Hurley Goodall to Speak at Ivy Tech Black History Event

MUNCIE, IN - In observance of Black History Month, Ivy Tech Community will welcome local civil rights activist and long-time state legislator, Hurley Goodall, to speak at its Patterson Building facility, 108 S. Walnut St., at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23. Community members are invited to join students, faculty and staff for the event in the ballroom.

Goodall will talk about the struggle to get Indiana to legislate observance of the National Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.

A native son of Muncie, where he was born in 1927, Hurley Goodall spent a childhood marked mostly by social and economic disadvantage. However, his family's struggles did not impede his goals for achieving success. After service in the U.S. Army, he returned home to a job at Muncie Malleable Foundry Company, in his off hours taking classes in time and motion engineering at Indiana Business College and Purdue University. In 1958, he joined the Muncie Fire Department — one of the first two African-Americans selected to work for the department — where he remained until his retirement in 1978.

Goodall also was the first African-American elected to the Muncie Community Schools Board of Education, on which he served for almost two decades.

Between 1978 and 1992, Goodall was a member of the Indiana House of Representatives. Goodall was presented with an honorary doctor of laws degree from Ball State University in 2007. He has has co-authored two books: "A History of Negroes in Muncie, Indiana," and "The Other Side of Middletown: Exploring Muncie's African-American Community." He also has published the monograph "Inside the House," recounting his years in the Indiana General Assembly.

 Light refreshments will be provided by the Muncie campus Student Government Association.