INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Senate committee approved a resolution Tuesday asking INDOT to rename a section of Interstate 465 in honor of an Indiana icon.
If approved, a mile of the interstate would be named the "James C. Cummings Jr. Memorial Mile" in honor of the founder of the Indiana Black Expo and the National Black Republican Council.
Cummings was born on Sept. 22, 1929 and worked for the Indianapolis Recorder as a teenager, then graduated with a business degree from Indiana Central University, which was later renamed the University of Indianapolis.
He served as a sergeant in the Korean War, then returned to Indianapolis, again working for the Recorder and starting Cummings Real Estate.
RELATED: Read the resolution
In 1970, Cummings established Indiana Black Expo, with the first exhibition held the following year. Today, around 300,000 visitors come to Indianapolis to attend the concerts, job fair, business convention and other activities around Indiana Black Expo's Summer Celebration.
He passed away in April 2020 at the age of 90.
The resolution calls for INDOT to rename I-465 between the 44.5 and 45.5 mile markers after Cummings. The stretch of highway extends from just south of East Washington Street north toward Interstate 70. The offices of Indiana Black Expo Inc. are on North Shortridge Road, just west of the interstate.