Indiana highway scandals collection
Collection
Identifier: L326
Scope and Contents
This collection contains clippings from newspapers around the state of Indiana regarding a series of scandals that occurred during the highway building program that was started after the passage of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The articles range from September 26, 1957 to June 10, 1958 and relate information about improper land buying, bribery, and fraud and cover the criminal trials of those implicated in the scandals.
Dates
- 1957-1958
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Legal title, copyright, and literary rights 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.
Historical Note
On June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act. The law, popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, established a national interstate highway system and authorized $25 billion dollars to be used from 1957 to 1969 to expand the interstate system to 41,000 miles. The new law authorized federal aid funds to be used for the acquisition of right-of-ways.
On April 11, 1957, The Indianapolis Times exposed fraudulent practices taking place during the construction of new highways in Indiana. The initial reports were about questionable land buying deals in Indianapolis, Evansville, Gary, Richmond, and South Bend. Then bribery and other fraudulent deals were brought to light. After investigations by several state agencies and grand jury proceedings, indictments were handed down and multiple court trials occurred. The men put on trial included State Highway Commission Chairman, Virgil W. Smith; Highway Right-of-Way head, Nile Teverbaugh; Teverbaugh's assistant, Harry Doggett; Milan lawyer and friend of Smith, Robert A. Peak; Governor Craig's administrative assistant,William E. Sayer; Craig advisor, Elmer W. Sherwood; "Glo" salesman, Arthur Mogilner; house mover, Marvin L. Preble; and Carpenter Union officers, Maurice A. Hutcheson, O. William Blaier, and Frank M. Chapman.
Sources:
Information found within collection.
"National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956)." U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed September 30, 2016. https://www.ourdocuments.gov.
Weingroff, Richard F. "Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Creating the Interstate System." Public Roads. Accessed September 30, 2016. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/96summer/p96su10.cfm.
On April 11, 1957, The Indianapolis Times exposed fraudulent practices taking place during the construction of new highways in Indiana. The initial reports were about questionable land buying deals in Indianapolis, Evansville, Gary, Richmond, and South Bend. Then bribery and other fraudulent deals were brought to light. After investigations by several state agencies and grand jury proceedings, indictments were handed down and multiple court trials occurred. The men put on trial included State Highway Commission Chairman, Virgil W. Smith; Highway Right-of-Way head, Nile Teverbaugh; Teverbaugh's assistant, Harry Doggett; Milan lawyer and friend of Smith, Robert A. Peak; Governor Craig's administrative assistant,William E. Sayer; Craig advisor, Elmer W. Sherwood; "Glo" salesman, Arthur Mogilner; house mover, Marvin L. Preble; and Carpenter Union officers, Maurice A. Hutcheson, O. William Blaier, and Frank M. Chapman.
Sources:
Information found within collection.
"National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956)." U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed September 30, 2016. https://www.ourdocuments.gov.
Weingroff, Richard F. "Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Creating the Interstate System." Public Roads. Accessed September 30, 2016. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/96summer/p96su10.cfm.
Extent
0.6 Cubic Feet (2 manuscript boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection is arranged chronologically.
Custodial History
This collection was received by Rare Books and Manuscripts as a donation.
Accruals
No further additions are expected.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 2016/10/03 by Laura Eliason. EAD finding aid created 2016/10/03 by Laura Eliason.
- Title
- Indiana highway scandals collection
- Status
- Completed
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
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
