Hidden History of Montgomery County, Indiana

Hidden History of Montgomery County, Indiana

Shine a light on the fascinating but previously unexplored aspects of Montgomery County history. Meet forgotten artists, authors and athletes. Revisit courtroom drama and sensational crimes, like the attempted robbery of Waveland State Bank that was thwarted by vigilantes. Peruse A.D. Willis's spirit photography gallery on Crawfordsville's Main Street before studying the oddities at Commodore Alfred Lookabill's Gourd Museum. Look agog as Lana Turner stops by for a week and risk admonishment--or worse--from aggressive temperance champion Carrie Nation at the July 4 festival in 1901. And while you're here, gain some trivia: did you know that the highest-altitude balloon flight and the first airmail are connected to Montgomery County? Other subjects of the book include Frederick Eglin, military pilot for whom Eglin Air Force Base in Florida was named, and his wife, military artist Mary Oda Eglin; Naval Reserve pilot Malcolm Ross, who made the "riskiest flight ever" in a hot air balloon to support Project Mercury; the family of Harry Freedman, local tailor, including Hoosier author Beatrice Schenk de Regniers and neuropsychiatrist Dr. Daniel X. Freedman; pictorialist photographer Nellie Coutant; Crawfordsville's playwright Kenyon Nicholson; female suffragist Elizabeth Boynton Harbert; and best-selling young adult author Janet Lambert, born Maude Snyder in Crawfordsville in 1893. Jodie Steelman Wilson is a reference and local history librarian at the Crawfordsville District Public Library, Crawfordsville, Indiana. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a master's degree in library science from Indiana University, Indianapolis. She enjoys applying journalistic approaches to historical subjects to illuminate local history and has written for many publications. She lives with her husband, Michael, and daughters, Annie and Alison, in rural Indiana. Emily Griffin Winfrey is a reference and local history librarian at the Crawfordsville District Public Library in Crawfordsville, Indiana. She received a bachelor's degree in communication from Wingate University in Wingate, North Carolina, and a master's degree in library and information science from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Society of Indiana Archivists. She has written local history articles for Montgomery County Memories and Wabash Magazine. She lives with her husband, Russell, in Montgomery County. Rebecca McDole is a reference and local history librarian at the Crawfordsville District Public Library, Crawfordsville, Indiana, and also a bookseller at Barnes & Noble, Lafayette, Indiana. She received her bachelor's at Purdue in English/creative writing with a minor in history. She received her master's in library science from Indiana University, Indianapolis. Rebecca is a member of the American Library Association. She has published several articles in Montgomery County Memories and has several more in the queue.