“Agnes Szabo, Alleged ‘Bootleg Queen,’ and City Judge William M. Dunn, of Gary, Ind.,” Richmond Palladium, January 25, 1923, 8.
Agnes Szabo came of age in South Bend in the early 1920s, when the Volstead Act had driven liquor sales underground and bootlegging routes became as common as postal deliveries. The post-World War I years were marked by economic volatility—wartime industries contracted, inflation soared, and many working-class families, especially immigrants, scrambled for new forms of income. In this climate of uncertainty, illicit trade often provided quicker and more reliable returns than conventional employment. Raised first in a saloon and then a so-called “soft drink parlor” (a Prohibition Era euphemism for a speakeasy), Agnes grew up in a world where the line between legal refreshment and illegal liquor was already pretty fuzzy. By the time she was a teenager, those distinctions had all but disappeared.
With her siblings in tow and cash in hand, Szabo shuttled whiskey between Chicago and South Bend in a Hudson sedan—on roads that were often more battlefield than boulevard. What shielded her was not only the youth and familial innocence she projected, but her deft ability to exploit the gender norms of the day. A teenage girl with “little tots” – her younger siblings – in the backseat rendered her invisible to the bootleg kingpins. And that was precisely her advantage.
Yet Szabo’s role in Indiana’s illicit economy was anything but peripheral. She operated at the wholesale level, paying up to $2,700 in cash for 135 cases of confiscated liquor—liquor that had been seized during raids, only to be resold to her by the very officers and city judges who were supposed to enforce the law. Her purchasing was facilitated by figures like Constable Dan Melloy, who not only sold her seized whiskey but once personally escorted her to Chicago for a resupply.
And it wasn’t only the liquor that moved through this network, but envelopes of cash, favors, and influence. For a while, Szabo operated with impunity. But as in many stories involving underestimated women, her own confidence became her undoing. While most bootleggers were busy bribing cops and praying their flasks wouldn’t clink too loudly, Szabo was flaunting her diamond rings and Alaskan seal coat like the protagonist of a very illegal Gatsby party.
Indianapolis Times, March 16, 1923, 16.
She boasted openly about her success, and soon a rival or jealous acquaintance tipped off the authorities. When federal agents arrested her in 1921, Szabo responded not with silence or shame, but with a detailed account of a system riddled with corruption. She named names. And the names she gave would rattle the very foundations of local government. Over sixty officials were indicted in the aftermath, including Gary’s Mayor Boswell O. Johnson, City Judge William Dunn, the Lake County prosecutor, police officers, detectives, and even former sheriffs. Their charges ranged from liquor violations to conspiracy to obstruction of justice and rigged local elections.
She had, in effect, exposed a system of government in which the law existed as a source of profit, not justice. Federal Judge Albert B. Anderson, who presided over her case, called Szabo “an extraordinary criminal.” But his response revealed he felt conflicted. Anderson sentenced her to six months, then reconsidered. He let her go home before serving her time, his instincts caught between punishment and paternalism. Anderson’s musings on indicting “entire families” and his eventual decision to let Szabo return home before serving time reflected a legal system struggling to reconcile its deeply-gendered expectations of guilt, repentance, and protection.
Szabo defied the conventional wisdom that women turned to crime because of male influence, instead taking ownership of her actions. In court, Szabo made it crystal clear that bootlegging was her choice and hers alone. She declared without a hint of hesitation that even if her mother had forbidden it, she’d have done it anyway. Judge Anderson wasn’t buying the lone-wolf act and suspected she had help, but Agnes stood firm. She even claimed that 75% of South Bend was in on the bootlegging trade. She wasn’t a pawn; she was a player. She was the “Queen of the Booze Runners,” a “flapper bootlegger,” a folk hero and a femme fatale rolled into one.
The Indianapolis Times, March 16, 1923, 16.
