Freeman Briley Ransom was born in 1884 and moved to Indianapolis from Grenada, Miss., around 1910. He worked as a lawyer and the business manager for Madam C.J. Walker and her hair care company. Ransom’s son, Willard, known as Mike, was born in 1916. Freeman also served as legal counsel for several organizations and was […]
In 1974, a college graduate embarked on his career goal of teaching history to high school students in a Paterson, New Jersey, classroom. Not content to take a break from his students in the summers, John Herbst began applying for grants ranging from $75 to $500 to support student-created exhibits, brochures and walking tours. After […]
Stan Hurt is a longtime and active member of IHS. He and his wife, Sandy, donated a set of photographs of his grandfather’s Fort Wayne photo studio and then helped us create You Are There 1904: Picture This. Stan not only supported the fabrication of the exhibit, but during its two-year run, he wrote encouraging […]
One of the largest archival collections of Gene Stratton-Porter materials is available to researchers, online and in person, at the William H. Smith Memorial Library. The newly processed collection includes documents, letters and photographs that offer more details about the life of the Indiana author and naturalist. “As we celebrate our Bicentennial, we are thrilled […]
Byford Lee Reed was born in 1929 in Lamar, Ind. He attended Dale High School and received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana State University. Reed was drafted into the U.S. Army at 23. He was stationed in Korea with the 15th Field Artillery Battalion during the Korean War from 1952 to 1953. “When I first […]
New photographic technology is allowing the Indiana Historical Society to find undiscovered details hidden in historical documents. The process is called reflective transforming imaging – a simple concept with a complicated method. RTI combines multiple photographs and lighting methods of a single piece to create one blended image conservators can simultaneously view from all lighting […]
What role does Ball Brothers Foundation play in Indiana history? Ball Brothers Foundation is one of the state’s oldest and largest private family foundations. Edmund B. Ball, one of the five Ball brothers, provided the initial gift that created the foundation in 1926. Over the years, other gifts from Ball family members have added to […]
Longtime member Marianne Doyle is the Boone County historian and serves on the IHS Public Programs and Outreach Committee. For 15 years, she was first genealogy librarian and then museum director for the P.H. Sullivan Museum and Genealogy Library in Zionsville. She lives in Zionsville with her husband of 43 years, Guinn, who grew up […]
If you’ve been to an event at the History Center, you’ve likely seen Michael Thrall, a legislative assistant with the Democratic Caucus Staff at the Indiana House of Representatives. He talks to us about his life and why he is a longtime and active member of the Indiana Historical Society. What made you join IHS […]
Retired professor Cheryl Engber is a longtime IHS supporter. Born in East Chicago, she was raised on a farm near Pendleton and graduated from Anderson High School and Indiana University. She has two master’s degrees from Ball State and a Ph.D. from IU. She taught Spanish at Anderson University, English as a Second Language at […]
