Indianapolis Public Library Hilton U. Brown Branch oral history transcripts
Collection
Identifier: OH008
Scope and Contents
This collection contains transcripts of oral history interviews with residents of Irvington, once a town in Marion County, and now a neighborhood in Indianapolis, Indiana, ranging from 1978 to 1987. The interviews were conducted primarily by Lois Leamon and others for Indianapolis Public Library, Hilton U. Brown Branch's Irvington Oral History Project. The transcripts include historical information about the town-cum-neighborhood and the people who lived there.
Dates
- 1978-1987
Creator
- Indianapolis Public Library (Interviewer, Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Literary rights, including copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their legal heirs and assigns. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Rare Books and Manuscripts. The publisher must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical Note
Spencer Peter Austin was born in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma on December 15, 1909. He did his undergraduate work at Phillips University, and did his graduate work at Boston University. In June 1945, he moved his family to Irvington, IN. He served as an ordained minister of the United Christian Missionary Society. In 1957 he became the Executive of Unified Promotion. He worked with many organizations, including the Federal Council of Churches, the Committee of Church World Service and the World Council of Churches Commission on Inter-Church Aid and Refugee Services. He retired in 1974, but continued to work with the Christian Theological Seminary.
Mildred Allen was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 8, 1910. Allen taught hundreds of children in the Irvington neighborhood to play the piano. She came to Irvington as a young child. Allen conducted choral groups and the band and orchestra while a student at Arsenal Tech High School. She began playing for Irvington clubs, at revivals for her minister father, at receptions, recitals and weddings. She was one of the founders of the Irvington Music Study Club in 1941 and became its president in 1944. She died February 14, 1999 in Indianapolis.
Cathryn Boggy, daughter of Herman and Cora M. and Kuemmick, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 25, 1907. She graduated Arsenal Technical High School and attended Indiana University for a year. She received a teacher’s permit after attending Blaker’s Teachers College in Indianapolis. In the fall of 1926, she began teaching at Indianapolis School 33 where she taught for 18 years. Boggy attended summer school at Columbia University and the University of Colorado. She received a B.S. in Education and a Masters Degree in History and Philosophy from Butler University and earned an elementary and junior high school principal’s license. She came to the Anna Pearl Hamilton School 77 in Irvington in 1947 as a teacher and Principal. She married Horace (Harold) Boggy on December 21, 1949. Boggy retired from teaching in 1967 and died May 26, 1987.
Mildred Florence Campbell, daughter of Samuel G. and Lottie Behmer Campbell, was born in Logansport, Indiana on April 5, 1906. The family moved from Logansport to Greenfield, Indiana when Campbell was three years old. From there Campbell’s family moved to the Southside of Indianapolis, finally settling in the Irvington neighborhood in 1917. She graduated from Shortridge High School in 1928. Campbell earned an A. B. at Butler College and a M.A. in Biology at the University of Michigan. She did additional graduate work at the University of Illinois with an emphasis on ecology. Campbell taught at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis for two years before accepting a teaching position at Shortridge High School where she remained for forty years. She was a member of the Indiana Audubon Society and in 1947 served as the editor of their yearbook. The Indiana Audubon Society awarded Campbell the Earl Brooks Award, “for the advancement of conservation of natural resources in Indiana.” She died May 12, 1994.
George Earl Daniels, son of Rev. Elvin and Blanch (Smith) Daniels, was born in Hobbs, Indiana on July 10, 1903. In 1905, the family moved to the Irvington Neighborhood in Indianapolis. Daniels attended School #57 in Irvington, until his family moved to Kentland in 1913 and then to Monticello, Indiana. Daniels graduated from Butler College in 1924 and received a B.D. degree from Yale Divinity School in 1928. He married Doris L. Reidy of Indianapolis on January 1, 1925 He was the pastor for the First Christian Churches in Salem Indiana and in Ottumwa, Iowa. Deciding to enter into the ministry of the Episcopal Church, Daniels then attended Berkeley Divinity School in Connecticut where he earned a S.T.B. degree. He served in six Episcopal churches, until retiring in 1968. In July of 1977, Daniels and his wife returned to Indianapolis where he occasionally preached at Christ Church Cathedral and served part time at St. Richard’s School. He wrote Memories of a Hoosier Preacher: the Joyful Record of 58 Years Spent in the Christian Ministry. Daniels died on January 26, 2000.
