 4. [3] From 1903 to 1905, Cable oversaw the community vegetable garden at School 24, which provided fresh vegetables to the community and sparked residents to plant gardens of their own. [1] [2] [3]

In the 1910s, almost one third of the African American population of Marion County had tuberculosis. Around 1916, in collaboration with the Woman’s Improvement Club (WIC) of Indianapolis and other Black women’s clubs, Cable established one of the first three "fresh air” classrooms serving Black students in Indianapolis to protect them from the disease. [1] [4]

In Cable’s 17 year term as director of practice of teaching, 61 African American teachers were certified by the Indianapolis School Board, 5 of which went on to become principals. [1] [5]

Cable would go on to become principal of IPS School no. 4, Indianapolis' first African American elementary school located in the Ransom Place neighborhood from 1922 until her retirement in 1933. [1] [2] [6]

Cable was active in social and civic engagement activities. In 1912, Cable served as president of the Colored Women’s Civics Club where she organized the creation of the first NAACP branch for Indianapolis and served as its first president. Under her leadership, the Indianapolis branch expanded in member numbers and led initiatives across the state against the Ku Klux Klan. [7] [8]

Additionally, she was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E) Church, Browning Literary Society, and other organizations. [3] [4]

Death and legacy

Cable died at the age of 82 on September 19, 1944 after battling an illness for five years. [9]

IPS School No. 4, Indianapolis, Indiana, circa 1912 Indianapolis Public School No 4.jpg
IPS School No. 4, Indianapolis, Indiana, circa 1912

In 1952, IPS School No. 4 was dedicated and named the Mary E. Cable Elementary School. IUPUI would go on to purchase the school after IPS closed the building down in 1980 naming it the Mary E. Cable Building in recognition of Cable's work. In 2006, they demolished the building because of asbestos contamination. IUPUI later named the new student residence hall built in its place the “Cable House”. [1] [4] [10] [6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Black Hoosier Educators: Mary Ellen Cable". Indy Kids Winning. 2024-02-05. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  2. 1 2 3 bright_admin (2022-08-16). "Celebrating Historical Black Educators In Indiana". Brightlane Learning. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  3. 1 2 3 Jones, Kelly (August 1994). "The Life and Legacy of Mary Cable". Black History News & Notes. pp. 2–7.
  4. 1 2 3 Indianapolis, Encyclopedia of (2021-02-05). "Mary Ellen Cable". Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  5. ↑ "Indianapolis Recorder 29 July 1978 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program". newspapers.library.in.gov. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  6. 1 2 Arant, Matt (2006-01-18). "Remembering history". NUVO. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  7. ↑ "Indianapolis NAACP Branch 3053 · Digital Civil Rights Museum". www.digitalresearch.bsu.edu. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  8. ↑ "Branch History". NAACP 3053 Website. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  9. ↑ "The Indianapolis News from Indianapolis, Indiana". Newspapers.com. 1944-09-19. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
  10. ↑ "Mary Cable / School No. 4 Site Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.