Ray Crowe

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Ray Crowe

Side One: Ray Crowe, 1915-2003
Trailblazing basketball coach Ray Crowe of Johnson County excelled at multiple sports at Whiteland High School and Indiana Central College in the 1930s before beginning a career in education. In 1950, he became head basketball coach at Indianapolis’s all-Black Crispus Attucks High School. Crowe led Attucks to the state finals four times, winning titles in 1955 and ’56.

Side Two: Ray Crowe
Crowe’s emphasis on good sportsmanship and fast-paced, aggressive play helped Attucks become the first all-Black team to win the state championship and challenged pervasive racism. He served as athletic director at Attucks from 1957-1967. As a member of the Indiana House of Representatives (1967-1975), Crowe worked to make education more equitable and accessible.

Installed 2023 Indiana Historical Bureau, William G. Pomeroy Foundation, Johnson County Historical Society, and the Johnson County Bicentennial Committee