Berniece Hall Glass was born in Kendallville, Indiana, May 6, 1893 and her sister, Marjorie Hall Montgomery was born in Ligonier, Pennsylvania July 11, 1894. Only fourteen months apart, the sisters were in the same grade at school. In 1908, they graduated from Indianapolis School #57, from Shortridge High School in 1911, and from Butler College in 1915. Their father, Robert Hall, was the Assistant Principal at Manual Training High School. Berniece Glass spent one year at Illinois University. In January of 1917, Berniece married Francis Elbert Glass, and the couple had two children. In March 1918, Marjorie married Walter Montgomery. The families lived in Irvington, Indiana, where Butler College, was the center of the community. In 1963, Marjorie’s husband, Walter, died and in 1970, Berniece’s husband, Francis, died. In 1978 at the time of the interview, both sisters were about to leave Irvington for a retirement home in Zionsville, Indiana. Both Bernice Glass and Marjorie Montgomery died in December 1994.
Ann Louise Hall was born in Irvington, Indiana, on April 7, 1907, the daughter of Charles and Caroline Hall. Her father, a railway mail clerk, died in 1916, after which Hall and her family lived with her grandparents. Hall attended School 57 in Irvington, Shortridge High School, and Butler University. She graduated from Butler in 1930 with a degree in journalism. In 1935, Hall purchased The Irvington Review and became the managing editor. She owned and edited that newspaper until 1942, at which time she joined the Women’s Army Corps. After returning to civilian life in 1945, Hall worked as a magazine editor for much of the rest of her life. Ann Hall died in January 1987 in Indianapolis.
Mildred Allen was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 8, 1910. Allen taught hundreds of children in the Irvington neighborhood to play the piano. She came to Irvington as a young child. Allen conducted choral groups and the band and orchestra while a student at Arsenal Tech High School. She began playing for Irvington clubs, at revivals for her minister father, at receptions, recitals and weddings. She was one of the founders of the Irvington Music Study Club in 1941 and became its president in 1944. She died February 14, 1999 in Indianapolis.
Cathryn Boggy, daughter of Herman and Cora M. and Kuemmick, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 25, 1907. She graduated Arsenal Technical High School and attended Indiana University for a year. She received a teacher’s permit after attending Blaker’s Teachers College in Indianapolis. In the fall of 1926, she began teaching at Indianapolis School 33 where she taught for 18 years. Boggy attended summer school at Columbia University and the University of Colorado. She received a B.S. in Education and a Masters Degree in History and Philosophy from Butler University and earned an elementary and junior high school principal’s license. She came to the Anna Pearl Hamilton School 77 in Irvington in 1947 as a teacher and Principal. She married Horace (Harold) Boggy on December 21, 1949. Boggy retired from teaching in 1967 and died May 26, 1987.
Mildred Florence Campbell, daughter of Samuel G. and Lottie Behmer Campbell, was born in Logansport, Indiana on April 5, 1906. The family moved from Logansport to Greenfield, Indiana when Campbell was three years old. From there Campbell’s family moved to the Southside of Indianapolis, finally settling in the Irvington neighborhood in 1917. She graduated from Shortridge High School in 1928. Campbell earned an A. B. at Butler College and a M.A. in Biology at the University of Michigan. She did additional graduate work at the University of Illinois with an emphasis on ecology. Campbell taught at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis for two years before accepting a teaching position at Shortridge High School where she remained for forty years. She was a member of the Indiana Audubon Society and in 1947 served as the editor of their yearbook. The Indiana Audubon Society awarded Campbell the Earl Brooks Award, “for the advancement of conservation of natural resources in Indiana.” She died May 12, 1994.