Szabo exposed how the law had already been broken by those entrusted to uphold it. In telling her story, we see a young woman who refused to play the roles assigned to her. She was neither criminal accessory nor courtroom victim. She was a central figure in a chapter of American history too often told without women’s names. After the scandal, Agnes tried to step out of the spotlight. In 1923, she stood outside a courthouse and declared, “No more liquor for the Szabo family. It is bad business, and I am through for all time.” Her attempted retreat from public life was framed not as redemption, but as abdication. She had become too powerful a symbol to quietly disappear. But the federal government wasn’t done watching her. When her family relocated to a rural farm and resumed their liquor operation, Judge Anderson filed an injunction to shut it down.
She operated within a male-dominated criminal enterprise, but refused to hide behind it. She used her youth and femininity as camouflage, but never performed helplessness. She was both scapegoat and whistleblower, criminal and reformer. In exposing Prohibition’s failures—she disrupted a patriarchal operation that had grown far too comfortable assuming women would stay silent.
Former President Dwight Eisenhower (left) joins Rep. Charles Halleck (center) to lay the cornerstone brick for the Halleck Student Center at St. Joseph’s College on September 13, 1962, courtesy of St. Joseph’s College, accessed Rensselaer Republican.
On a muggy September afternoon, gregarious Congressman Charles A. Halleck, flanked by wife Blanche and former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, blinked back tears. Known for his oratorical prowess, Representative Halleck stood speechless before a large crowd in his hometown of Rensselaer, Indiana. From the lawn of St. Joseph’s College, Hoosiers keenly observed the political titans—both clad in collegiate cap and gown—at a dedication ceremony for the Halleck Student Center.[1] Laying of the cornerstone was just the tip of the “Charlie Halleck Day” iceberg. Accounts of the 1962 festivities provide a window into the friendship of Charlie and Ike and help humanize the nation’s leaders.
Although Halleck proudly donated to St. Joseph’s and served as a lay trustee for the college, he was actually an Indiana University alum. Born in DeMotte in 1900, the Halleck family moved to Rensselaer when Charles was just two years old. In 1922, he earned his A.B. from IU and his LL.B. in 1924, successfully campaigning for Jasper-Newton County Prosecutor in his last year of law school.[2] His seemingly limitless energy on the campaign trail and artful speeches helped secure his election. The young attorney served in this role from 1924 to 1926 and 1928 to 1934.[3] But he had bigger ambitions.
Indianapolis News, January 30, 1935, 13, accessed Newspapers.com.
After the sudden death of U.S. Rep. Frederick Landis in 1934, the Second District held a special election. Halleck’s ability to mobilize once again got him into office and, at 35, he became one of twelve Hoosier representatives in Congress. He was the only Republican in this cohort, which, according to the Indianapolis News, reflected his district’s disdain for the New Deal.[4] At a public celebration in Rensselaer a few days later, Halleck introduced his mother to the crowd, telling them she deserved most of the credit for the victory, having “‘given him the spirit and inspiration to go through the successful campaign.'”[5]
Congressman Halleck’s adroit political maneuvering and ability to whip up votes kept him in office until 1969, and earned him appointments as Majority Leader (1947-1949, 1953-1955) and Minority Leader (1959-1965).[6] From the Great Depression to the Vietnam War, his tenure spanned some of the most significant events and legislation in American history. After World War II, Rep. Halleck joined a contingent of lawmakers who focused on identifying and ousting Communists in America. As Majority Leader, he shepherded passage of the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which limited the power of labor unions, whose members many conflated with Communists. Halleck ascribed to this belief, but also supported the bill because labor strikes had paralyzed parts of the country, as reflected in a letter from a constituent who wrote “Those labor troubles, strikes and slow-downs, deprived farmers of much needed machinery and supplies.”[7] Halleck’s deft politicking was evident after he whipped up enough votes to override President Harry S. Truman’s veto of the bill.
