Leadlining

The Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood on the Indianapolis Near Northeast side was originally two separate neighborhoods created in 1874 and 1872 respectively. Both neighborhoods provided worker housing for the Bee Line Railroad as well as the Indianapolis Car Works. Brightwood, at its founding, was primarily populated by immigrants of British, German, and Irish descent. Martindale, on the other hand, had a large number of Black inhabitants.

During the period when the area was mostly inhabited by railroad workers and their families the communities continued to grow, adding several schools, libraries, and a park. On the Martindale side, Douglass Park opened in 1921 and was advertised as the park for Black residents of the city.

As railroad companies moved away from Martindale-Brightwood in the 1940s, Brightwood's white population left, and the neighborhood became a predominantly Black working-class community.

Martindale-Brightwood has been an industrial neighborhood dating back to the late 1800s. It was home to railroad workers and those who worked for the Indianapolis Car Works. The railroad was the lifeblood of the area and contributed to the rise of the community. When the railroad companies and the white workers from the Brightwood area moved from the neighborhood down to Beech Grove, the area was advertised as a good place for Black families to live. 

This movement of Black families into the Martindale-Brightwood area led to "white flight", which caused the area to become even more majority-Black.

White flight, in turn, led to legislative neglect by Indianapolis. Legislative neglect in majority-Black neighborhoods means a lack of policies to help, revitalize, or prevent negative developments in mostly Black neighborhoods. There was essentially nothing keeping hazardous industries out of these neighborhoods.

Undesirable industries were placed in low-income and minority neighborhoods rather than wealthier, white neighborhoods, including places like dry cleaning facilities and factories that process heavy metals. Furthermore, there were other undesirable developments including things like a tuberculosis camp near Martindale-Brightwood. And a combined sewer overflow system that released raw sewage into the White River near low-income areas and away from wealthier neighborhoods upriver. Wealthy white citizens did not want potential hazards/unclean things near them; redlining and white flight resulted in areas with high concentrations of Black residents and so Black neighborhoods contained these dangerous industries. Segregation and classism kept them from being able to leave for less polluted areas of the city.

From 1946 until 1965, the American Lead Corporation operated a secondary lead smelter at 2102 Hillside Ave, in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood of Indianapolis. It was later discovered that lead was stored without proper containment during American Lead's time at the site.

This lead contaminated the surrounding area and caused myriad health problems for both children and adults.

1. Children are among the most susceptible to lead poisoning. Symptoms can include:
   1. Developmental delays
   2. Weight loss
   3. Fatigue 
   4. Abdominal pain
   5. Vomiting
   6. Constipation
   7. Hearing loss
   8. Seizures
2. Adults can experience:
   1. High blood pressure
   2. Joint pain
   3. Difficulties with memory or concentration
   4. Headaches, abdominal pain
   5. Mood disorders
   6. Reduced sperm counts
   7. Miscarriage

The American Lead Corporation has a long list of lawsuits filed against them over the course of several years.

After Margie Smith’s son perished in 1938, sixty-three additional cases were filed against American Lead Corporation. In the coming years, one hundred and forty separate cases were filed against American Lead Corporation over illnesses related to lead poisoning. In 1945, cases were stopped by the appointed special judge Joseph M. Milner. He stated that the company did not operate in a way that negatively affected those around it. His ruling also stopped any future cases being filed against the company based on these same allegations.

During the course of these lawsuits, several medical officials came forward to express their concern over the smelter and its effects on the surrounding area.

This heavily contaminated area is a Superfund site, which has required multiple cleanup efforts. Despite the EPA’s designation that no further action is needed, issues remain.

Cleanup efforts took place in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The EPA determined that the cleanups were adequate. However, not all areas in and around the neighborhood have been tested, leaving the possibility that other areas are still contaminated.

"We are very concerned that there are still high levels of lead in our soils, more than 10 years after the initial cleanup,” said Elizabeth Gore, the chairwoman of the Martindale-Brightwood Environmental Justice Collaborative. “How many children grew up playing in the soil, thinking it was safe, and it wasn’t?"

One of the affected areas was a school (pictured below), now operated by Oaks Academy - again raising concerns over childhood lead exposure.

Indianapolis’ history of racial segregation led to hazardous industries being concentrated in its most vulnerable neighborhoods. City planning led to minority communities and low-income neighborhoods of any ethnicity becoming sites where health hazards were concentrated, and these vulnerable populations were the victims. Black communities in particular were victims of this planning. The Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood, with the poisoning of its soil and the fight to clean up the area’s hazards, is just one example of Indianapolis’ toxic heritage that people today still fight against.