George Earl Daniels, son of Rev. Elvin and Blanch (Smith) Daniels, was born in Hobbs, Indiana on July 10, 1903. In 1905, the family moved to the Irvington Neighborhood in Indianapolis. Daniels attended School #57 in Irvington, until his family moved to Kentland in 1913 and then to Monticello, Indiana. Daniels graduated from Butler College in 1924 and received a B.D. degree from Yale Divinity School in 1928. He married Doris L. Reidy of Indianapolis on January 1, 1925 He was the pastor for the First Christian Churches in Salem Indiana and in Ottumwa, Iowa. Deciding to enter into the ministry of the Episcopal Church, Daniels then attended Berkeley Divinity School in Connecticut where he earned a S.T.B. degree. He served in six Episcopal churches, until retiring in 1968. In July of 1977, Daniels and his wife returned to Indianapolis where he occasionally preached at Christ Church Cathedral and served part time at St. Richard’s School. He wrote Memories of a Hoosier Preacher: the Joyful Record of 58 Years Spent in the Christian Ministry. Daniels died on January 26, 2000.
Berniece Hall Glass was born in Kendallville, Indiana, May 6, 1893 and her sister, Marjorie Hall Montgomery was born in Ligonier, Pennsylvania July 11, 1894. Only fourteen months apart, the sisters were in the same grade at school. In 1908, they graduated from Indianapolis School #57, from Shortridge High School in 1911, and from Butler College in 1915. Their father, Robert Hall, was the Assistant Principal at Manual Training High School. Berniece Glass spent one year at Illinois University. In January of 1917, Berniece married Francis Elbert Glass, and the couple had two children. In March 1918, Marjorie married Walter Montgomery. The families lived in Irvington, Indiana, where Butler College, was the center of the community. In 1963, Marjorie’s husband, Walter, died and in 1970, Berniece’s husband, Francis, died. In 1978 at the time of the interview, both sisters were about to leave Irvington for a retirement home in Zionsville, Indiana. Both Bernice Glass and Marjorie Montgomery died in December 1994.
Ann Louise Hall was born in Irvington, Indiana, on April 7, 1907, the daughter of Charles and Caroline Hall. Her father, a railway mail clerk, died in 1916, after which Hall and her family lived with her grandparents. Hall attended School 57 in Irvington, Shortridge High School, and Butler University. She graduated from Butler in 1930 with a degree in journalism. In 1935, Hall purchased The Irvington Review and became the managing editor. She owned and edited that newspaper until 1942, at which time she joined the Women’s Army Corps. After returning to civilian life in 1945, Hall worked as a magazine editor for much of the rest of her life. Ann Hall died in January 1987 in Indianapolis.
Extent
0.01 Cubic Feet (31 transcripts)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection is arranged alphabetically by interviewee.
Custodial History
This collection was created by the Indianapolis Public Library, Hilton U. Brown Branch for their Irvington Oral Hitsory Project during 1978-1987.
Accruals
No further additions are expected.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 2005/04 by Jennifer Duplaga. EAD finding aid created 2015/07/28 by Brent Abercrombie. Collection reprocessing completed 2020/03/03 by Brittany Kropf. EAD finding aid revised 2020/03/03 by Brittany Kropf.
- Allen, Mildred
- Art
- Artists
- Artists -- Indiana
- Austin, Spencer P.
- Blacks -- Segregation
- Boggy, Cathryn Kuemmick, 1907-1987
- Business enterprises
- Business enterprises -- Indiana
- Business enterprises -- Indiana -- Indianapolis
- Butler University
- Campbell, Mildred Florence, 1906-1994
- Church history
- Church history -- Indiana
- Crewes, Marie
- Daniels, George Earl, 1903-2000 (Interviewee)
- Dimke, Gertrude
- Dirks, Edward
- Dirks, Edward
- Education
- Evans, Errol
- Family history
- Family life
- Frick, Helen McCaffrey
- Gill, Urith Dailey
- Gise, Emma Ambrose
- Glass, Bernice Hall
- Hall, Ann Louise, 1907-1987
- Hermann, Louise Kost
- Indianapolis (Ind.)
