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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. 14-20
From The Indianapolis Star, Sunday, November 15, 1925: Late yesterday afternoon after deliberating five hours and 35 minutes a Hamilton County Circuit Court jury found former Indiana Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon D. C. Stephenson guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Madge Oberholtzer. A handful of spectators, including … Read More
100 Years Ago: Nov. 7-13
From The Indianapolis Times, Monday, November 9, 1925: Mayor-Elect John Duvall has named the first eighteen members of his administration, and the Ku Klux Klan has scored heavily in the appointments. The Klan organization maintained a Duvall campaign headquarters in the City Trust Building and there has been considerable speculation … Read More
100 Years Ago: Oct. 31-Nov. 6
From The Indianapolis Times, Monday, November 2, 1925: At a meeting of United Protestant Clubs of Indianapolis at Cadle Tabernacle Saturday night, presided by George Elliott, exalted cyclops of Marion County Klan No. 3, John Duvall, Republican mayoral candidate, and several Republican council candidates urged support of the Ku Klux … Read More
The old southside
The Old South Side in the 1950s ran from South to Raymond Streets, White River to East Street and was a community of German immigrant heritage — Protestants, Catholics, and Jewish. My wife grew up on Talbott St. in a family of German ethnicity that had moved to the south … Read More
100 Years Ago Today: Oct. 24-30
From The Indianapolis Times, Thursday, October 29, 1925: After thirteen days of jury selection, opening testimony began this morning in the trial of D C. Stephenson and his two co-defendants who are charged with the murder of Madge Oberholtzer. The first witness to take the stand was Mrs. George Oberholtzer, … Read More