Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10,25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
1999
• The Terre Haute Torpedoes U.S. Swim Team competed at the IUPUI Natatorium placing eighth of 19 teams from all over the nation. Brian Heaton and Donnie Bush were the coaches.
n Holly Klotz, West Vigo High School graduate who was instrumental in the success of West Vigo’s Community of Caring project, received a Daily Point of Light Award.
n The Wayne Newton Post 346 American Legion baseball team was undefeated in the Princeton Invitational winning the championship game over Vincennes.
n The Bemis Company Foundation awarded a $7,095 grant to Gibault School for Boys to use for staff training by Boys Town personnel from Omaha, Nebr.
n Don Brazzell and Joan Keegan were named King of Cowboys and Frontier Girl in the Wabash Valley Horseman’s Association annual Frontier Day Parade. John Hendrix and Tara McMillan were the junior royalty.
n After four years in Terre Haute, American International Freight was moving its cargo operation to Fort Wayne affecting 300 mostly part-time workers. It was the fourth air cargo operation to have come and gone from Terre Haute in the past 12 years.
1984
n Martin’s Snap Shop, one of the original stores in The Meadows, was closing. Stewart and Charlotte Martin had opened the business 28 years before, had sold it in 1979, and returned in 1982 to operate it once again.
n Robert Beall succeeded Jack Gelder, vice-president and general manager of WTWO-TV who retired.
n George Loesch and Mike Hambrock won the men’s division and Janet Mace and Diane Jackson the women’s competition at the Terre Haute Tennis Club Doubles Tourney at Rea Park.
n The Carmelite nuns of Terre Haute invited the public to join them on “A Journey of Faith” involving nine days of prayer in the Chapel of Carmel, Allendale.
n Girl Scout Camp Na-Wa-Kwa in southeastern Clay County celebrated its 30th anniversary. The facility had been dedicated on July 6, 1954, and opened to the first 120 campers from the Terre Haute Covered Bridge Girl Scout Council.
n Co-owner Bill Elliott announced Ross Elliott Jewelers, 622 Wabash Ave., was opening a branch in Honey Creek Square. Lee Black was to be the manager.
1959
n Root’s store announced plans to erase “the old fashioned Victorian fussiness” of the three Wabash Avenue buildings it occupied with a striking new facade. The improvement was said “to contribute greatly to the enhancement of the downtown shopping district.”
n South Lake Beach, 11/2 miles southwest of West Terre Haute, advertised motor boating, water skiing and swimming. Admission was 35 cents for adults and 15 cents for children.
n Key Auto Sales, 1800 Wabash Ave., re-opened as a Plymouth and DeSoto dealership with Thomas P. O’Daniel as general manager.
n Joe S. Francis and William Johnston headed the three-day sixth annual Free Fair staged by the Prairieton Firemen and Fire Department Auxiliary to raise funds for the installation of a water supply needed to fill tank trucks.
n Mrs. Louis Theide, Mrs. Margaret Barnes, Mrs. Alex Irving and Mrs. P. N. Sturtevant were the new officers of the Vigo County Republican Women’s Club installed at the Throckmartin Restaurant.
n John T. Royse, Merchants National Bank president, announced plans for a southside branch at 2004 S. Third St.
History
LOOKING BACK: 1984: Carmelite nuns of Terre Haute invite public on ‘A Journey of Faith’
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GENEALOGY: Columnist seeks info on families from Dana
Perhaps someone out there can help me with something I’ve been working on for quite a few years
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Early Terre Haute theater includes Billy Emerson
Traveling theater troupes performed in Terre Haute before the village was incorporated on Jan. 26, 1832.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Radiant heating — a hot idea
This week’s Historical Treasure is a bit out of season, but a wood stove will help drive away the morning chill and you can make breakfast on it.
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: Record-breaking temps hit Vigo
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSON: Emperor Constantine changes the world
The Emperor Constantine, the first Christian ruler of the Roman Empire and the man who ended that empire’s persecution of Christianity, died this week (May 22) in 337 AD, having lived a life that would change the world.
