Vanderburgh County Historical Society

Friday, February 2, 2024
6:00 PM
Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science
411 Southeast Riverside Drive
Evansville, IN, 47713

A second seating of Zoom-In Evansville will be presented Friday, February 2 at 6 pm. Join us for this program in the Evansville Museum’s Koch Immersive Theater and Planetarium. In this program, the VCHS board members Tom Lonnberg and Savanah Summerfield will zoom in on select photographs featured in the current Evansville Museum exhibition Evansville Then & Now. Savanah and Tom will “walk” through interesting facets of each image and explore these historic photographs of our city from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lonnberg is the chief curator and curator of history at the Evansville Museum and Summerfield was a 2023 history intern at the Evansville Museum and is a history and archaeology major at the University of Evansville. For complimentary reservations, please click on this link. https://emuseum.org/rsvp.

On the heels of the Roaring Twenties, the economy was in full gear and capitalism was at its finest. Cities were growing and businesses were booming. Enter the Strongcord Tire and Rubber Co who was incorporated in November 1919 specializing in making automobile tires and rubber goods. They company started off at fast and furious pace. Stocks were sold to help raise capital for the company. Almost immediately plans for a factory were announced and there was even an investor’s picnic. See the full page ad they placed in the May 7, 1920 Evansville Courier.

In Early 1920, a large tract of land at Columbia and Oak Hill was purchased, putting it close to the Southern RR and the Boonville traction line. Shown below is the proposed design for the Stroncord factory. Work started in June 1920, the foundation was done in July, with plans for it to be completed in Jan 1921.

But all the initial progress would soon fizzle out and investors got antsy. The factory building was still only partially erected, and there was no machinery of any kind on the premises. In July 1921, a lawsuit was filed against company claiming it had no funds to finance the venture. By late 1921, the court case went against Strongcord and the stocks became worthless. The defunct company went into receivership to try to recover some funds and was forced to sell the partially built factory in May 1922. It’s unclear if it was a scheme or the business model just didn’t pan out. Either way the building at 1701 E Columbia with “STRONGCORD” in the parapet represents a company that was a blip in Evansville’s history

In the 1940s, the site was purchased from the Mike Helfrich estate, one of the big losers in the Strongcord deal. The large parcel was divided and about 5.3 acres of the factory were sold to Goad family with the rest divided for lots for housing. Goad Equipment, who specialized in restaurant and store equipment and fixtures, enclosed part of the building that was still described as “unfinished”. They would operate here for several years with the old Strongcord property serving as its factory and warehouse.

In September 1989, Evansville Bolt & Nut, Inc, a new company that served as a wholesale distributor of threaded fasteners. took over the building. Now just known as EBN they still specialize in industrial supplies.

Next time you’re out near Oak Hill Cemetery, take a look to the right (south side). You’ll catch the short lived venture of the Strongcord Tire & Rubber Co, but its stamp on Evansville’s history still endures!

On Thursday, January 18 at 6 pm join us for the program Zoom-In Evansville in the Evansville Museum’s Koch Immersive Theater and Planetarium. In this program, VCHS Board Members Tom Lonnberg and Savanah Summerfield will zoom in on select photographs featured in the current Evansville Museum exhibition Evansville Then & Now. Savanah and Tom will “walk” through interesting facets of each image and will explore these historic photographs of our city from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

THIS PROGRAM IS NOW AT ITS SEATING CAPACITY. ANY NEW RESERVATIONS WILL BE PLACED ON A WAITLIST FOR A POTENTIAL SECOND SHOWING AT A DATE TO BE DETERMINED.

Tom Lonnberg serves as the chief curator & curator of history at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science. Savanah Summerfield is a history and archaeology major at the University of Evansville and in 2023 was an intern in the history department at the Evansville Museum.
For complimentary reservations, please click on this link. https://emuseum.org/rsvp.
This program is presented in partnership with the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science.

This program is presented in partnership with the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science

Part I: The Annual Meeting and Dinner — November 16, 2023 at 6:00 PM in the Richardt Room at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science. This part includes a catered dinner from the Bauerhaus and costs $30 per person.

