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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
Achieving the Impossible Dream
I attended Howe High School on the Indianapolis east side, and like most large city high schools the spacious corridors would rapidly fill up with a wall-to-wall flood of students and teachers when the passing bell rang. Often during this time I would see a black face — not of … Read More
100 Years Ago: Nov. 27-Dec. 3
From The Indianapolis Star, Sunday, November 28, 1920: Aphrodite, one of the greatest stage sensations, was not nearly as shocking as painted. The much discussed and supposedly wicked and immoral Aphrodite has come and gone from our midst and the city is none the worse for it. Those zealous guardians … Read More
100 Years Ago: Nov. 20-26
From The Indianapolis Times, Wednesday, November 24, 1920: Indianapolis pays a heavy toll each year in the number of shade trees killed by scale insects. According to George Morgan, assistant horticulturist of the park department, last year approximately 4,500 trees succumbed to the ravages of parasites, far less than the … Read More
100 Years Ago: Nov. 13-Nov. 19
From The Indianapolis Star, Friday, November 19, 1920: City officials favor a plan endorsed by council president Gustav Schmidt that would abolish the municipal boards of works, safety, and sanitation, whose members are appointive, and have their duties assumed by members of the city council. The proposal would approach the … Read More
100 Years Ago: Nov. 6-12
From The Indianapolis Star, Friday, November 12, 1920: Hardy uniformed veterans waving flags braved freezing weather last night as they marched in formation to the Statehouse where they joined a great crowd that thronged every available inch of space inside the flag-draped Capitol to hear patriotic speeches celebrating Armistice Day. … Read More