Halleck and Truman unified over the Economic Recovery Plan, better known as the 1948 Marshall Plan. Foreign Affairs Specialist Curt Tarnoff described the legislation in his 2018 “The Marshall Plan: Design, Accomplishments, and Significance” as:
An effort to prevent the economic deterioration of postwar Europe, expansion of communism, and stagnation of world trade, the Plan sought to stimulate European production, promote adoption of policies leading to stable economies, and take measures to increase trade among European countries and between Europe and the rest of the world.[8]
Truman solicited a massive aid package, hoping to help alleviate the suffering of those in war-ravaged countries and to make them less vulnerable to Communist forces. Halleck used his influence as Majority Leader to convince his congressional colleagues to support the program, which Tarnoff noted was “considered by many to have been the most effective ever of U.S. foreign aid programs.”[9]
While Halleck publicly scrutinized Truman, accusing him of aligning with “radicals and Communists” with his labor bill veto, he later told an interviewer “I enjoyed working with him. He’s undoubtedly got a place in history.”[10] But Eisenhower? Halleck stated:
my association with President Eisenhower was one of the happiest, greatest experiences of my life. And understand I had served thirty-four years, had been majority leader twice, minority leader three times, I’ve been through wars, depressions, and whole ball of wax and I know them all.[11]
Halleck (L) with Eisenhower (R) after a lunch meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, October 3, 1954. accessed Getty Images.
The feeling was seemingly mutual. When Eisenhower first entered the Oval Office as President in January 1953, he had never been elected to public office and had virtually no legislative experience. Someone like Congressman Halleck, who spent decades in Capitol Hill and knew its inner-workings intimately, proved invaluable to the 34th President. Halleck biographer Henry Scheele wrote that Halleck “emerged as the president’s chief legislative lieutenant on Capitol Hill.” This was, in large part, because he was an “expert on the subtleties of parliamentary procedure.”[12] A 1959 TIME article detailed why Halleck was such an asset to the Eisenhower administration, noting that Halleck:
goes into great and colloquial detail to explain what decisions were made—and why. The minutes of Policy Committee meetings are mimeographed and placed on each Republican’s desk. Not in many a long year have the Republican members of the House been so fully informed about the party line and positions, and the results can be found in their cohesiveness on vote after vote this year.[13]
Halleck would prove one of Eisenhower’s staunchest advocates, bullish in his pursuit of advancing the President’s initiatives, browbeating lawmakers, if necessary. Through his tenacity, he helped Eisenhower extend reciprocal trade agreements, pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and kill a “heavy protectionist tariff proposal.”[14] Scheele noted that before submitting a bill to the House, Eisenhower always sought out Halleck’s input. In his 1963 Mandate for Change, Eisenhower wrote that Halleck was a “fighting leader and was valuable to me.” Therefore, when Democrats swept the 1954 elections and ousted Halleck as Majority Leader, Eisenhower wrote “I personally insisted that Halleck still attend the Legislative-leaders meetings at the White House.”[15]
The two worked even more closely when Halleck was appointed Minority Leader in 1959. TIME profiled Halleck’s new role, highlighting the fact that he:
helped bring White House and congressional Republicans closer together than at any other time during the Eisenhower Administration. As never before, Congressmen are informed about Administration aims, and the President gets an accurate and detailed picture of congressional sentiment.[16]
Although he could be pugnacious, Halleck understood the value of comradery and often invited his Republican colleagues to “get together for political shoptalk” over drinks. To further boost morale, he routinely furnished the Commander in Chief with the names of Congressmen worthy of a letter of appreciation.
TIME reported that because of Halleck’s influence, Republican lawmakers worked much more cohesively and their weekly legislative conferences had “passed from pain to pleasure.” Eisenhower agreed, stating “‘These sessions are getting to be so much fun . . . that they’re running overtime.'” He attributed this to Halleck , writing “‘You are a political genius.'”[17]
Eisenhower (L) and Halleck (R) at the dedication of the Halleck Student Center at St. Joseph’s, courtesy Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, September 14, 1962, 1, accessed Newspapers.com.
