IHS newsletter 2012... - Irvington Historical Society

The Irvington Historical Society Newsletter
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 8
AUGUST 2012
Message from the President
Last week as I was trolling the internet looking
for some interesting items to include in this
month’s newsletter, I discovered that this
month—August 2012—we in Irvington celebrate
an anniversary of an anniversary. It was 100
years ago—August 1912—that Irvington officially
celebrated its 40th anniversary.
Now for those of you who are up on your Irvington history, you will notice a slight incongruence
about this date. It is a well-known fact that Irvington was “founded” (originally platted and
recorded) by Sylvester Johnson and Jacob Julian
in 1870. This would lead one to believe that a
fortieth anniversary would and should have been
celebrated in 1910. If so, why the celebration in
1912?
Perhaps they were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the incorporation of the community (My
hometown of Jasper, even though it was settled
and named by 1830, celebrated its centennial in
1966, the 100th anniversary of its incorporation
as a town), or maybe Irvingtonians were indeed
celebrating the founding of the community but
just missed it by a couple of years (The purpose
of the famous Columbian Exposition held in
Chicago in 1893 was to celebrate the 400th
anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the New World in 1492. So who cares
that they missed it by a year; at least they made
the effort!).
Irvington’s 40th anniversary generated a lot of
interest. Activities occurred over several days,
and a nice historical publication was printed.
The Irvington Historical Society celebrates another anniversary this year—the tenth anniversary of our dedication of the Bona Thompson
Memorial Center. More on that anniversary will
be forthcoming in a future issue of this newsletter.
Until then…
Happy Anniversary!
Don Flick,
IHS President
IHS Ice Cream Social and IGA Yart Sale
On Sunday, August 5, from 2-5pm, the Irvington Historical
Society will hold its 42nd annual Ice Cream Social at the
Bona Thompson Memorial Center .
Inside this issue:
There will be many
activities to enjoy
that day:
IHS Ice Cream Social
and IGA Yart Sale
1
Irvington’s 40th Anniversary and Homecoming Celebration, 1912
2
1912 Irvington Homecoming: Brown-Hecker
Publication
3
Butler College—
Irvington Campus
Model
4
The Irvington Guild
of Artists will be
having a “Yart” Sale.
Peruse the art,
books, frames, art
supplies, and other
interesting things
that will be for sale
as a fundraiser for
the IGA to continue bringing a variety of art-related events
to the neighborhood.
Happenings
5
The IGA will host the closing reception for the Collectors'
Show that is currently on exhibit at the Bona Thompson
Center.
The Irvington Garden
Club will host a reception
for the artists who participated in this year's Garden Tour. View the artworks created in the gardens of our neighbors.
There will also be music
by the White River Jazz
Band......and of course,
ice cream and cake!
Page 2
Irvington’s 40th Anniversary and Homecoming Celebration, August 1912
Submitted by Don Flick
Irvington celebrated its 40th Anniversary with a
“Home Coming” in late August 1912. The festivities
opened with a reception at the home of Charles and
Grace (Julian) Clarke at 115 S. Audubon Road on Tuesday, August 27. In attendance were many former Irvington residents, and the featured guest was 81-year
old Sam Smith, who served as Irvington’s only marshal
when it was an independent town. A concert was given on the Clarkes’ lawn by the Indianapolis Military
Band.
Other prominent guests included H.N. Goe, one of
Irvington’sf first grocers, and W.H.H. Shank, who had
lived in the the area for 66 years, well before Irvington
was founded. Notably absent from the festivities was
Irvington co-founder Sylvester Johnson, who sat on his
porch across the street from the Clarke home, guarding his grape arbors, which consistently produced
prize-winning fruit at the State Fair.
The celebration continued the following day, Wednesday, August 28, with meetings and speeches. A pro-
gram was held at the Downey Avenue Christian Church
Wednesday evening. A variety of musical selections
was accompanied by speeches, including one by the
oldest living graduate of Butler College.
A similar program of speeches and musical numbers
was then held on Thursday evening at the Irvington
Methodist Church. The main entertainment was a talk
by James Kingsbury who related humorous anecdotes
of life in early Irvington, including stories of the
“prairie cows” (free-roaming cows owned by early residents)
To coincide with the Irvington homecoming Butler had
its annual homecoming on Friday of that week, with
many alumni in attendance.
The celebration concluded Saturday afternoon with the
annual Pioneers vs. Veterans baseball game, pitting
longtime Irvington residents against local Civil War
veterans, and an accompanying picnic and fireworks
display, all held at Irwin Field on the Butler College
grounds.
