"/by j-J jJs/y ui rizttDi&ni—11 ^ i,i , , i F_521_l48_VOL15_N04 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES Michael A. Blickman, Indianapolis, Second Vice Chair Edward E. Breen, Marion, First Vice Chair Dianne J. Cartmel, Brownstown Patricia D. Curran, Indianapolis Edgar Glenn Davis, Indianapolis Daniel M. Ent, Indianapolis Richard E. Ford, Wabash R. Ray H awkins, Carmel T homas G. H oback, Indianapolis Larry S. Landis, Indianapolis Polly J ontz Lennon, Indianapolis J ames H. Madison, Bloomington Mary J ane Meeker, Carmel J anet C. Moran, Hammond Andrew W. N ickle, South Bend George F. Rapp, Indianapolis Robert L. Reid, Evansville Bonnie A. Reilly, Indianapolis Evaline H. Rhodehamel, Indianapolis, Secretary Ian M. Rolland, Fort Wayne, Treasurer P. R. Sweeney, Vincennes Michael L. Westfall, Fort Wayne, Chair William H . Wiggins J r., Bloomington ADMINISTRATION Salvatore G. Cilella J r., President Raymond L. Shoemaker, Executive Vice President AnnabelleJ. J ackson, Controller Susan P. Brown, Senior Director, Human Resources Stephen L. Cox, Vice President, Collections, Conservation, and Public Programs T homas A. Mason, Vice President, IHS Press Linda L. Pratt, Vice President, Development and Membership Brenda Myers, Vice President, Marketing and Public Relations Dara Brooks, Director, Membership Carolyn S. Smith, Membership Coordinator TRACES OF INDIANA AND MIDWESTERN HISTORY Ray E. Boomhower, Managing Editor WHAT’S NEXT? Kathleen M. Breen, Assistant Editor George R. H anlin, Assistant Editor J udith Q. McM ullen, Assistant Editor CONTRIBUTING EDITORS M. T eresa Baer Douglas E. Clanin Paula J. Corpuz Leigh Darbee PHOTOGRAPHY David T urk, Photographer Susan L. S. Sutton, Coordinator EDITORIAL BOARD Edward E. Breen, Marion H oward C. Caldwell J r., Indianapolis J ames A. Coles, Indianapolis Ralph D. Gray, Indianapolis J ames H. Madison, Bloomington Dale O gden, Indianapolis Lester M. Ponder, Indianapolis Robert L. Reid, Evansville Eric. T. Sandweiss, Bloomington T he winter issue of Traces Bernard W. Sheehan, Bloomington explores the life of Hoosier funnyman Herb Shriner. The Richard S. Simons, Marion William H. Wiggins J r., Bloomington harmonica devotee endeared himself to audiences around DESIGN R. Lloyd Brooks the country with his laid-back wit, including the observa­ Thrive, Inc. tion: “Living in a small town is peaceful. You don’t do PREPRESS AND PRINTING much. You’re afraid to. You’re sure to get caught.” The Graphic Arts CENTER/Indianapolis IHS WORLD WIDE WEB PAGE issue also features articles on the career of U.S. surgeon http://wwvv.indianahistory.org general Leroy Burney, the kindergarten movement in Indiana inspired by Eliza Blaker, and the art collection amassed over the years by Wishard Health Services. Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History (ISSN 1040-788X) is published quar­ terly and disuibuted as a benefit of membership by the Indiana Historical Society Press; editorial and executive offices, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-3269. Membership categories include Student $10, Individual $35, Family/Dual $50, and Sustaining $100. Single copies are $5.25. Periodicals postage paid at Indianapolis, Indiana; USPS Number 003-275. Literary contri­ butions: A brochure containing information for contributors is available upon request. Traces accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts submitted without return postage. Indiana newspaper publishers may obtain permission to reprint articles by written request to the Press. The Press will refer requests from other publishers to the author. ©2003 Indiana Historical Society Press. All rights reserved. Printed on acid-free paper in the United States of America. Postmaster: Please send address changes to Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, Indiana Historical Society Press, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-3269. Traces is a member of the Conference of Historical Journals ® vol.15 no 4 Editors’ Page: The Quiet Man 3 Ray E. Boomhower All about Anne: The Acting Career of Anne Baxter 5 David L. Smith Gil Hodges: The Hoosier Hero of Brooklyn 17 Wes D. Gehring Tet Then and Now: A Hoosier Veteran’s Return to Vietnam 27 Daniel H. FitzGibbon A Community within a Community: Indianapolis’s Lockefield Gardens 39 Rachael L. Drenovsky Images of Indiana 48 Front Cover: Indiana baseball great Gil Hodges thrilled fans for years as part of the legendary cast of characters known as the Brooklyn Dodgers. Credit: Baseball Hall of Fame Library. O pposite: Comedian Herb Shrincr pon­ ders his small-town roots for a series of commercials titled Home Town, Indiana, made for DuPont in 1963. Credit: Courtesy Wil Shriner. RAYE. BOOMHOWER The “Amazin' Mets" pose for a 1969 team photo. Manager Gil Hodges is seated in the second row, fifth from left. THE QUIET MAN THE YEAR 1969 proved to be a momentous and contentious