On Saturday, May 31, the community of Ferdinand, Indiana gathered to honor a remarkable Black woman whose life and work broke down barriers in pharmacy, public service and civil rights.

A new Indiana state historical marker commemorating Ida P. (Hagan) Whitaker was officially unveiled at the corner of 11th and Main streets, near the site of the Ferdinand Post Office and Dr. Alois Wollenmann’s Adler Apothak — places deeply connected to Whitaker’s legacy.

“(Whitaker) is just an exceptional role model,” said Kathy Tretter, president, editor and co-publisher of Dubois-Spencer Counties Publishing Co., Inc. “She faced all these obstacles.”

Born in 1888 in the Pinkston Settlement, a free Black community west of Ferdinand, Whitaker lived in a time when racial discrimination and gender inequalit

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