Passo Drugs
- Program
- Subject
- Location
- Lat/Long
- Grant Recipient
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Indiana Historical Bureau
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Industry & Commerce, Site
- 803 South Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA
- 39.7564002, -86.1590936
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Indiana Historical Bureau
Passo Drugs
Inscription
Passo DrugsSide One: Passo Drugs
Ladino-speaking Sephardic Jews from the Ottoman Empire, including Hyman and Rachel Passo, settled on Indianapolis’s southside in the early 1900s. Over several decades, Sephardic families built a vibrant community, became citizens, and established lasting relationships with their Black and fellow immigrant neighbors. The Passo family purchased a pharmacy here in 1938.
Side Two: Passo Drugs
After serving in WWII, pharmacists Charlie and Issie Passo joined their brother, Albert, in operating Passo Drugs. While most businesses enforced segregation, the Passos opened the pharmacy’s soda fountain counter to all, and the store served as a meeting place for Black and Jewish neighbors. Passo Drugs closed in 1976, and Shapiro’s Delicatessen expanded into its space.
Installed 2025 Indiana Historical Bureau, William G. Pomeroy Foundation, The Al Katz Center for Holocaust Survivors & Jewish Learning, Inc., and the Passo, Goldberg, Katz, and Newman Families