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GENEALOGY: Library archives contain tons of information
Inside the archives room of the Vigo County Public Library, row after row of fragile documents, rare out-of-print books, and historic photographs are kept on shelves in a humidity and temperature-controlled room.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Historic efforts to open Center Street from Cherry to Swan
Efforts to open Center Street, from Cherry to Swan, spanned a half century or more.
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LOOKING BACK: 2002 — Valley drenched in wettest spring in 107 years
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star. -
HISTORICAL TREASURE: Some history wreathed in hair
From the unfortunate occurrence of Prince Albert’s death in 1861 came the social mores of proper mourning practices and accoutrements witnessed and endorsed by the admirers of Queen Victoria in her reign-long state of grieving.
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: League of Women Voters reorganizes
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Here comes the bride
The newest major exhibit at the Historical Museum, which opens Tuesday, showcases wedding gowns worn by Vigo County residents.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Downtown changes featured in early 1927
During March and April of 1927 – about 85 years ago – the owners of interests in four major downtown Terre Haute theaters were negotiating to transfer their interests to representatives of Paramount Studios.
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GENEALOGY: Genealogy isn’t for the easily embarrassed
The saying goes, if you’re easily embarrassed or afraid of what you’ll find, don’t start doing genealogy.
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: The long, lost, last — the 27th —Amendment
Our very last constitutional amendment — the 27th Amendment — was ratified this week (May 7) in 1992 when Michigan became the 38th state to approve it.
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: The Haymarket Square Massacre
One unhappy byproduct of the Industrial Age was the growing discontent of its industrial workers, who constantly agitated for better pay and more humane working conditions.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Stands packed as Wiley takes county track title
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and the Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Death of Terre Haute jeweler gains national headlines
Terre Haute sought national publicity in 1910 through “Boosterism,” lauding the city’s significant advancements during the decade ending Dec. 31, 1909.
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GENEALOGY: Cemetery Committee to conduct restoration workshop
The Wabash Valley Genealogy Society’s Cemetery Committee will conduct an all-day cemetery restoration workshop on Saturday at the Smith Cemetery near Youngstown, Honey Creek Township, Vigo County, Ind.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Harmonious history
In 1923, a group of singers calling themselves the Harmony Four entertained regularly over the radio and at civic and various club events.
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BRUCE’S HISTORY LESSONS: Cleveland observes Lincoln’s funeral
The death of America’s greatest president, Abraham Lincoln, resulted in an outpouring of national mourning, the apex of which came in late April of 1865 when a specially outfitted train carried his body on a thirteen-day, 1,700-mile, eleven-city funeral procession from Washington, D.C., to his home and final resting place in Springfield, Ill.
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GENEALOGY: Many people can trace ancestry to Titanic
This month marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, which occurred on April 14-15, 1912.
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: ISU bowling team at nationals again
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Sullivan County mine explosion kills 8 in 1878
Shortly after 4 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 21, 1878, an enormous explosion rocked the Handford Brothers mine about one-half mile north of the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad depot in Sullivan County.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: A common feature, but memorable
As an absolute architecture nerd, I tend to look at buildings noticing the odd ball things such as door hinges and door locks in addition to admiring the overall building.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSONS: MLK’s letter written from a jail cell in Birmingham
This week (April 16) in 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. sat in a jail cell in Birmingham, Ala., having been arrested for violating a trumped-up court order that prohibited him and his followers from conducting various protest activities, most of which you can read about in the First Amendment.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Swope celebrates 20th anniversary
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: 1955 Babe Ruth League championship team to be feted
Currently in his 25th year as a college baseball coach, Rick Heller is in the midst of his third winning season at Indiana State and has embraced the university and the community.
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GENEALOGY: Long-awaited 1940 census is now available for the public
The long-awaited release of the 1940 census took place on April 2.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Memories baked from scratch
On my Historical Treasure hunt, I was drawn to a pasteboard barrel 28 inches high and 18.5 inches across with the words “Calumet Baking Powder Bakes Best, Received Highest Award” on one side and “Calumet Baking Powder Always Pleases, Try It” on the other.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Thomas Jefferson's flights of fancy
Thomas Jefferson, born this week (April 13) in 1743, is — deservedly so — in the pantheon of American heroes.
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GENEALOGY: Columnist seeks info on families from Dana




