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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
The Civil War — 150th Anniversary
“GREATEST VICTORY OF THE WAR! OLD ABE RE-ELECTED!” announced the Indianapolis Journal on the morning of Wednesday, November 9. In the days prior to the election, crowds of “ladies and gentlemen, citizens and soldiers, young and old” gathered nightly at the Tabernacle on Circle Park to hear speeches and exhortations … Read More
World War I 100 Years Ago: Nov. 28-Dec. 5
From The Indianapolis Star, Sunday, November 29, 1914: The most graphic and realistic motion pictures ever made of a great war are those taken by Edwin F. Weigle, staff photographer for the Chicago Tribune. The four different reels of film, “On Belgium Battle Fields,” will be displayed all this week at … Read More
100 Years Ago This Week: Nov. 28-Dec. 5
From The Indianapolis Times, Wednesday, December 2, 1914: Mayor Joseph E. Bell asserts in an open letter to Rev. Marion C. Pearson, executive secretary of the Indianapolis Church Federation, that Indianapolis is a moral city; the wine rooms have been abolished; open gambling has ceased; and open resorts and vice have … Read More
100 Years Ago This Week: Nov. 21-28
From The Indianapolis News, Monday, November 23, 1914: The Fighting Butler Eleven holds an absolute clear title to the Secondary State Championship by reason of its 6 to 0 victory over Franklin in the last game of the season before one of the largest crowds ever seen on Irwin Field. … Read More
World War 1 100 Years Ago: Nov. 21-28
From The Indianapolis Star, Monday, November 16, 1914: “A barrel of flour for a Belgian family,” is the slogan of The Star Belgian Flour Fund. Money is useless to Belgians in their present plight; there is no food to buy, it must come from outside the war zone. Five dollars … Read More