Blog post by Randi Richardson In the spring of 2019 a Bloomington resident who wished to remain anonymous donated five, small photos showing a large number of Ku Klux Klan members attending a burial ceremony. The photos had no identifying information and the donor didn’t even know how s/he came to have the photos in
Blog post by Randi Richardson According to the Seymour (IN) Weekly Democrat of September 22, 1881, as of 1882 undertakers and physicians were required by law to make weekly reports to the city clerk of deaths or burials within city limits or places under the control of the city. The report was to include the
Blog post by Randi Richardson The flood of March 1913 is without parallel in the history of Indiana. It occurred between March 23 and March 26 in the central and eastern part of the United State following several days of record-breaking rain onto already heavily saturated ground. On Tuesday, March 25, the Bloomington Daily Telephone provided a lengthy description
Blog post by Randi Richardson Johanna Bourke heard it without really listening. The whistle of a train on the Monon tracks near her home in Benton Township. Her husband, Mathias, worked on the railroad and frequently traveled on that particular train. Each time she heard the whistle it was a comfort to her as though
Blog post by Wayne Hastings Just a few weeks ago, I was responsible for accessioning a small group of donations given to us by Shirley Bowman. Bowman, a 1961 Elletsville graduate, offered the Center a wonderful assortment of high school memorabilia which included two pairs of beautifully hand-designed ‘senior cords’ owned by both Shirley and
Blog post by Randi Richardson In 1898, Cuba was under the rule of the Spanish empire but had struggled a number of years for independence. When the U. S. learned that Spain was abusing and killing Cubans, they sent warships to Cuba’s aid. One of those warships, the USS Maine, mysteriously exploded on the evening
Blog post by Randi Richardson In 1881 an unnamed reporter for the Bloomington Hawkeye shared with the newspaper’s readers his recent experience in downtown Bloomington. He said he met a fashionably dressed young woman, perhaps 24 or 25 years of age, on the north side of the downtown square. She said she had just come from Indianapolis
Blog post by Randi Richardson There is no one yet living that can recall firsthand memories of Bloomington in 1860. And, unfortunately, newspapers aren’t of much help because Bloomington newspapers during that time mostly don’t exist. We might, however, glimpse one small window into the past with the publication of a column titled “Fifty Years
Blog post by Hilary Fleck The women of Indiana began the year 1917 with high hopes and optimism – it looked as though their years of hard work lobbying the State legislature would come to fruition with the passage of the Maston-McKinley partial suffrage bill (SB 77) in February, which would allow women to vote
Blog post by Randi Richardson Many Monroe County genealogists are quite familiar with the INMONROE Rootsweb mailing list. The list became active in 1980 and was a place where members could share tidbits and trivia about Monroe County. In 2000, it was a list in need of an administrator. At that time I took responsibility