- Indianapolis (Ind.) -- Church history
- Indianapolis Public Library
- Indianapolis Public Schools
- Irvington (Indianapolis, Ind.)
- Johnston, Irene
- Kaeser, William F.
- Kelley, Samuel
- Ku Klux Klan (1915-)
- Lawton, Frank
- Lawyers
- Lawyers -- Indiana
- Librarians
- Milliser, Jay
- Milliser, Margaret
- Missions
- Montgomery, Marjorie Hall
- Murphy, Thelma
- Music
- Oberholtzer, Madge, 1896-1925
- Oral history interviews
- Orten, Richard Scott
- Perkins, Rodney C., 1905-1984
- Public libraries
- Race discrimination
- Ramier, Mary Elizabeth Hangar
- Robertson, Mary J.
- Schools
- Shirley, W. Kenneth
- Shirley, W. Kenneth
- Social work -- United States
- Societies and clubs
- Stephenson, David Curtis (1891-1966)
- Stirling, Thomas
- Teachers
- Transcriptions
- Universities and colleges
- Vaudeville
- Wagoner, Jean Brown
- Weber, Marion
- Wiegman, Helen Brown
- Woman's Christian Temperance Union
Creator
- Indianapolis Public Library (Interviewer, Organization)
- Allen, Mildred (Interviewee, Person)
- Austin, Spencer P. (Interviewee, Person)
- Boggy, Cathryn Kuemmick, 1907-1987 (Interviewee, Person)
- Campbell, Mildred Florence, 1906-1994 (Interviewee, Person)
- Crewes, Marie (Interviewee, Person)
- Daniels, George Earl, 1903-2000 (Interviewee, Person)
- Dimke, Gertrude (Interviewee, Person)
- Evans, Errol (Interviewee, Person)
- Frick, Helen McCaffrey (Interviewee, Person)
- Gill, Urith Dailey (Interviewee, Person)
- Gise, Emma Ambrose (Interviewee, Person)
- Glass, Bernice Hall (Interviewee, Person)
- Hall, Ann Louise, 1907-1987 (Interviewee, Person)
- Hermann, Louise Kost (Interviewee, Person)
- Hawkins, Patricia A. (Interviewee, Person)
- Kaeser, William F. (Interviewee, Person)
- Kelley, Samuel (Interviewee, Person)
- Lawton, Frank (Interviewee, Person)
- Milliser, Jay (Interviewee, Person)
- Milliser, Margaret (Interviewee, Person)
- Montgomery, Marjorie Hall (Interviewee, Person)
- Murphy, Thelma (Interviewee, Person)
- Orten, Richard Scott (Interviewee, Person)
- Perkins, Rodney C., 1905-1984 (Interviewee, Person)
- Ramier, Mary Elizabeth Hangar (Interviewee, Person)
- Robertson, Mary J. (Interviewee, Person)
- Stirling, Thomas (Interviewee, Person)
- Wagoner, Jean Brown (Interviewee, Person)
- Weber, Marion (Interviewee, Person)
- Wiegman, Helen Brown (Interviewee, Person)
- Banta, Ray (Interviewer, Person)
- Brooks, June (Interviewer, Person)
- Dilley, Rosemary (Interviewer, Person)
- Downey, Ilda (Interviewer, Person)
- Fife, Mac (Interviewer, Person)
- Hawkins, Patricia A. (Interviewer, Person)
- Ilg, Theresa (Interviewer, Person)
- Leamon, Lois (Interviewer, Person)
- Paul, Janice (Interviewer, Person)
- Johnston, Irene (Interviewee, Person)
- Spiegel, Mary Veronica (Interviewer, Person)
- Wiegman, Helen Brown (Interviewer, Person)
- Title
- Indianapolis Public Library Hilton U. Brown Branch oral history transcripts
- Status
- In Process
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Repository
Contact:
140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 U.S.A.
317-232-3671
140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 U.S.A.
317-232-3671
