Memory Bank: Speaking outside Wheeler Mission in 1921
Wheeler Mission was founded in 1893 under the name Door of Hope and led by William V. Wheeler, a hardware salesman who volunteered his time.
Wheeler Mission was founded in 1893 under the name Door of Hope and led by William V. Wheeler, a hardware salesman who volunteered his time.
While campaigning in Indianapolis on April 4, 1968, for the Democratic nomination for president, U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy of New York, broke the news of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
In this photo, Hoosiers came to Monument Circle for what the photo’s caption describes as an impromptu celebration.
Booth Tarkington, born in Indianapolis in 1869, became one of Indiana’s most famous authors and playwrights, enjoying both commercial and literary success.
The Boone County bank featured equipment that was modern at the time, including model screw door safes with triple-time locks and substantial vaults.
Christmas trees were first used to decorate Monument Circle in 1918, and the practice expanded after World War II.
The original Statehouse in Indianapolis was designed by architectural firm Town and Davis of New York in a Greek revival style and built in 1835 of brick and wood with a stucco exterior.
Leedy Manufacturing Co. in 1910 built a three-story building at the corner of Palmer Street and Barth Avenue, later expanding it to more than 51,000 square feet, to build drums.
The first mine in Warrick County—in the heart of Indiana’s coal country—opened on Pigeon Creek in 1818. By the end of that century, the Pigeon Creek area had some 97 active mines.
The 17-story building—the tallest building that sits directly on the Circle—is part of a National Register of Historic Places designation.
In this photo taken on Nov. 15, 1949, Vegetable Growers Association of America convention attendees tour Stokely-Van Camp’s canning facility near East and Raymond streets.
In 1872, to accommodate the growth in rail use, the city constructed a tunnel in the middle of Illinois Street so mule cars and other traffic could avoid railroad tracks that divided downtown.
Benjamin Harrison of Indianapolis ran for president in 1888, but typical of that time, he did not travel the country to campaign. Instead, supporters rolled a giant ball decorated with campaign slogans across the country,
Native Hoosier Wendell Willkie lost a fight against FDR’s Tennessee Valley Authority, which he called a monopoly, but gained the attention of Republicans, who nominated him to run for president against FDR in 1940, despite never having held public office.
The Red Cross was founded nationally in 1881, and most Indiana chapters launched in the early 1900s.
In this 1983 photo, Milton Allen helps students learn about computers during a science and engineering exhibit at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
His second studio stood at Martindale and 19th streets, where Brown focused on portrait and freelance photography. He died just months after opening it.
The flu killed 20 parishioners within three months, including the two shown in this photo of a 1918 funeral at Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
Lillian and Frank Goodwin operated Apex Taxi Co. out of offices in Rooms 201 and 202 at the Walker building.
The corner of Washington and Meridian streets has, of course, changed substantially over the years. But even in this photo, believed to have been taken in 1893, the intersection was a vibrant commercial corridor.