The life and impact of Rev. Boniface Hardin

<p dir="ltr">(February 8, 2020) With what was often described as a "cloud of white hair" and a distinctive beard, <strong>Rev. Boniface Hardin</strong> would have drawn attention even if he had not emerged during the 1960s as one of the most prominent civil rights activists in <strong>Indianapolis</strong>.</p> <p dir="ltr">As Hoosier History Live salutes <strong><a href= "https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2020/black-history-month.html">Black History Month</a></strong>, we explore the impact of Father Hardin (1933-2012), the founder of <strong><a href= "https://www.martin.edu/">Martin University</a></strong>, the only predominantly African-American institution of higher learning in Indiana. He was among the first wave of black students to attend <strong><a href="https://www.saintmeinrad.edu/">St. Meinrad Seminary</a></strong> in southern Indiana during the 1940s and '50s; when Father Hardin was ordained in 1959, he was one of only 88 black Catholic priests in the country.</p> <p dir="ltr">The nearly 50 years he was based in Indianapolis were eventful, to say the least.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src= "http://hoosierhistorylive.org/images/Boniface-Hardin-as-young-priest.PNG" alt= "When Father Hardin was ordained in 1959, he was one of only 88 black Catholic priests in the country. Courtesy Indiana Historical Society." width="289" height="432" align="right" />Because of his outspoken support of teenage protesters during the late 1960s, some civic leaders urged the <strong>Archbishop of Indianapolis</strong> to have him recalled to St. Meinrad. When that seemed likely, dozens of his supporters at <strong><a href="http://holyangelsindy.org/">Holy Angels Parish</a></strong> walked out of Mass on Easter Sunday in 1969, drawing national media attention.</p> <p dir="ltr">In addition to Father Hardin's unflagging advocacy on behalf of disenfranchised people - and his crusade to provide new educational opportunities - he was well known in later years for his public re-enactments of one of his role models: 19th-