Part II: The Annual Speaker — Dr. James MacLeod on “Evansville in a Time of Revolutionary Change” based on his new book Lost Evansville.
1945 to 1975 was one of the most impactful, traumatic, and transformational periods in American history, and it changed Evansville forever. This lecture examines the numerous massive changes that took place in the city in this period and how the citizens reacted.

Dr. MacLeod will be signing copies of his new book available for $26.50 each. Having the correct change will speed up the proceedings.

November 16, 2023 at 7:00 PM in the Old Gallery at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science. This part is free and open to the public. For complementary reservations to James MacLeod’s talk, please visit  https://emuseum.org/rsvp and select this option from the dropdown menu.

Details about the Annual Dinner
The dinner is catered by the Bauerhaus. The dinner includes: Country Style Buffet – 2 pc fried chicken, whipped potatoes and gravy, green beans, cole slaw, roll w/ butter, Iced Tea (Sweet), Iced Tea (Unsweet), Lemonade, Double Chocolate Cake or Carrot Cake. Vegetarian or vegan choices are available upon request. The cost is $30 per person. We prefer payment via PayPal (click the donate button to the right and type in the amount equal to payment for the number of dinners for which you are paying). If you prefer to pay by check, send your check payable to VCHS C/O Dr. James MacLeod, Treasurer, 2510 Gavins Lane, Evansville, IN 47725.

About Dr. James MacLeod
Dr. James MacLeod chairs the Department of History, Politics, and Social Change at the University of Evansville. He is the author of Evansville in World War Two, which was published in 2015, and The Cartoons of Evansville’s Karl Kae Knecht, published in February 2017. In 2016 he wrote and co-produced a 2-part documentary on Evansville in World War II for WNIN PBS titled Evansville at War. In 2000, he published a book on 19th century British religion, The Second Disruption, and has also written over 30 other scholarly publications. He has delivered hundreds of public lectures, has won many awards for his teaching and scholarship, and was UE’s Outstanding Teacher in 2009. MacLeod is an active local historian, and serves on the Boards of the Vanderburgh County Historical Society, the Southwestern Indiana Historical Society, and the History Committee of the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science. In 2021 he received the Indiana Historical Society’s Hubert Hawkins History Award in recognition of his distinguished service and career in local history. His fourth book is a history of the city of Evansville for the History Press entitled Lost Evansville, and it is being launched officially tonight!

Presented by Terry Hughes and Jon Carl at Willard Library’s Browning Gallery on October 23, 2023 at 6:00 PM.

William E. Deeds was a photographer for the Evansville Journal in the early years of the 1900s. He used an older (to current viewers) box camera that recorded images on an 8″x10″ glass plate. Eventually, many of the glass plates ended up in the hands of Robert Glasscock who published many of them in his book Pictorial History of Evansville, Indiana. Glasscock maintained possession of the plates until his death. Upon his death, Glasscock’s family donated Glasscock’s collection to the archives of Willard Library. Terry Hughes volunteered to scan the plates into digital format. He did so under the guidance of then Willard Archivist Pat Sides.

A unique characteristic of the glass plate negatives is their incredible detail. The clock to the left is a detail from a much larger image. Both Terry Hughes and Jon Carl use digital photographs in presentations and productions they do.

The presentation on October 23rd will highlight many of the photographs in the Deeds/Glasscock collection. The presentation is free and open to the public at 6:00 PM in the Browning Gallery of Willard Library.

Jon Carl and Terry Hughes are co-creators of the Feel the History Class at FJ Reitz High School, a class Carl teaches to this date. Hughes retired from the local school corporation in 2011.

September 16, 2023 from 1:00 to 5:00 PM at Angel Mounds State Historic Site

The historic home of Angel Mound’s archaeologist Glenn Black will be temporarily vacant. Mike Linderman, Western Regional Director of State Historic Sites, Indiana State Museum, is offering us a chance to look inside the historic home. In addition to the home itself, the open house will feature enlarged photographs and displays highlighting the famous visitors to the home while Black lived there.