After Eisenhower left office in January 1961, the two stayed in touch. On occasion, Halleck and colleagues like Everett Dirksen went up to Gettysburg to visit with Eisenhower and ask for his advice.[18] Charlie and Ike reunited publicly in Indiana on September 13, 1962, their mutual admiration evident. Despite the oppressive heat, about 20,000 Hoosiers greeted Ike at the Purdue University Airport.[19] Robert Kriebel remembered “A stairway parted from the front of the plane and suddenly there he was—good old Ike—grinning and doffing a gray a gray homburg.” It was evident that many missed his presence in the Oval Office. Charlie recalled there was “Just a sea of people. Just terrific. He was President; he was General; he was everything. And the people just idolized him. They realized, even the wild-eyed right wingers, that he’d been a [sic] terrific.”[20]
After landing in West Lafayette, Charlie and Ike traveled to Rensselaer to attend the dedication ceremony for St. Joseph’s College Halleck Student Center. The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County reported on the event, noting that “A picnic atmosphere prevailed . . . There was some live music, and lots of big circus tents were strung on the campus.”[21] Politicians, students, and dozens of members of the press milled about while local law enforcement directed heavy traffic from the air.[22] A farm truck parked nearby bearing a sign that read “‘Charlie and Ike. No Dove Hunting Please,'” a call-back to Halleck’s arrest a week earlier in North Carolina for shooting doves over a baited field.[23]
Journal and Courier, September 14, 1962, 1, accessed Newspapers.com.
Guests from twelve counties sat on tent-covered hay bales and ate barbequed chicken. Halleck recalled “Every chicken and broiler producer in Indiana was here,” serving twelve double-lines of people.[24] Charlie tried to curtail the dreaded, universal experience of being watched while eating finger food. Ike was in the mood for some chicken, but didn’t “‘want any of that barbeque stuff on it.'” Charlie noted “So we get out and get up where he could sit down, and I was a little disturbed by some of my people. Hell, they just get, look right over his shoulder, you know, when you’re eating a piece of chicken.”[25]
When the ceremony began, Ike and Charlie joined college president the Very Rev. Raphael Gross on stage. Ike had recently remarked in Europe that he would enjoy being a president of a small college. Very Rev. Gross quipped that the college “‘is all yours,'” eliciting Ike’s signature grin.[26] Ike delighted the crowd when he eschewed protocol and insisted that Charlie join him in cementing the building’s new cornerstone. At the dais, Charlie told the crowd “‘This is a unique honor; it’s significance leaves me without words to adequately express my appreciation.'” He commented on the importance of higher education to both “the individual and to the nation.”[27] Ike added that the federal government “‘has a right and duty’ to provide aid for education.”[28]
Eisenhower listening to elementary school singers at the Jasper County Courthouse, photo by Dick Vellinger, Journal and Courier, September 14, 1962, 1, accessed Newspapers.com.
Charlie Halleck Day continued into the evening at the local courthouse, where Ike opened his campaign tour for Republican congressional candidates.[29] The Vidette-Messenger described Ike as “looking fit and erect despite his 71 years.” He was delighted by performances by the Purdue University Glee Club and grade schoolers, dubbed the “Wee Singers.”[30] Halleck recalled that Ike watched the “cute little devils . . . and he just beamed. He just loved that.”[31] In his speech, Ike said the crowd probably wondered why Republicans weren’t “‘in overwhelming control of the Congress.'”[32] He mused “‘As long as we have Charlie Halleck and Everett Dirksen as leaders we don’t need overwhelming numbers.'” After all, he considered Charlie “‘a loyal, fighting, and deeply patriotic legislative leader . . . my warm friend; a staunch supporter and a champion of Republican principles and programs.'”[33]
In addition to lauding Charlie, Ike addressed broader issues regarding American government, troubled by the:
constant seeking for more governmental power over all our economic life. . . This is one of the most disturbing trends of our day—the apparent thirst for more and more power centered in the federal government, particularly the executive branch.'”[34]
He assured the crowd “‘as long as human honesty and integrity endure our great country will lead civilization to its proper destiny'”[35]
Exhausted from a demanding day, Ike stayed the night on St. Joseph’s campus. The next morning, he traveled to Kankakee, Illinois for a GOP breakfast, leaving Hoosiers electrified in his wake.[36]
After serving seventeen terms in Congress, Halleck announced he would be retiring and bid farewell to Capitol Hill on January 3, 1969.[37] No easy decision, he stated “‘the House has been my life.'”[38] This monumental life change was punctuated by news that his good friend, Ike, had passed away just two months later. In a news piece about Eisenhower’s death, Halleck declared he was “‘one of the greatest friends of my life, one to whom I was completely devoted.'”[39] While in D.C. for his funeral, Indiana papers announced Halleck’s next chapter, which included practicing law with former Governor Roger D. Branigin.[40]
Surely, nothing would be as fulfilling as the leadership sessions between Eisenhower and Halleck. The two men had shouldered the unique responsibility of navigating the country through the early Atomic Era. They worked amidst the ever-looming threat of global instability and seismic shifts in American identity. For a shared moment, however, they got to experience the small joys of civic life in Rensselaer, Indiana.