time for America. On 20 July astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped off the ladder on the lunar excursion model and became the first person to walk on the moon. Just a month later approximately half a million young people camped out in the muddy pasture owned by Max Yasgur in Sullivan County, New York, for four days of music at a festival known as Woodstock. To a thirteen year old growing up in Mishawaka, Indiana, however, something truly miraculous was happening that summer— the Chicago Cubs looked as if they were headed to the World Series. Longtime Cubs fans will tell you that cheering for the Cubs’ long-suffering fans, me among them. I cursed team takes some intestinal fortitude. As National Public the Cubs’ ineptitude and the Mets’ brilliant play. Radio broadcaster Scott Simon once observed, being a Heartbroken over my team’s collapse, I failed to Cubs fan is like rooting for the Italian army or raving about notice the quiet man wandering the Mets’ dugout, offer­ your Edsel. Led by manager Leo Durocher and powered ing a steady guiding hand to a team filled with talented, by the hitting of third baseman Ron Santo and the pitch­ but young, ballplayers. Indiana native Gil Hodges, pro­ ing of right-hander Ferguson Jenkins, however, the Cubs filed in this issue of Traces by Wes Gehring, guided the were the talk of baseball in the summer of 1969. Forgetting Mets to not only a division title, but the National League their usual ‘June swoon,” when the heat of day baseball at pennant and a World Series victory over the heavily Wrigley Field saps the strength of their players, the Ctibs favored Baltimore Orioles as well. “They say that a man­ on 14 August led the National League’s Eastern Division ager only wins a few ball games here and there over the by eight and a half games over the second-place St. Louis course of a season,” said Joe Pignatano, a Mets coach, Cardinals and nine and a half games over the third-place “but Gil Hodges won the 1969 World Championship. All New York Mets. I watched as broadcaster Jack Brickhouse the players know that. He did it with his mind.” described every thrilling Cubs victory, each one cemented Hodges, of course, knew the game intimately from his by Santo clicking his heels with glee. days as a stalwart first baseman with the Brooklyn What happened next is still hard for me to believe. Dodgers. A powerful hitter with 370 home runs to his The Cubs faded, and as they struggled to win games, credit during a career that began in the 1940s and the Mets caught fire, winning thirty-eight of their last ended in the 1960s, Hodges earned the respect of team­ forty-nine games to pass Chicago and take possession of mates and fans alike. “He was the strong, silent type first place for good on 10 September. Tom Seaver, Mets and everybody who played for him .. respected him,” pitcher and today a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame, said Art Shamsky, who played for the Mets from 1968 said that when he and his teammates journeyed to to 1971. “Maybe some of us didn’t agree with him, but Chicago in October for the last series of the season after we always respected him.” Although a heart attack took clinching the division title, “I felt kind of sorry for some Hodges’s life in 1972, he lived long enough to disprove of the Cubs.” Seaver should have spared his feelings for a famous quote from former foe Durocher. Sometimes, the opposition and instead placed his sympathy with the at least, nice guys do finish first. TRACES Fall 200 3 3 Opposite: Anne Baxter embraces William Eythe in The Eve of St. Mark. 1944. Right: Baxter (right) appears with eleven-year-old Indianapolis native Shari Robinson. Anne Revere, and Dan Dailey in You're My Everything, 1949. Anne Baxter “I wanted to be an ACTRESS because that was the thing I was best at. I k n e w l c o u l d DO IT. There are very few things in life that we know we can do.” Wright, once described as “the only architect who he ran a successful architectural practice. Through achieved the popular status and recognition of the years he designed several civic buildings and a movie star,” was pleased, expressing pride at hav­ numerous residences and vacation homes. ing a granddaughter who achieved the celebrity Catherine Wright had married Kenneth Stuart Baxter status he had always enjoyed. on 11 March 1919. Shortly after their marriage the cou­ As had fellow Hoosier actress Carole Lombard, ple moved to Michigan City, where Kenneth became Baxter came from a wealthy family. Her mother was manager of the Sheet Steel Products Company and later Catherine Wright Baxter, the daughter of the famed worked as a salesman and in public relations for the architect. Frank Lloyd Wright spent significant time Frankfort Distillers Corporation. On 24 January 1920 in Indiana, primarily because two of his children Catherine gave birth to James Stewart Baxter.