Center for Creative Solutions, Inc.® Honors Naomi Anderson, Suffragette and Humanitarian, with CREO!

Michigan City native, Naomi Anderson, was a creative visionary of her day. However, she probably could never have imagined the accolades her hometown is now bestowing on her over a hundred years after her death in 1899.

“Very few women in America had a voice in the country at that time. Almost no black women had a voice at that time. Naomi Anderson overcame serious obstacles. The one school in Michigan City was segregated. However, a teacher learned about her fabulous poetry. She was 12 years old and she was able to enter the public school,” noted Judy Jacobi of the Naomi Anderson committee on regional radio, WIMS.

On March 19, the Center of Creative Solutions is posthumously (1843 – 1899) honoring Anderson with its CREO! As part of World Creativity and Innovation Week, the CREO! recognizes a citizen or organization that encourages a culture of creativity and innovation. A Latin term meaning, “to create,” it stands for Creativity, Regional, Excellence and Originality.

The award will be presented to Anderson’s decedents at the Michigan City (Indiana) Lighthouse Museum at 12:15 p.m. (CST). It is part of a community celebration at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City and the dedication of a commissioned sculpture in Westcott Park on the city’s north end.

From Michigan City, Anderson moved to Chicago and there addressed the 1869 Women’s Conference, according to Dale Cooper of the Anderson committee and a Board member at the Center for Creative Solutions. Her fiery speech calling for women’s right to vote made Anderson an overnight sensation. At times, her speeches received headlines more prominent than fellow suffragette, Susan B. Anthony, noted Cooper.

In addition, Anderson was a entrepreneur, writer and mother of eight children. One of those children wrote a play based on Anderson’s life. It was the first play on Broadway in New York City, written by a person of color.

In many communities where she lived, Anderson started orphanages for children of color because there were none. At the time, Cooper said, white people would not donate to such orphanages. Eventually, Anderson moved to California where she died at the age of 56.

Anderson’s family had heard of her, but did not know of her accomplishments until recently. The people of Michigan City had long forgotten her. Then, several years ago, she was ‘accidently discovered’ by people in her hometown. A community-wide committee has since been working on ways to honor Anderson.

Sponsors for World Creativity and Innovation Week in northwest Indiana are WIMS Radio, Society of Innovators at Purdue Northwest, “Arts on the Air” program on Southshore Public Radio, the Society of Innovators at Purdue Northwest and the Center for Creative Solutions, Inc., a non-profit organization devoted to encouraging an innovative culture in northwest Indiana.

  • Start: 19 March 2022
  • End: 21 April 2022
  • Attendance:
  • Location: N/A , , United States
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