* The Indiana Historical Bureau will be installing a historical marker for Halleck in 2025. Stay tuned for details!
Notes
* All newspaper articles accessed via Newspapers.com.
[1] Rollie Bernhart, “Halleck’s Name on New Building,” Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, September 14, 1962, 1, 6.
[2] “New Candidate Phi Beta Kappa at University,” Lafayette Journal and Courier, December 12, 1934, 1.
[3] William White, “Charles Halleck, County Prosecutor in the Shadows of the Depression,” Indiana Magazine of History 114 (December 2018), accessed scholarworks.iu.edu.
[4] “Wins Election,” Indianapolis News, January 30, 1935, 13.
[5] Henry Z. Scheele, Charlie Halleck: A Political Biography (New York: Exposition Press, 1966), p. 57.
[6] Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1971 (United States: Government Printing Office, 1971), accessed HathiTrust.
[7] “GOP Leaders Score Action by President,” Chronicle Tribune (Marion, IN), June 20, 1947; “Marshall Plan Most Important,” Camden News (Arkansas), June 20, 1947, 1-2; “Indiana’s Solons Vote Unanimously to Override Veto,” Princeton Daily Clarion, June 20, 1947, 1; “GOP Leaders Blast Veto; Halleck Spearheads Attack,” Indianapolis Star, June 21, 1947, 2; “Halleck Enumerates Pledges Kept by G.O.P. Congress,” Buffalo News, August 12, 1947, 13; Quotation from Letter, Fred H. Foster to Hon. Charles A. Halleck, April 2, 1948, Box 16, Folder “1948, Apr. 1-10. Halleck mss. Correspondence,” Halleck mss., 1900-1968, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
[8] Curt Tarnoff, Specialist in Foreign Affairs, “The Marshall Plan: Design, Accomplishments, and Significance,” Congressional Research Service, (January 18, 2018), accessed marshallfoundation.org.
[9] “Action on Measure Expected to Be Completed by Nightfall: Time and Amount Are Final Issues,” Central New Jersey Home News, March 31, 1948, 1; Press Conference, Republican National Committee, Joint Senate-House Leadership, Senator Dirksen-Representative Halleck, July 10, 1962, Box 96, Halleck mss., 1900-1968, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana; Oral history interview with Charles A. Halleck, by Stephen Hess, March 22, 1965, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed jfklibrary.org; Curt Tarnoff, “The Marshall Plan,” summary page.
[10] “GOP Leaders Score Action by President,” Chronicle Tribune (Marion, IN), June 20, 1947, 1; Oral history interview with Charles Halleck, by Thomas Soapes, April 26, 1977 for Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, p. 12, accessed eisenhowerlibrary.gov.
[11] Soapes, p. 12.
[12] Henry Z. Scheele, “President Dwight D. Eisenhower and U.S. House Leader Charles A. Halleck: An Examination of an Executive-Legislative Relationship,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 23, no. 2 (Spring 1993): 292, 298, accessed JSTOR.org.
[13] “The Congress: The Gut Fighter,” TIME 73, no. 23, June 8, 1959.
[14] Oral history interview with Charles A. Halleck, by Stephen Hess, March 22, 1965, p. 9-10, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, accessed jfklibrary.org; Scheele, “President Dwight D. Eisenhower and U.S. House Leader Charles A. Halleck,” 291-294.
[15] Dwight D. Eisenhower, The White House Years: Mandate for Change, 1953-1956 (Garden City, NY: DoubleDay & Company, Inc., 1963), p. 442.
[16] “The Congress: The Gut Fighter,” TIME.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Soapes interview, p. 36.
[19] Robert Kriebel, “Remember When Ike Was Here in ’62? It Was a Thrilling Day for Thousands,” Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN), March 29, 1969, 4.
