Announcements - Crispus Attucks Alumni Lettermen's Club

CAALC Announcments

March 15, 2024
Whiteland, Indiana
Ray Crowe was a legendary athlete and coach who later became a state representative and director of Indy Parks and Recreation. He is best known for leading the all-Black Crispus Attucks High School basketball team to win two state titles in the 1950s, making them the first all-Black team to win the championship. Recently, a state historical marker was dedicated in his honor in Whiteland, Indiana, where he grew up and excelled in sports. The marker recognizes his contributions to education and sportsmanship and his impact on Indiana’s basketball and education history.

TBA 2025
Crispus Attucks High School | Indpls IN
Oscar Robertson led Crispus Attucks High School to become the first all-Black team to win a state championship in the United States. A statue will be erected in honor of Robertson’s remarkable impact on the game and his hometown, in partnership with the Indiana Pacers. The statue depicts Robertson wearing a West No. 1 All-Star jersey and shooting a basketball. The statue will be permanently placed at Crispus Attucks. It will be unveiled in 2025.
“I thank the Pacers and the NBA,” Robertson said. “I don’t want to get too emotional, but you think about all the years that you played and, as a matter of fact, I thought about my mother giving me that basketball. It’s a wonderful memory.”

March 18, 2024
Willie Ray Martin, born on January 29, 1940, in Harperville, Mississippi, was an avid scholar and gifted athlete. He attended Indianapolis Public Schools #23, #60, and Shortridge High School, graduating in 1958. He then earned an academic scholarship to Indiana Central College, now known as the University of Indianapolis. Willie taught physical education at the historic Crispus Attucks High School from 1962-68, where he was an assistant football and wrestling coach. He spent the majority of his professional career working for the Indianapolis Public School System at various schools. Willie was a lifelong educator, spanning five decades. He impacted many lives during his educational tenure. Willie was charismatic and charming, never meeting a stranger. He enlightened and enhanced any space he encountered. Willie married his lifelong partner, Jean Anne Heylmann, and William Paul and Rachel Anne were born into this union.

October 23, 2018
Attucks tells the true story of the all-black high school basketball team that broke the color barrier in segregated 1950s Indiana. With the help of their brilliant coach, they won the state high school basketball championship in 1955, shattering the myth of their inferiority and becoming the first all-black team in US history to win a racially open championship tournament. The book is written by National Book Award winner Phil Hoose and is a tribute to a team that overcame impossible odds and made a difference when it mattered most.

Crispus Attucks High School was built during Indiana’s Ku Klux Klan era. Despite being designed to fail, its students succeeded and became surgeons, teachers, scientists, politicians, musicians, and athletes. They were a powerful force for integration, winning over younger white residents through their accomplishments and grace. (Film by: Langhart Cohen and many more)