HAPPY NEW YEAR, INDIANA!

1825     Scottish factory owner Robert Owen bought 30,000 acres in Southwest Indiana.  The property became the site of a town called New Harmony.  Owen and his followers worked to create a utopian society in the Posey County community.  They established free schools for both boys and girls as well as a library available to all.

1869     Mark Twain, early in his career, was on stage at Hamilton’s Hall in Fort Wayne.  Not yet having written any of his famous books, he recited portions of his popular short stories, including “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”  Two days later, he appeared at the Metropolitan Theater in Indianapolis.  The humorist left two distinctly different impressions on Hoosier audiences.  See “Did You Know?” in the right column.

1884     Dr. Mary Hamilton Swindler was born in Bloomington.  She earned degrees from Indiana University and Bryn Mawr, where she taught archeology for 37 years.  She played a large role in helping launch the careers of young archeologists.  In 1932, she was the first woman appointed to serve as editor of the American Journal of Archeology.

1916     The Indiana State Board of Agriculture met at the Statehouse.  They began planning the 1916 State Fair, which would include an exposition commemorating the state’s centennial.  Governor Samuel Ralston addressed the group and proposed the construction of a Fine Arts Building on the fairgrounds.

1927     John Wesley Hardrick, an artist from Indianapolis, was awarded the prestigious Harmon Foundation Bronze Medal.  As a teen, he had studied with Otto Stark at Manual High School.  He attended the Herron School of Art, working with William Forsyth.  His work was exhibited at the Tanner Galleries in Chicago and the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

1928     Over 1,000 Marmon Automobile dealers were in Indianapolis for their annual convention.  The car, manufactured in the city, had established a reputation for high quality, medium-priced models with straight-eight engines.  The production schedule for 1928 was set at 300 cars per day.  The Marmon Company was one of many which had established Indianapolis and Indiana as the center for automakers in the 1920s.

Follow this link to subscribe to Hoosier History Highlights and to view archived editions

Follow us on Instagram: @instatehousetouroffice

Indiana Statehouse Tour Office

Indiana Department of Administration

Visitors are welcome at the Indiana Statehouse Monday through Saturday.  For more information, please contact the Tour Office.

(317) 233-5293
touroffice@idoa.in.gov  

Indiana Quick Quiz

EVENTS IN JANUARY

1.  1910:  J____W______R_____was in Washington to dedicate a statue to Lew Wallace.

2.  1967:  Purdue won the R_____B_______.

3.   2012:  Karen Freeman-Wilson became mayor of G_____.

Answers Below

HOOSIER QUOTE OF THE WEEK

     “The State Fair offers the choicest specimens of our gardens and vineyards, the most select dainties of culinary art.. . . the most excellent results of manufacturer’s skills, and many other useful and valued exhibits, all of which are a lesson in themselves, designed to stimulate a desire on the part of the observer to emulate and improve.”

  Warren T. McCray (1865 – 1938)

    McCray was President of the State Fair Board in 1916.  He later served as Governor of Indiana.

Did You Know?

     On January 2, 1869, when Mark Twain stepped out on the stage of Hamilton’s Hall in Fort Wayne, he was in the early years of his career.  He had not yet authored Tom Sawyer,Huckleberry Finn, or any other of his books which have become classics.  He was not well known to most in his audience.  Perhaps that is why his “style” was not universally appreciated.  He seems to have pleased the folks in Fort Wayne.  A review in the Daily Gazette said, “It was a very amusing and interesting lecture, containing passages of great beauty and eloquence, mixed with a spice of wit which was irresistible.” Two days later, Twain appeared at the Metropolitan Theater in Indianapolis, to less enthusiastic reviews.  The IndianapolisSentinel reported that “of all the miserable speaking ever heard, Mark Twain certainly can get up the poorest” and complained of his “frequent mumbling out so that no one could understand him.”  Twain toured the world and by the time he made his last visit to Indianapolis, in 1885, he was universally loved.   He was on the program at the Pilgrim Church, and the reviewer for the Indianapolis Sentinel that time wrote, “The entertainment was unique and pleasant, and the audience was in a high state of hilarity throughout the night.”

ANSWERS:  1.  James Whitcomb Riley     2.  Rose Bowl    3.  Gary