Posted in: Indianapolis Collected Indianapolis Collected: Tribute to a “Hero in Overalls”

Classes were dismissed early on the afternoon of April 12, 1907, so that students and teachers at Shortridge High School could attend a funeral in the school’s auditorium, Caleb Mills Hall. The deceased individual was an...

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Posted in: Penny Post Penny Post: Shortridge High School

Thumbing through stacks of postcards, on the hunt for pictures and stories from a particular town … in a particular time frame, I’ve discovered that it’s inevitable to find duplicates. Imagine the postcard rack in...

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Posted in: Sunday Prayers Sunday Prayers: the Shortridge-Voss house (1301 Broadway)

“A country whose buildings are of wood can never increase in its improvements to any considerable degree.” Thus spoke Thomas Jefferson. The quote, part of a discussion on the durability of architecture, appeared in Jefferson’s...

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Posted in: Indianapolis Collected Indianapolis Collected: The Shortridge Vision

The newly elected superintendent of the Indianapolis Public Schools had a rough first week on the job.  A disastrous court decision a few years earlier had depleted the district’s fragile finances. The high school had...

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Posted in: Indianapolis Collected Indianapolis Collected: A Valentine to Fletcher Wagner

Fletcher Wagner was a promising young man with a brilliant future.  By the time he turned 22, he’d launched the first daily high school newspaper in the country, won numerous awards in speech and debate,...

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Posted in: Building Language Building Language: Ornament

Ornament. I’ve realized I’ve thrown this architectural term around with some frequency without really analyzing what it means to the historic architecture of Indianapolis. Ornament is a broad term that applies to architectural detail that...

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Posted in: Ladies Lounge Ladies Lounge: Girls played hockey in 1932 Indianapolis?

With the excitement of the current Olympics, and all the inspiring USA and worldwide competitors, it’s hard to escape thoughts of sport this week. As barriers are broken: record-breaking times, ages–old or young, and the...

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Posted in: A Room with a View Room With a View: Shortridge High School from Indiana Blood Center

What a great view visitors to the Indiana Blood Center have of Shortridge High School! After a close friend’s life was saved by donated blood recently, I wanted to join the “Raise Your Sleeve” cause,...

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Posted in: Historic Miscellania Deep rooted history in Mapleton-Fall Creek

Usually, I gravitate towards the neighborhoods nearest to the Mile Square–the older, the better for this gal; and I assumed all of the longest inhabited areas in the city are only centered around that original...

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