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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
It’s Not All Talk and Tea
One of the earliest coalition of women’s groups in Indiana was the women’s club movement which can trace its origins to the Female Social Society of New Harmony. Founded in 1825 by the state’s first recorded feminist, 30-year old Scottish born Frances “Fanny” Wright, the Female Social Society was the … Read More
100 Years Ago: March 26-April 1
From The Indianapolis Star, Thursday, March 31, 1921: Organizers for the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan have been working several weeks in Indianapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Seattle and other cities and towns of the West and Middle Western States, Col. William Simmons, imperial wizard of the Knights, has confirmed. “Ku … Read More
100 Years Ago: March 19-25
From The Indianapolis Star, Wednesday, March 23, 1921: Miss Clara Burnside, supervisor of the women’s police bureau, has been promoted to the rank of captain of police by the board of public safety. This action places the Indianapolis department at the head of similar organizations in the United States. Only … Read More
100 Years Ago: March 12-18
From The Indianapolis Times, Monday, March 14, 1921: Indianapolis becomes the basketball center of Indiana for the first time when the best sixteen high school teams start their two-day elimination contest Friday for the State basketball championship at the Coliseum. The tournament will be the biggest in the history of … Read More
100 Years Ago: March 5-11
From The Indianapolis News, Friday, March 7, 1921: The Indianapolis board of public works announced today that no group would be permitted to use Tomlinson Hall for meetings at which propaganda against nations allied with the United States would be spread or at which foreign political questions would be discussed. … Read More