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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: April 25-May 1
From The Indianapolis Times, Wednesday, April 29, 1925: The Wright “bone dry” law, one of 218 laws passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, went into effect late yesterday. Indianapolis police and Indiana Federal prohibition agents have been instructed to rigidly enforce the provisions of the law which … Read More
100 Years Ago: April 18-24
From The Indianapolis News, Saturday, April 18, 1925: This evening will be a house warming and formal dedication program for the new and attractive Warren Central High School, designed by Indianapolis architects Harrison & Turnock, located at East Tenth St and the Fort Benjamin Harrison Rd. Following the invocation by … Read More
100 Years Ago: April 11-17
From The Indianapolis News, Tuesday, April 14, 1925: Madge Oberholtzer died this morning at her Irvington home, 5802 University Av, after suffering nearly a month from bichloride of mercury poisoning which she took following an alleged attack by former Ku Klux Klan grand dragon D. C. Stephenson. She had been … Read More
100 Years Ago: April 4-10
From The Indianapolis Star, Wednesday, April 8, 1925: Selection of the executive committee of the citizens’ committee of 1,000, under the leadership of chair Charles F. Coffin, former Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce president, has been completed and will lead the campaign for an election of an Indianapolis city manager form … Read More
Indy’s Great Fires Part 2
Fire often has held a peculiar fascination. Like a moth drawn to the flame, a crowd, too, is drawn toward glowing, leaping red-orange flames, whether from a bonfire or building inferno. Such was with the St. Patrick’s Day Bowen-Merrill Co conflagration. A few minutes after three o’clock the afternoon of … Read More