[20] Soapes interview, p. 38.
[21] Herb Steinbach, “Charlie Is All Smiles on Big Day,” Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, September 14, 1962, 1.
[22] “Thousands Attend Halleck Day Fete,” Rensselaer Republican, September 14, 1962, 1, submitted by marker applicant.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Soapes, p. 37.
[25] Ibid., p. 37-38.
[26] “St. Joseph’s Names Ike ‘Impromptu President,'” Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN), September 14, 1962, 8; “‘President’ Ike Again,” Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN), September 14, 1962, 8.
[27] Rollie Bernhart, “Halleck’s Name on New Building,” Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, September 14, 1962, 1.
[28] “Thousands Attend Halleck Day Fete,” Rensselaer Republican, September 14, 1962, 1, submitted by marker applicant.
[29] Irwin J. Miller, “Spending by Government Hit by Ike,” Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, September 14, 1962, 1.
[30] Ibid.; Soapes interview, p. 37.
[31] Soapes interview, p. 37.
[32] “Praises Halleck in Rensselaer Talk,” Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN), September 14, 1962, 1, 8.
[33] Ibid.
[34] Irwin J. Miller, “Spending by Government Hit by Ike,” Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, September 14, 1962, 1.
[35] “Thousands Attend Halleck Day Fete,” Rensselaer Republican, September 14, 1962, 1, submitted by marker applicant.
[36] Irwin J. Miller, “Spending by Government Hit by Ike,” Vidette-Messenger of Porter County, September 14, 1962, 6.
[37] United Press International, “Charlie Halleck Dies; Longtime Congressman,” Logansport Pharos-Tribune, March 3, 1986, 1.
[38] Bart Barnes, “House Majority Leader Charles Halleck Dies at 85,” New York Times, March 3, 1986.
[39] Terre Haute Tribune, March 29, 1969, 2.
[40] “Halleck Joins Branigin Firm,” South Bend Tribune, April 1, 1969, 5.
The Indiana Historical Bureau would not be what it is today without the vision and leadership of Director Pamela J. Bennett. Known to us simply as Pam, she passed away earlier this year, prompting us to remember the profound impact she had on the field of history. Colleagues and friends lauded Pam as a take-charge person, who was a strong collaborator and an excellent writer and editor. During her decades at IHB, she prioritized accessibility and transparency, high quality research, and telling the story of all Hoosiers. She modeled what a public servant truly should be. She also broke the glass ceiling for female leaders in the field and was a devoted mentor to a generation of scholars, ourselves included. In our work at the Bureau, we do our best to carry on Pam’s legacy by meeting Hoosiers where they are and communicating the relevance of history.
Although synonymous with Indiana history, Pam was born in Baltimore on July 3, 1943. She graduated from Gettysburg College in 1965 with an A.B. in Chemistry. After falling in love with British novels, Pam attended Indiana University–Bloomington and completed an A.M. in English Literature. At IU, she served as Assistant Editor of theIndiana Magazine of History and several other history journals and projects.
Pam’s first role at the Indiana Historical Bureau was that of editor when she joined the agency in July 1973. She began her long tenure as director just three years later, when IHB separated from the Indiana Historical Society. As director, she actively worked to safeguard Indiana’s historical records. Her strong belief in the power of knowing history as the basis for thoughtful citizenship led her to provide students and adults with access to Indiana’s history and culture through a variety of educational materials and programs. These included workshops for historical groups and educators on such topics as public relations, the role of the local historical society, and classroom resources.
The Republic (Columbus, IN), December 20, 1978, 11, accessed Newspapers.com.
One of Pam’s first major initiatives as IHB director was the restoration and exhibition of the governors’ portrait collection. Many portraits had fallen into disrepair and required significant funding to restore. In typical Pam fashion, she thought outside of the box to get the job done. According to a 1979 Evansville Courier article, Pam believed that “‘historical mementos ought to fund something historic.'”[1] So, she made sets of commemorative medallions that had been collecting dust in the Bureau available for purchase. They had been minted in 1916—in celebration of the state’s centennial—and 1966, the date of the state’s 150th anniversary. This strategy proved successful, and IHB began the process of restoring the paintings with an eye toward extending the collection as a cultural, historical, and educational tool.
