'Unmasked' exhibit in downtown New Albany reimagines 1935 anti-lynching efforts in Indiana

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A new exhibit and art instillation in southern Indiana is shining a light on a difficult moment in American history.

"Unmasked: The 1935 Anti-Lynching Exhibitions and Community Remembrance in Indiana" is now open at the Underground Railroad Visitors Center in downtown New Albany, right next to the historic Second Baptist Church, often referred to as the Town Clock Church.

The exhibit "brings together protest art and political ephemera from the 1930s with current efforts to memorialize the victims of racist atrocities, especially in Indiana."

"We don't want to linger on the past, but we also don't want to also go back and repeat the past, and some of the past is very, very difficult for us, as Black people, but it's also difficult for anybody and everybody because we're all connected together," said Rev. LeRoy Marshall.

The Town Clock Church, initially built in 1852 as the Second Presbyterian Church, served as a station on the Underground Railroad.

Second Baptist Church was one of the first churches north of the Mason-Dixon Line and served as a safe haven for those trying to reach freedom from slavery. Fugitives sought refuge in the church's basement, escaping through a tunnel leading to a nearby hotel. The church now aims to preserve this significant history by transforming part of its building into a museum.

The Underground Railroad Visitors Center is located at 312 East Main Street in downtown New Albany.

A Remembrance Program is being held at the church and the visitors center on Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m.

For more information about the exhibit, and for information about tours, click here to connect with Friends of the Town Clock Church on Facebook.

In January, the church received a matching grant of $200,000 from a government agency dedicated to preserving Black churches, administered through the National Trust for Historic Preservation's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The money helped open the visitors center. Leaders hope to make traveling and permanent exhibits at the center. A condition of the grant money is that it has to be matched, so the "Friends of the Town Clock Church" is hoping public or private donors will step up to help. For more information, go to the Town Clock Church website.

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