� --1·1 r� · --·t· r-1 � -r� --·rl �l_, r�·r p· ,("' __, .:..../ --rl 0 F 521 148 VOL 16 N01 - - - - INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES SARAH Evru'\'S BARKER, indianapolis MICH.\ELA. SIKK.\IAN, Indianapolis, Second Vice Chair �� \RY A.J-..:-...: BRADLEY, Indianapolis £0\\.\.RI) E. BREEN, �[arion, First Vice Chair 01.\.\!,E j. C\RT�tEL, Brownstown P•TRICL\ D. CeRRA!<, Indianapolis EOCAR G1 EXN 0.-\\15, Indianapolis DA.." l:. I �1. E�'T. Indianapolis RIC! lARD F'ELDMA-'-.;,Indianapolis RICHARD E. FoRD, Wabash R. RAY HAWKINS. Carmel TI!O\!A-<.; G. HOR\CK, Indianapolis MARTIN L<\KE, 1'1arion L\RRY S. L\NDIS, Indianapolis P01.1 'Jo�TI LEi'\NON,Indianapolis jAMES H. MADISON, Bloomington M \RY jA...'\'E �IEEJ.�ER. Carmel AMlRF\\ '"'· NiCKLE, South Bend GJ::.ORGJ::. F. RAPP,Indianapolis BO'<'IIE A. REILLY, Indianapolis E\'AIIt'\FII. RIIOOI:.II.AME.L,Indianapolis, Secretary LA:-.J M. Rou.�\!'-10, Fon \-\'ayne, Chair jMIES SHOOK JR., Indianapolis P. R. SwEENEY, Vincennes, Treasurer R BERT B. TOOTHAKER, South Bend WILLIAM H. WIGGINS JR., Bloomington ADMINISTRATION SALVATORE G. CILELLAjR., President RA�IOND L. SIIOI:.MAKER, Executive Vice President ANMBELLF J.JACKSON, Comroller St!SAN P. BROWN, enior Director, Human Resources STEPIIl:-.. L. Cox, Vice President, Collections, Conserv-ation, and Public Programs TIIO\IAS A. �lAsoN, Vice President, n-JS Press Ll:'\DA L. PRArr, Vice President, Development and Membership BRE:"DA MYER.<;, Vice President, Marketing and Public Relation� DARA BROOKS, Director, Membership \ROLYI\ S. SMITH, Membership Coordinator TRACES OF INDIANA AND MIDWESTERN HISTORY RAY E. BOOMHOWER, Managing Editor GEORGF R. HANLIN, Assistant Editor CONTRIBUTING EDITORS M. TERESA BAER KATHLEEN M. BREEN DOUGlAS E. CLANIN EXT? PAULA J. CORPUZ LEIGII DARBEE Junrl"ll Q. McMuLLEN PHOTOGRAPHY DAVID TURK, Photographer SUSAN L. S. SurroN, Coordinator EDITORIAL BOARD EDWARD E. BREEN, Marion IIOWARll C. CALDII'ELLjR., Indianapolis J c\IES A. COLES, Indianapolis RJCI-V\RD FF:I.D�IAN, Indianapolis THE SPRING ISSUE OF Traces J'L\1 PI! D. GRAY, Indianapolis examines the career of Hoosier health pioneer }'-'\IES H. MADISON, Bloomington DALE OGDFN, Indianapolis Leroy E. Burney, who served as U.S. surgeon LESTER M. P01'\IDER, indianapolis ROBERT L. REID, Evans,�IIe general from 1956 to 1961 and became the first ERIC T. S.-\NDWEISS, Bloomington Bl-RNARD '"'· SIIEEH..-'-'�. Bloomington fe deral official publicly to link cigarettes with lung RICHARD S. SiMONS, Marion \-\1ILLIA.\t H. W!CGJNSjR., Bloomington cancer. The issue also fe atures articles on the expe­ DESIGN riences of an author researching the life of an R. LL0\1> BROOKS, Design Director RYAN SNEED, Designer Indiana missionary and his work in Ti bet, how Thrive, Inc. employees were recruited for the cotton mills in PREPRESS AND PRINTING GRAPHIC ARTs CENTER/Indianapolis Cannelton, and a history of the revolutionary cabi­ IHS WORLD WIDE WEB PAGE nets made by the Hoosier Manufacturing Company http:/ /wvvw.indianahistory.org of New Castle. Traus of lndwrw and .\lldwt'-5lt'111 llutor)' (ISSN 1040-788X) is puhlished qual terh and dblribuu�d as a benefitof memlx-rship by theIndiana IIi o;;torical Soci<"l' Pre�; editorial and executiH· offices, 450 WesL Ohio Strfet, lndianapolio;. Indiana 46202·3269. Membership categories include Studfnt 10, lndi\irlual 35, famil). Dual 50. and Sll'itaining 100. Single copies are 5.25. Peri<•dicah postage paid at Indianapolis, Indiana; t;SPS Number 003--275. l.ltrrar)' rontn· butimn: A brochure containing information for comriblltors is aY-ailablc upon ..,. request. 71nrfs acct"pts no rc�pomibiliLy for unsolicited manuo;;criplSsubmitted with011t return postaj{t'. Indiana newspaper publishers may obtain permission to repri nt articles by written request to the Press. The Press will refer request.-; from other publish�rs 10 the author. ©2004 Indiana Historical Society Pres�. All rights reserved. Printed on acid-free paper in the United States of America. n PostmflJler: Pk·asc <,t·nd address chtmges to Traces ofIndiafla and J\fidWi'Jin'11 1/i.>tory', Indiana I IiSLorical Soricty l>reso;;, 150 West Ohio Street, illdianapolis, Indiana 16202·3269. Trarnis a mem ber of the Conference of llistoricaljounJals. HISTORICALI oc I ETY TRACES OF INDIANA AND MIDWESTERN HISTORY WINTER 2004 VOLUME SIXTEEN, NUMBER ONE Editors' Page: The 28 "The Thing Is Te acher and the Right!": Eliza Student Blaker and the Free Ray E. Boomhower Kindergarten Movement Ray E. Boomhower 4 The Art of Healing: The Wishard Art Collection 3 Focus: "Having a Cinnamon Catlin- Good Time": Legutlw Indiana Postcards Barbara Quigley 16 Harmonicas and Homespun Humor: 44 I Remember When: The Life of Indiana Mint Farming in Funnyman Herb Lakeville Shriner LaritaJ Killian Nelson Price 48 Images of Indiana RECEIVED