Ω
40th Anniversary
articles from
Indianapolis Star:
Far left:
August 27, 1912
Above:
August 28, 1912
Left:
August 30, 1912
Page 3
1912 Irvington Homecoming: Brown-Hecker Publication
Submitted by Don Flick
As part of Irvington’s 40th anniversary celebration held in late August 1912, a special
publication was produced entitled Irvington,
Indianapolis: Fortieth Anniversary and Home
Coming. The text was written by Hilton U.
Brown, Irvington resident and officer of the
Indianapolis News, and the booklet was published and distributed by Irvington printer
Edward Hecker.
The sketch written by Brown includes a
brief history of Irvington and anecdotes of
some prominent Irvingtonians. It also features many historic photographs of the community. To view the full booklet, visit the
Irvington Historical Society website at
www.irvingtonhistorical.org.
Ω
Pages from Irvington, Indianapolis:
Fortieth Anniversary
and Home Coming,
written by Hilton
U. Brown and
printed by Edward
Hecker, 1912
Top left:
Portion of cover.
Middle left:
Title page.
Top right:
Pages 2-3.
Middle right:
Pages 4-5.
Lower right:
Pages 30-31.
Page 4
Butler College—Irvington Campus Model
The Irvington Historical Society recently received a
fabulous donation from Butler University—a model
of the Butler College campus in Irvington, circa 1914.
The model was created in 1963 by Robert C. Hollingsworth and was a gift to Butler from James Layman Schell, a 1922 graduate of Butler, and his wife
Katharine, a 1924 graduate. The model is a detailed
scale representation of the campus and includes the
Administration Building, Burgess Hall, Women’s Dormitory, Gymnasium, Observatory, Engine House,
football field, tennis court, baseball diamond, and Phi
Delta Theta Summer House.
Up until recently the model was displayed in the library of the current Butler University campus, but
now it fittingly anchors the vestibule of the former
library of the old Irvington campus—our Bona
Thompson Memorial Center.
The Irvington Historical Society wishes to extend its
heartfelt appreciation to Butler for this wonderful
gift.
Ω
Page 5
IHS Happenings
IHS Membership
Calendar
Immediate Benefits for
New Members:
•
Sunday, August 5: Irvington Historical Society Ice Cream Social, Bona
Thompson Memorial Center; 2:00—5:00pm.
•
Permanent Exhibits & Attractions at BTMC
•
•
•
•
•
•
International Harvester Memorabilia
Eastside Fire Museum
Irvington Garden Club Conservatory
IHS Bookstore and Gift Shop (new and vintage items)
“Influence of the Railroad on the Development of Irvington” including
scale model of Pennsylvania Railroad and the original Irvington commercial district
“The Civil War and its Influence on Irvington” featuring exhibits on
Camp McClellan, historic lithographs of notable battles, etc.
Recent Donations:
•
Annual Member Benefits:
•
Scale model of Butler College's Irvington Campus , donated
by Butler University.
•
Soldier at Tippecanoe, watercolor by Roger Frey, donated
by Indiana State Museum.
•
•
•
First Postmaster of Lafayette,
watercolor by Roger Frey, donated by Indiana State Museum.
•
Ritual Fire Dance, oil by
Dorothy Morlan, donated by
Indiana State Museum.
•
Discounts from Irvington Merchants: All members, new and
renewed, will receive a card for
discounts at the following merchants: Annie’s Apparel, Bona
Thompson Conservatory, Bookmamas, Black Sheep Gifts,
George Thomas Florist, Lazy
Daze Coffee House, and WeePlay.
Gift : All new members may pick
-up a gift on their first visit to the
Bona Thompson Memorial Center.
•
Special invitation for all events at
the Bona Thompson Memorial
Center.
Newsletter
10% discount on Irvington Historical Society items at the Bona
Thompson Memorial Society Gift
Shop.
Holiday gift.
To Join:
•
Please complete the following application and mail it along with your
annual membership dues for $25.00
to:
Female Figure, chalk & charcoal by Roger Frey, donated by
Barbara Frey Wyle.
Irvington Historical Society
5350 East University Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46219-7009
Self Portrait, oil by Roger
Frey, donated by Barbara Frey
Wyle.
•
Horse Study, graphite by
Roger Frey, donated by Barbara
Frey Wyle.
•
•
Roger Frey's wooden AncoBilt easel, donated by Barbara
Frey Wyle.
•
E Roger Frey 1948-73 Appreciation Plaque, Board of
Church Extension, donated by
Barbara Frey Wyle.
•
International Harvester 30Year Pin presented to Harry Bryan Grotegut, donated by Ann
Shaver.
•
1893 Irvington Church of
Christ Yearbook belonging to
Homer Blount, donated by Tipton
County (IN) Historical Society.
•
Name ______________________
Address ______________________
______________________
Phone ______________________
Email ______________________
For more information about the
Irvington Historical Society, visit