Notable Muncie African Americans

Jesse Nixon
Jesse Nixon, class of 1925, was the first African American to graduate from Ball State Teachers College.
1925
Black Muncie History Project Records, PSC97/1

Vivian Conley
Vivian Conley was an activist for civil rights and education in Muncie. She was the education coordinator for Trinity United Methodist Church for 20 years and the founder of the Nontraditional Student Association at Ball State University. She was also involved in the campaigns to desegregate Tuhey Pool during the 1950s and to end the use of Confederate flag symbols at Southside High School during the 1970s. Muncie’s Conley Library on Centennial Avenue is named for her.
“ The Other Side of Middletown” Collection, EF2-071

Rhonda Roberts
Delaware County Policewoman Rhonda Roberts was the first African American woman to serve on the Muncie City Council.
n.d.
“The Other Side of Middletown” Collection, EF2-121

Hurley Goodall
Born and raised in Muncie, Hurley Goodall was a union leader at Malleable Foundry, was appointed as one of the first two African American members of the Muncie Fire Department in 1958, was elected as the first African American member of the Muncie School Board in 1970, and served in the Indiana General Assembly from 1978 through 1992.
1968 (Muncie Star photograph)
Hurley Goodall Collection, P30/65