This week in Indiana’s history …
1821 – The Indiana Legislature authorized the first state prison, which opened the next year on lower Market Street in Jeffersonville. The building had 10 cells with no windows. A three-inch square hole in the iron door permitted the only light to enter the chamber.
1887 – Monte Blue was born in Indianapolis. Growing up at the Children’s Home in Knightstown, he became an actor whose career spanned the silent era, the golden era of Hollywood, and early years of television. His filmography totals nearly 300, with roles in such movie classics as Birth of a Nation, Casablanca and Key Largo. His many television credits include Sky King, The Lone Ranger and Wagon Train.
1929 – The Muncie Public Library received three copies of Middletown by Robert S. and Helen Merrell Lynd. Residents were eager to see the new 550-page book which was the result of a four-year study of their city. The project was a pioneer effort to study a population in the style of an anthropologist. Clark Wissler of Yale University called the report a “cross-section of the activities of a community today from the background of yesterday.”
1942 – The Von Trapp Family Singers were on stage at the English Theater on the Circle in Indianapolis. Baron Von Trapp introduced his wife Maria and seven of their 10 children who were on the tour. They sang many old songs from their Austrian homeland. The Indianapolis Star said the program was “pleasantly nostalgic of the days when families gathered around the home organ on winter’s nights.”
1953 – The last Indianapolis streetcar made its run in the city. The final car came off of the College Avenue route, ending a service that had started in 1864. A newspaper reporter called it “the last clang, clang, clang of the trolley and the last clank, clank, clank of the wheels.” A final “celebrity car” carried Indianapolis Mayor Alex Clark, Police Chief John Ambuhl and other city officials.
1975 – Virginia Jenckes died in Terre Haute at the age of 97. She was the first woman from Indiana to be elected to the United States House of Representatives. In office from 1933 to 1939, she served the citizens of the old 6th District. Well-respected on Capitol Hill, she was known for her strong will and independence.