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Author Biography
Steven R. Barnett is Executive Director at the Irvington Historical Society.
Steve Barnett was raised in Irvington. Steve attended School #57, Howe High School (’63), and received a degree from Purdue University (’70). He served in the Indiana National Guard. After a brief hiatus from Irvington, Steve returned to his home town in 1977 with his wife Sue so their three children could grow up in a family friendly environment.
Steve had the good fortune of working with U. S. Representative Andy Jacobs, Jr. and U. S. Representative Julia Carson in the Indianapolis Congressional District Office helping constituents.
After his retirement, Steve became the executive director of the Irvington Historical Society and curator of the Bona Thompson Memorial Center until 2025. Steve was commissioned a Kentucky Colonel by Gov. Wallace G. Wilkinson for service to veterans, and he was appointed a Sagamore of the Wabash by Gov. Joseph Kernan for service to Indiana. In 2016, Steve was named Marion County Historian.
Steven R. Barnett’s Story Archive
100 Years Ago This Week: Oct. 30-Nov. 6
From The Indianapolis News, Thursday, November 4, 1915: Opportunities to find employment at day labor, with an average daily wage of $1.75 (2014: $40.36), are so plentiful that the U. S. Department of Labor, with Indianapolis headquarters in the Federal Building, is experiencing difficulty in providing men for those needing … Read More
World War I 100 Years Ago: Oct. 23-30
From The Indianapolis Star, Saturday, October 23, 1915: The price of peroxide has gone up 200 percent in the last two months and in all probability will keep going up. This is another one of the horrors of war. Some of the chemical components of peroxide come from the war … Read More
100 Years Ago This Week: Oct. 23-30
From The Indianapolis News, Friday, October 29, 1915: Indianapolis Schools will join schools in about 150 other cities in carrying out the Bureau of Naturalization’s naturalization campaign. Superintendent Jacob G. Collicott said the Indianapolis schools will become part of the national movement for the Americanization of candidates for citizenship. The … Read More
100 Years Ago This Week: Oct. 16-23
From The Indianapolis News, Monday, October 18, 1915: Mrs. Salina Ratliffe, an African-American, sued the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners because her children were not permitted to attend public school No. 32 which is within two and one half squares of her home. When she took her four children to … Read More
World War I 100 Years Ago: Oct. 16-23
From The Indianapolis News, Tuesday, October 19, 1915: It will pay to keep well this winter, because the prices of many common drugs have advanced until many are almost prohibitive. This is all due to the European war according to Charles J. Lynn, general manager of Eli Lilly & Co. … Read More