A local author uncovers her family’s legacy in the pages of the Recorder
Author and Indianapolis native Michelle Dartis never knew her family had strong ties to the once-thriving Indiana Avenue. Dartis’ grandfather, Herbert Hawkins, was a well-known business owner in the 1950s. Hawkins Filling Station once stood prominently on Indiana Avenue, a historic hub of Black-owned businesses.
After Hawkins’ sudden death in the late 1950s, his story was buried along with him. Dartis said that the family rarely spoke of him.
“I knew he had a gas station, that’s all I knew,” Dartis said. “And that’s when I started digging, getting online to find articles about him. And I started discovering all these different things that he, in the end, was really a leader in this community. And I was just in shock to learn this because my family didn’t talk about it.”
Her mother, Evelyn, and grandmother, Adeline, rarely mentioned him, so Dartis knew little about his achievements…