Hurley C. Goodall was born on May 23rd, 1927, in Muncie Indiana, and passed away on May 12th, 2021, in his Whitely home. Goodall was a lifetime resident of Muncie and an active member of the Whitley community. Goodall accomplished much in his long life and achieved major milestones in History. Goodall was the first black firefighter in Muncie in 1958. He then went on to be the first black man on the Muncie school board in 1970 and was the only black member until he left the board in 1993. In 1978 Goodall made state history and became the first black representative in the Indiana House of Representatives. He served as a democratic representative in the House from 1978 to 1992. He also served as the Indiana Democratic Party secretary from 1989 to 2004.

Reverend John E. Johnson 

Born in Norfolk, Virginia on November 4, 1884, Reverend John E. Johnson, an ordained African Methodist Episcopal Minister, arrived in Muncie in 1927 and took up the pastorship at Shaffer Chapel. For a long time, he was the only African American mortician and embalmer in Muncie and owned a funeral home close to the chapel on Highland Avenue. In August 1930 he drove to the neighboring town of Marion to pick up the bodies of Thomas Shipp and Abraham Smith who were lynched by a white mob. Johnson died from the consequences of an automobile accident on June 22, 1931. He was an active member in the Whitely community, a Freemason and a member of several fraternal orders. 

Roy C. Buley

A true Muncie boy born on October 27, 1915, Roy Buley attended Longfellow Elementary School and graduated from Muncie Central, where he was part of the unbeaten high school football team that won the state championship in 1934. He enrolled in the U.S. Army during World War II and became executive director of the Madison Street Colored YMCA in the early 1950s. As a Civil Rights activist, Roy was involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NCAAP). He led a protest of Black youths against segregation at the Tuhey Swimming Pool resulting in the admission of all citizens, independent of their race and social status. The City of Muncie inaugurated the Roy C. Buley Center as a tribute to his life and work. Writing poetry in his later life, Roy died at the age of 64 on August 29, 1980.  

Geraldine Evans Findley 

Born in Muncie on March 30, 1917, Geraldine Findley attended Longfellow Elementary School and Muncie Central High School and graduated from Ball State Teachers College in 1937. Despite her diploma as a teacher, as an African American woman, Geraldine was not allowed to teach in the segregated city. With the opening of Longfellow Elementary School, in the early 1950s, she became the first Black educator in the Muncie school system. After her death on September 15, 2000, she was included in the Walk of Fame in Heekin Park, organized and inaugurated by the Martin Luther King Dream Team, Muncie Public Library and the City of Muncie.