J N v :004 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY LIBRARY FRONT Cm I·R: llu1um11 l.and,rajJe by lloosicr Group anis1 T. C. S�t·ek once decorated the women\ ..,urgical ward at lndianapoli!,\ \Yi..,hard fi.kmorial l lo,pilal . Crerlil: Wishard An Collccl.ion. OPI'OSII f.: Dr. Lerm E. nnrne) check_, a patil'nt at a clinic in Georgia. Burncv htler sen eel as U.S. \urgeon general. Credil: Courtcs1 Dr. Robert G. Burnc1. ED ITOR S' PAGE Children at the Alice Taylor Memorial Kindergarten in Muncie engage in a free-play period. THE TEACHER AND THE STUDENT ONE OF THE SURE SIGNS OF ADVANCING AGE IS LEARNING that a cherished part of your childhood may face the wrecking ball. That chilling awareness came to me a few years ago when I read that the School City of Mishawaka had plans to demolish Mary Phillips Elementary School, which had educated students fo r more than sixty years but had closed its doors in the grin or the bizarre haircut inflicted on me by a sadistic spring of 1999 when the new Liberty Elementary barber-Miss Swarm took an interest in me, particu­ School on McKinley Avenue opened. larly my growing love of reading. Although other teach­ As a child, I lived near the two-story, red-brick school er might have scolded me fo r reading ahead in the and attended classes there from kindergarten until sixth text during a classroom assignment, Miss Swarm noticed grade. I also pent countle s hours on its playground, my enthusiasm fo r the printed word and encouraged me chipping ice off its basketball court during the winter to read whatever interested me. In my case, this hap­ to practice my jump shot, running after fly balls in the pened to be any book on hi tory or biography. summer on its concrete baseball field,and scampering My passion fo r the past would not have been possible over its elaborate and dangerous steel monkey bars without the encouragement of a dedicated teacher. In whenever possible. Thankfully, there is no empty hole some way, I believe, I write about Indiana history in where Mary Phillips once stood. When plans were order to pay back Miss Swarm's kindness. The work of announced to tear down the school, neighbors banded my old third-grade instructor would have pleased Eliza together to convince city officials to save the structure. Blaker, whose own service to education is featured in tl1is In September 2003 Ca teel Construction received a issue of Tmces. Blaker served as a leader in the free $2.8 million contract from the city to convert the school kindergarten movement in Indiana and spent her career into sixteen one-bedroom and nine two-bedroom apart­ training teacher so that they were better prepared to ments for senior citizens. The apartments will be owned guide children toward productive lives. and operated by the Mishawaka Housing Authority, Blaker, who gave numerous talk around the state which has experience running such a project, as it also and country on be half of the free kindergarten move­ operates the Battell School Senior Apartment . ment, emphasized that a teacher must be an observer In pondering Mary Phillips's fate, my mind wandered of students. By doing so, she argued, the teacher back to the year 1967, when I was in third grade. My would better understand each child's nature and teacher tl1atyear was a woman named Patricia Swarm. needs, become aware of his or her interests at each For some reason-perhap because of my gap-toothed stage of development, and "be able to furnish the right environment both physically and psychically to insure to the child the best growth." Whether or not she was aware of Blaker's theories and principles, Miss Swarm put them into practice at Mary Phillips Elementary School, and in the end she certainly achieved Blaker's goal with this student. Ray E. Boomhower TRAC ES Winttr 20 0·• • The Wishard Art Collection 4 TRACES Wi11tu 200,, TR ACES Wi11ter 200,, 5 THe· ART OF HEALING overhanging eaves. Neoclassical porticoes were added in 19 29. When completed, the tmits were known as Wards B and C and stood five stories tall witl1 fo ur floors of patient wards. Each had a similar floor plan of a long ward with ancillary rooms. The rooms on the north end of the ward included a reception area for families, a consultation room, private rooms, a dinit1g room, kitchenettes, and baths. On the south end the floor plan terminated with a sunroom. When tl1ey opened fo r patient care, the Burdsal units were extremely functional, but the decor was stark. There were lit­ erally miles of white wall space tl1at beckoned for itnprovement. Hidden within the confines of one of the nation's Since 1907 the hospital had benefited from the St. Margaret's oldest county hospitals is a historic and unprecedented col­ Hospital Guild, a ladies society that provided funding for spe­ lection of paintings.