INDIANAPOLIS — A new Indiana state historical marker that commemorates award-winning writer, longtime New Yorker correspondent and women’s movement pioneer Janet Flanner was dedicated on Saturday, September 23. The new marker is located in front of the Flanner’s former home at 4061 N. Illinois St.
Flanner graduated from Tudor Hall School for Girls in 1909. She led the local branch of the Woman’s Franchise League in 1917 and wrote an arts column for the Indianapolis Star, becoming a pioneer movie critic. She moved abroad and launched her column “Letter from Paris” for the New Yorker under the penname Genêt in 1925. In Paris, Flanner was part of an expatriate community that included other notable lesbian writers as well as internationally recognized artists and intellectuals. By the 1930s, she was praised for her sharp, refined, and witty New Yorker profiles. In 1966, she won the National Book Award for Paris Journal: 1944-1965. She wrote her last “Letter from Paris” in 1975.
The marker examines Flanner’s career and her contributions to journalism and the women’s rights movement. Bruce Buchanan, 4th generation owner of Flanner Buchanan, was one of about 35 people who attended the marker’s unveiling. He and Flanner Buchanan spearheaded the application.
According to Buchanan, “Janet died almost fifty years ago, but I still hear from people about the impact she had as a writer and astute observer of history. She has become a cult figure locally because of her iconic personality and the ground-breaking style she developed as a journalist. She was a force in the arts community in Europe and the United States during her long career. The Flanner name was established in Indianapolis by her father, Frank W. Flanner, who started our family’s funeral business, Flanner Buchanan, in 1881. It’s now one of the state’s oldest family-run businesses. Living in Paris, Janet became a stranger to Indianapolis, but she never lost her Hoosier sensibilities. This marker is well deserved.”
