August Celebration Days: VEEPs and Eats

August 20, 2025

In August, we observe many obscure days. Some of my favorites have to do with pets, especially dogs, but as I have tackled at least one of those previously, I decided to look at a couple of the other days included for the month. This led me to National VEEP Day, celebrating the line of succession and the vice presidency, as well as National Chop Suey Day, highlighting the classic Americanized Chinese dish.

Schuyler Colfax, Vice President, 1869-1873, 1868; IHS, P0406

Indiana claims six different men who have served as vice president of the United States. Although only three of them were born in the state, the other three had extensive connections to Indiana. The first Hoosier to serve as Vice President was Schuyler Colfax. Colfax was born in New York but moved to northern Indiana as a pre-teen. After a career as a newspaperman and politician, he was elected with President Ulysses Grant in 1868, but Colfax did not seek reelection to the vice presidency for Grant’s second term.

Thomas Hendricks, Vice President, 1885 (served 8 months, died in office), T.C. Steele Painting, ca. 1907; IHS, 1939.0504 (cropped)

Born in Ohio, Thomas A. Hendricks moved to Indiana with his family during his first year of life. He served as an Indiana based politician serving at the state and federal levels prior to the presidential election in 1885. Unfortunately, Hendricks died just 8 months into the term. His place as Grover Cleveland’s Vice President was left vacant for the remainder of that president’s first term. Cleveland lost the subsequent election but was re-elected in 1893.

Charles W. Fairbanks, Vice President, 1905-1909, image ca. 1890; IHS, M0100

Charles Warren Fairbanks was born in Ohio, spending his youth and early adulthood (through college) there. After spending a couple of years working for the Associated Press* while studying law, he passed the Bar, got married, and moved to Indianapolis all around the same time. Fairbanks didn’t enter the political arena until 1888 while working for Walter Q. Gresham’s campaign. His first run for office, for U. S. Senator in 1893, failed to achieve success. He was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1897 and then again in 1903, but opted to resigned from the second term to take on the challenge as Vice President under Theodore Roosevelt from 1905-1909.

*Fun Fact: Fairbanks was the nephew of William Henry Smith, who was affiliated with the Associated Press and for whom the IHS library is named.

Thomas R. Marshall, Vice President, 1913-1921, image ca. 1915; Bass Photo Co Collection, IHS

Thomas R. Marshall was the first Hoosier-born U.S. Vice President, having started his life in North Manchester, Wabash County. Due to his mother’s health struggles, his physician father moved the family around seeking a better climate to aid his wife’s physical health, spending time in Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, and perhaps elsewhere, before settling back in Indiana. Marshall served as Governor of the state before his election to serve as Woodrow Wilson’s Vice President from 1913-1921.

J. Danforth Quayle, Vice President, 1989-1993, shown here with his Congressional Senior Citizen intern, Harriet M. Thompson, image 1984; Indianapolis Recorder Collection, IHS

Several decades passed before a Hoosier once again saw the office of the vice presidency. J. Danforth Quayle, born in Huntington, Huntington County. Quayle served with President George H. W. Bush from 1989-1993. Before that, he held political positions at the federal level for his home state from 1977-1989 in the House of Representatives and then the Senate.

Michael ‘Mike’ Pence, Vice President, 2017-2021, shown here speaking at the dedication of the 9/11 memorial in Indianapolis, image date 2011; IHS, DG0002

The most recent Hoosier to serve as Vice President was Columbus, Bartholomew County, born Mike Pence. Pence worked as an attorney before entering the political arena. After some failed campaigns, he was successfully elected to the US House of Representatives for which he served until 2011 after which he ran for and was elected governor of Indiana. Though initially planning to seek a second gubernatorial term, he stepped down from that election to run (and win) as Donald J. Trump’s vice presidential nominee, serving during Trump’s first of two non-consecutive terms, from 2017-2021.

August is about more than the line of presidential succession, though. I happily present to you an additional day celebrated in the month of August: National Chop Suey Day!

State and Hohman Streets, Hammond, Lake County, ca. 1906, edited to include enlarged inset showing Chung Kee Lo Chop Suey Restaurant; Excerpts from Oriental Recipes, 1946, published by the Oriental Show-You Company of Columbia City, Whitley County; IHS, P0391 (altered), IHS (excerpted)

As noted in the National Day Calendar entry, the origins of chop suey are less than clear (much like the origin of the nickname Hoosier). Some say it was a dish created to mimic Chinese cuisine but set for western palettes. Others note that there may have been a dish in a region of China that had a similar name which was made up primarily of scrap or leftover ingredients. Either way, I find my family’s chop suey delicious, despite its very Americanized look. An image of our family’s version can be found at the top of this post courtesy of my sister who made the dish this month and shared the image with me. Included above are some of the Oriental Show-You Company’s recipe options for chop-suey as printed in their 1946 cookbook.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about Indiana’s Vice Presidents as well as the delicious options for chop suey. Don’t forget to check out more great blog content on our blogsite!

Amy Vedra is the director of reference services. As an avid reader, she reads as many books as possible annually (all books count: audio, e, and print)!

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