Three years ago, Soror Beryl Borel, currently the Indiana State Director for Zeta Phi Beta Sorority,
made the suggestion to then Chapter President Bro. Arnald Beckwith and me, that the Xi Sigma Alumni
Chapter should acquire the dilapidated Historic Ransom House, restore it and use it as a gathering place for the
chapter and the community. Soror Borel was currently the President of the Ransom Place Neighborhood
Association and they were willing to lease the home for five years to an organization that would understand the
history of the home and the resolve of the resolve of the neighborhood to preserve its past. Unfortunately, Xi
Sigma was struggling to keep the chapter active with just 4-5 members. So we passed on the opportunity.
After the formation and success of the Blue & White Unity Coalition in the summer of 2008, the
discussion of acquiring the Ransom House began again. The plan was to make a bid with the three central
Indiana Alumni Chapters of Zeta Phi Beta Sororities. Finding a consensus through the bureaucracies of the
three Zeta chapters proved to be unlikely. So when talks broke down in the early spring of 2009, Xi Sigma
decided to take on this large task alone. With the support of Soror Beryl Borel, the Ransom Place Neighborhood
Association and the executive leadership of the Xi Sigma Alumni Chapter of Central Indiana, we were able to
negotiate a ten year lease with an option for twenty and a right of rescission to fend off potential suitors.
The History of the Ransom Place District and the Historic Ransom House
The Ransom Place Historic District is the most intact 19th century neighborhood associated with
African Americans in Indianapolis. The district was home to many black business leaders over its long history.
The area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The area northwest of Monument Circle was identified as a black settlement in writings as early as the 1830s.
Here churches, schools, and commercial areas developed to serve the black community. Redevelopment
pressures from a major university in the 1960s meant that very few sections of the original neighborhoods of
African Americans would survive. This section, however, remained a vital black community well into the 20th
century.
The district is named for the prominent Ransom family that resided in the district. Freeman Ransom was the
patriarch of the family. Freeman was an attorney and served as a corporate attorney for the legendary Madame
C.J. Walker. Freeman Ransom managed the Madame C. J. Walker Company and the theater bearing her name,
just once block from what is now known as the Ransom House. His son, Willard, also lived in the district and
was a noted attorney. Other well known black civic leaders, doctors, attorneys, and other professionals lived in
the district as well.