Pam, courtesy “Coin Sale May Fund Restoration of Portraits,” Indianapolis Star, May 13, 1979, 51, accessed Newspapers.com.
Before the connectivity of the internet, Pam worked to disseminate history to all corners of the state through various programs. In 1981, she reestablished the Indiana County Historian program, in conjunction with the Indiana Historical Society, to “improve the historical communication network in the state.”[2] Each appointed historian served as a clearinghouse of sorts, becoming experts in their county’s historical resources in order to field residents’ in-depth questions.
Jeannette Rooney, Assistant Director of Local History Services for IHS, recalled that Pam:
played a crucial role in evolving it into the productive and thriving program that today supports local history across the state. When I began working in IHS Local History Services, I had the pleasure of working with Pam through the County Historian Program, and she was a wonderful mentor as I learned all the aspects of coordinating this fantastic group of volunteer historians. Over the seven years we worked together, I knew I could always count on her to know what was going on around Indiana. She was so supportive of local history efforts and the work of county historians – she truly loved the work of history, and she has left quite a legacy! She will be missed.
The program continues to fulfill Pam’s mission to “move local historical information to every Hoosier’s fingertips.”[3]
Pam was a driving force behind another statewide program: National History Day. She coordinated NHD since 1980, when the Indiana program was still in its fledgling state. Under her direction, Indiana became one of the model state programs in the network. National History Day awards outstanding history projects among 6th-12th graders through its annual competition. In describing the value of History Day, Pam wrote in 1989 that it is a “strong reminder to those of us concerned with both the past and the future that we have a responsibility to provide these students with the skills, content and context necessary to make studied and thoughtful decisions in the twenty-first century.”[4] Describing the annual awards ceremony, Pam proclaimed “It is a delightful experience to hear 1200 Hoosiers cheering about something other than basketball.” In addition to overseeing Indiana’s program for over twenty years, she served on the board of U.S. National History Day.
REACH bus site visits, courtesy of Indiana Historical Bureau Collection, Policy Files-Appointing Authorities, Deputies, and Division Directors, 1908, Box 7, Indiana Archives and Records Administration.
In her work to make history accessible to Hoosiers around the state, Pam and the Bureau—in collaboration with the Indiana Arts Commission and Indiana State Museum—spearheaded the innovated REACH bus program. The bus operated as a mobile museum, visiting remote school corporations in the 1980s. Children hopped on the rainbow colored bus, where they learned about natural history by examining stalagmites and viewed original oil paintings by Hoosier artists such as T.C. Steele. REACH encouraged teachers to incorporate the arts and inter-disciplinary learning into curricula.[5]
The popularity of the program is reflected in letters, including that sent by Monrovia PTO President Mary Ann Henderson who stated, “Since we are a small country school our teaching resources are limited, but when we are able to obtain a program such as yours it not only enhances the education of our students it benefits our teachers, parents and community!”[6] Similarly, State Senator Steven R. John wrote, after viewing the bus at the State House and General Assembly, “I saw how it provides the citizens of Indiana, adult and student alike, with an experience in the arts and history that cannot be duplicated.”[7] The program was recognized by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Alliance for Arts in Washington, D.C. Arts Dialogue-Australia also invited organizers to its conference.[8]
Alongside these outreach projects, Pam oversaw internal programming. Among the most important was the State Historical Marker Program. Markers serve as tangible reminders of the state’s rich and diverse history and help return stories to the landscape. While the program has historically been a public-driven initiative, Pam fostered a sense of collaboration and community ownership over markers. Because of the network she helped forge, the Bureau has been able to install over 750 markers across the state, commemorating topics ranging from STEM to sports.
Pam’s expertise was highly sought after and she earned a seat at many important tables. She served on the boards of several organizations, including the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), serving as Vice President from 1988-1989 and President from 1990-1992. Through AASLH, she worked to provide professional development and recognition to state and local historical agencies throughout the country. Pam also advised on state and national historical celebrations, including the U.S. Constitution Bicentennial, Lincoln Bicentennial, Indiana Quarter design, and the American Revolution Bicentennial.
