This week in Indiana’s history …
1822 – Responding to an epidemic of malaria spreading through the state, Indiana Governor Jonathan Jennings proclaimed Friday, April 13, 1822, to be a “day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer” in hopes that the disease would abate. Jennings signed the proclamation at the Statehouse in Corydon.
1865 – On the evening of April 14, Indiana Congressman Schuyler Colfax walked Abraham Lincoln to the door of the White House. The President and Mrs. Lincoln were leaving to see a play at Ford’s Theater. Colfax and Lincoln had been discussing Colfax’s upcoming trip to the West. Lincoln wanted to encourage returning soldiers to move west to help mine gold and silver needed to pay off the national debt, which had ballooned to $2.6 billion during the Civil War. Later that evening, Lincoln was assassinated at the theater.
1921 – The state highway department agreed not to carry out plans to remove a row of maple trees that bordered Brookville Pike through the Hancock County town of Tailholt. Residents had appealed to the Statehouse to save trees which had been “a comfort to thousands of motor tourists and people of the town.” Tailholt, the subject of a popular poem by James Whitcomb Riley, has had several other names over the years, including Finly, Reedville Station, Carrollton, and Kinder. It is currently listed as Carrollton on the state highway map.
1932 – The Crowd Roars opened at the Apollo Theater in Indianapolis. The movie promised “to tell a behind-the-scenes story of rivalry and romance among dare-devils of the racetrack.” The film, which includes many scenes of the Speedway, stars James Cagney and Joan Blondell. Several actual drivers of the era have cameos, including Billy Arnold and Lou Schneider, the winners of the 1930 and 1931 Indianapolis 500 Mile races.
1958 – A nine-member commission approved the construction of a new $20 million state office building. The 13-story structure would be built just west of the Statehouse. It would house 50 governmental departments currently scattered in 22 locations. Funds were provided for the demolition of buildings currently on the site and the rerouting of railroad tracks.
1982 – Twelve men were killed and at least 17 injured in the collapse of a highway ramp under construction in East Chicago, Indiana. Three sections totaling over 400 feet of the Riley Road-Cline Avenue interchange ramp fell onto workers below. The project was part of a $261 million contract to elevate highway and bridges. The death toll eventually climbed to 14.