The house was built in 1937 by John and Lula Grimm. Black moved in on April of 1939 after IHS purchased the site and lived there until his death in 1964. This is the first time the home has ever been open to the public. It will be undergoing some restoration during this period. The home is on the National Register and is a contributing component to the overall National Historic Landmark status of the site.

Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at 6:00 PM. Tour starts at Second Street and Sycamore (Old Post Office Side).

Join Tom Lonnberg and Terry Hughes on the tour of lost Evansville – 1960s and 1970s. This tour focuses on changes to the urban landscape of downtown primarily in the 1960s and 1970s, a period of great transition for downtown Evansville. Take this opportunity to explore and learn about one of downtown Evansville’s most interesting periods when many landmarks met their demise. Tour stops include the Evansville Business Men’s Association, Grand Theater, Vendome Hotel, the Rookery, Central High School, Assumption Cathedral, Cook’s Brewery, Evansville and Terre Haute Railroad Depot (USO and Community Center), Bethel Temple, the old City Hall, Lincoln Hotel, Majestic Theater, and more. Since all buildings discussed on the tour are gone, we will provide a printed booklet with photos of each wrecking ball victim.

The event is free and open to the public. We do appreciate advanced notification if possible. Click the link provided here and let us know. https://emuseum.org/event-details/downtown-urban-renewal-tour

Tom Lonnberg is the Chief Curator and Curator of History at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History and Science. He is also the Vice President of the Vanderburgh County Historical Society.

Terry Hughes is a retired educator from the EVSC. In retirement he serves as President of the Vanderburgh County Historical Society. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Southwestern Indiana Historical Society.

Noted historian and Abraham Lincoln scholar Dr. Matthew Pinsker, the Evansville Museum’s 2023 Historian in Residence, will present the talk “Getting Right with Lincoln, Now More than Ever” on Tuesday, April 18, at 6:30 pm at the Museum. He will discuss what Americans today might learn from Lincoln’s response to the challenge of national division and partisan polarization during the secession crisis of 1860-61. Pinsker will draw upon his expertise in Lincoln studies to help shed fresh light on the great president’s political leadership while also highlighting some new materials from his free summer program for low-income high school students: the Knowledge for Freedom seminar.

Dr. Pinsker holds the Brian Pohanka Chair of Civil War History at Dickinson College and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford.

VCHS in conjunction with Willard Library
March 13, 2023 at 6:00 PM in the Browning Gallery at Willard Library.

Description of the Program: In April 1948, Progressive Party candidate for President Henry Wallace arrived in Indiana to much controversy. The conservative state did not welcome Wallace and veteran’s organizations actively organized to disrupt his speaking engagements. On April 6 at the Progressive Party’s Evansville event, a mob attacked the Wallace supporters causing injuries and pushing Evansville into the national spotlight. In the wake of the riot, a local professor was fired for his involvement in the Wallace campaign and the radical CIO Local 813 became the subject of House committee hearings. This anticommunist hysteria gripped the Evansville community and led to populist fascist reaction beginning with the violence at the riot. This presentation argues that what happened in Evansville on April 6 was part of a populist fascism in the United States propelled by anticommunism and enacted by veteran’s organizations. While national politicians dominate histories of anticommunism, some of the greatest damage done during that period occurred when other Americans, specifically veteran’s groups, violated the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens.

About Dr. Lynn: Originally from Upstate New York, she attended SUNY Binghamton, State University of New York where she received her MA and PhD. Her research focuses on women in the American Communist Party. Dr. Lynn is the Vice-President of the Historians of American Communism and the editor of its journal American Communist History. She has written a regular blog for Black Perspectives and has written for Nursing Clio, Marxist Sociology, and Lawrence & Wishart. Her articles have appeared in American Communist History, Women’s History Review, Journal of Cold War Studies, Radical Americas, Journal of Intersectionality, and Journal for the Study of Radicalism. Dr. Lynn is the author of Where is Juliet Stuart Poyntz? Gender, Spycraft, and Anti-Stalinism in the Early Cold War from the University of Massachusetts Press. Her current book project is on radical Black women in the anti-Korean war movement and a biography of Claudia Jones.