(L to R): Former Indiana Historical Society Director John Herbst, Governor Otis Bowen, Governor Edgar Whitcomb, and Pam at an event celebrating The Governors of Indiana book.
Pam received numerous professional accolades for her prolific work. In 1989, she was the recipient of the Indiana Council for Social Studies’ Citizens Award for outstanding contributions to social studies. In 2010, the Marion County Historical Society presented Pam with the Fadely History Award for “outstanding effort” to promote history in Indianapolis and Marion County. The Indiana Historical Society presented Pam with the 2011 Eli Lilly Lifetime Achievement Award for “extraordinary contributions over an extended period of time to the field of Indiana History.” The Bureau has honored her legacy by naming the Bennett-Tinsley Award for Undergraduate History Research and Writing after her and plans to dedicate our new marker center in her honor.
There are not enough awards to signify Pam’s impact. Perhaps the words of colleagues will help. President of Indiana Landmarks Marsh Davis remembers her as “a stalwart presence who commanded respect as one of the bastions of Indiana history.” Jeannie Regan-Dinius, who worked closely with Pam over the course of 20+ years in her role at the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, told us:
She made me a better historian, challenging me to improve my skills and writing. Her guidance was always fair, honest, and caring. Her work at the statewide level was an inspiration for women working in the history field to see that we could be in charge, provide quality work, and be supportive of other historians.
IHB staff at Pam’s (center) 2015 retirement party.
Colleagues had a chance to tell Pam how much she meant to them in person at her 2015 retirement party. Commemorating Indiana’s bicentennial the following year without her leadership was strange. However, it gave us an opportunity to practice history in a way that reflected her stalwart, collaborative nature.
Pam would probably want to be remembered as a facilitator. Former IHB historian Jill Weiss Simins reflected “I think Pam especially got joy out of connecting people with opportunities. She encouraged us to do more than just what the job required and built a team of young historians dedicated to trying to meet challenges.” In her decades at the Bureau, Pam helped forge a nexus between K-12 schools, citizen historians, universities, humanities organizations, and residents across the state. She cultivated a reputation that has made the Bureau a respected partner, valued resource, and the “go-to” agency for questions about Indiana history from partners, educators, and the public.
From our little corner of the Indiana State Library, we continue to think broadly, ambitiously about how to connect with Hoosiers and to ask big questions, like “how does history inform identity?” While we grieve our fearless leader, we will, as Pam was fond of saying, “Carry on!” as devoted public servants and stewards of Indiana’s stories.
Sources:
[1] “Memento Sale to Buy Back ‘A Bit of this History,'” Evansville Courier, May 14, 1979, 2, accessed Newspapers.com.
[3] “History Aides Sought on County Basis,” South Bend Tribune, December 16, 1980, 11, accessed Newspapers.com.
[4] Letter, Pamela J. Bennett, Indiana Historical Bureau, to Roy Shoemaker, Indiana Historical Society, December 5, 1989, courtesy of Indiana Historical Bureau Collection, Policy Files-Appointing Authorities, Deputies, and Division Directors, 1908, Indiana Archives and Records Administration.
[5] Elizabeth Jacobson, “Bus Brings Art, Past to Noblesville School,” Noblesville Ledger, September 30, 1987, 1, accessed Newspapers.com.
[6] Letter, Mary Ann Henderson, President of Monrovia PTO, to Celia Yohman, Coordinator, Reach Bus Program, June 13, 1987, courtesy of Indiana Historical Bureau Collection, Policy Files-Appointing Authorities, Deputies, and Division Directors, 1908, Indiana Archives and Records Administration.
[7] Letter, Steven R. Johnson, State Senator, to Mary L. Snyder, Chairperson, Reach Bus Committee, August 1988, courtesy of Indiana Historical Bureau Collection, Policy Files-Appointing Authorities, Deputies, and Division Directors, 1908, Indiana Archives and Records Administration.
[8] “Long Range Plans: REACH: Resources Educating in the Arts, Culture, and History,” p. 1, courtesy of Indiana Historical Bureau Collection, Policy Files-Appointing Authorities, Deputies, and Division Directors, 1908, Indiana Archives and Records Administration.
