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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
World War I 100 Years Ago: Dec. 5-12
From The Indianapolis Star, Thursday, December 10, 1914: European countries have always manufactured large quantities of surgical instruments, and the fact that one Indianapolis concern is now providing surgical blades and another is providing medical furniture to countries engaged in the European War is taken as proof that the demand … Read More
100 Years Ago This Week: Dec. 5-12
From The Indianapolis Times, Wednesday, December 9, 1914: The manner in which the city public library branches are meeting the thirst for knowledge and supplying good reading in the humblest homes, was related to the board of school commissioners by Eliza G. Browning, librarian. “There are hundreds of readers in … Read More
The Civil War — 150th Anniversary
“GREATEST VICTORY OF THE WAR! OLD ABE RE-ELECTED!” announced the Indianapolis Journal on the morning of Wednesday, November 9. In the days prior to the election, crowds of “ladies and gentlemen, citizens and soldiers, young and old” gathered nightly at the Tabernacle on Circle Park to hear speeches and exhortations … Read More
World War I 100 Years Ago: Nov. 28-Dec. 5
From The Indianapolis Star, Sunday, November 29, 1914: The most graphic and realistic motion pictures ever made of a great war are those taken by Edwin F. Weigle, staff photographer for the Chicago Tribune. The four different reels of film, “On Belgium Battle Fields,” will be displayed all this week at … Read More
100 Years Ago This Week: Nov. 28-Dec. 5
From The Indianapolis Times, Wednesday, December 2, 1914: Mayor Joseph E. Bell asserts in an open letter to Rev. Marion C. Pearson, executive secretary of the Indianapolis Church Federation, that Indianapolis is a moral city; the wine rooms have been abolished; open gambling has ceased; and open resorts and vice have … Read More