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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 Color of Art
Indianapolis has a rich history of visual arts. The city’s cultural heritage has been enriched from the early days of settlement when German immigrant Samuel Rooker painted the city’s first signs and artist Jacob Cox painted portraits of leading citizens and the surrounding landscape. Later, the Hoosier Group artists — … Read More
100 Years Ago: Nov. 24-30
From The Indianapolis Times, Friday, November 30, 1923: Gov. Warren McCray was accused of embezzlement, grand larceny, forgery, false statements, obtaining money under false pretenses, and issuing fraudulent checks in an eight-count indictment issued today by the Marion County grand jury. McCray is charged with embezzling $10,000 (2022: $176,658) of … Read More
100 Years Ago: Nov. 17-22
From The Indianapolis Star, Thursday, November 22, 1923: Plans have been made for interceptor sewer extensions on Fall Creek and Pleasant Run. Under present conditions only 80 percent of the daily sewage flow will be drained into the disposal plant with the remainder continuing to pour into White River without … Read More
100 Years Ago: Nov. 10-16
From The Indianapolis Star, Sunday, November 11, 1923: Lady traffic cops took to the corner of Meridian and Washington Street yesterday as a fitting climax to “No Accident Week” demonstrating once more that the weaker sex is edging into pastures heretofore reserved to men. The accident prevention bureau, aided by … Read More
100 Years Ago: Nov. 3-9
From The Indianapolis Star, Friday, November 9, 1923: D. C. Stephenson, known as “Steve” or the “Old Man,” who recently resigned as Ku Klux Klan grand dragon for Indiana and Ohio due to ill health brought on by overwork on behalf of the Klan, has purchased a home in Irvington … Read More