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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: Nov. 1-7
From The Indianapolis Times, Friday, November 7, 1924: Republican Ed Jackson, Ku Klux Klan candidate for governor, has been elected and although he ran 100,000 votes behind President Coolidge in Indiana, the Klan is welcome to claim as much credit as it wishes. With the next Indiana legislature overwhelmingly Republican, … Read More
Part Two —The Weeklies
Readers of The Weekly View are continuing an Indianapolis newspaper tradition that began two centuries ago. The View is one of the more recent weekly publications to bring news and other items of local interest to a specialized readership. Most of the early Indianapolis newspapers were dependent on the mail … Read More
100 Years Ago This Week
From The Indianapolis News, Thursday, October 30, 1924: Indianapolis residents will be able to listen to the broadcasting of Indiana and national election returns next Tuesday evening over the new radio station WFBM. The Merchants Heat & Light Co. received a Class A broadcasting license yesterday from the U. S. … Read More
100 Years Ago: Oct. 18-24
From The Indianapolis News, Saturday, October 18, 1924: Butler College home-coming celebrations began before noon today with students and alumni on many floats created by campus and Greek-letter organizations and in three hundred autos decorated in Blue and White school colors parading from Irvington to Monument Circle where they were … Read More
100 Years Ago: Oct. 11-17
From The Indianapolis Star, Sunday, October 12, 1924: The Hoosier Motor Club board of directors is unanimous in opposition to a driver’s license law according to Todd Stoops, club secretary-manager. “The directors feel a driver’s license law would be an indirect tax on motorists and such a law would not … Read More