History of The Batesville Area Historical Society
Early in the year 1999 a group of citizens became interested in forming an
organization to collect and preserve the history of the town of Batesville
and the surrounding area. A series of meetings of these citizens were held
to determine first the extent of public interest, and then the feasibility
of forming such an organization.
By May the groundwork had been laid and the first meeting of the
Batesville Area Historical Society was held at the Batesville Memorial
Public Library on May 20, 1999 at 7:00 PM.
At this meeting the first slate of officers was elected. They were as
follows:
President - Doug Evans
Vice President - Judy Tonges
Secretary - Rick Fledderman
Treasurer - John Irrgang
At the first meeting the name of the organization was chosen, and some
objectives were discussed and a few were decided upon as important initial
pursuits of the young organization.
The geographical scope of the organization was to focus not only on
Batesville, but also the smaller communities located within the Batesville
school district. The list of communities would include Huntersville,
Oldenburg, Morris, Ballstown, among others.
The first objective of the group would be to collect oral histories from
the older citizens of the town to preserve their memories. A preliminary
list of people to interview for oral histories was developed, as was a
process for obtaining these histories.
The timing of the regular monthly meetings was set at the second monthly
meeting on June 15, 1999. The meetings would be held on the third Tuesday
of each month. This meeting schedule is still adhered to by BAHS.
By the July 20 meeting BAHS was technically incorporated.
Initial funding donations were from the Batesville City Council and the
Jaycees.
Membership dues were set at $5.00 per year.
By February 15, 2000 the first edition of the newsletter had been
published by Paul Wonning.
The first oral histories had also been completed by Judy Tonges. These
included the Walsman Company from Howard Walsman, The Eureka Band from
Bess Bartling, Schott Machine Shop from Bertha Schott Hazelwood, Hertel
Shoe store from Harold Weiler and Davis Grocery Store from Dorothy Davis
Janzaruk.
By May 16, 2000 the first web site had been created by Library Director
Mike Kruse.
On November 18, 19, BAHS conducted the first Holiday Homes tour as a
fundraiser. It was a successful event which raised some needed funds for
BAHS.
In April 2002 a computer was acquired for BAHS using funding from a grant
from the Rising Sun Foundation.
As part of the community’s events for the Sesquicentennial Celebration of
2002, BAHS conducted several operations to assist in celebrating the event.
These included operating a store on Pearl Street selling souvenirs and
memorabilia, conducting a Garden Tour in June and a Home Tour in November.
A Pie Auction was held at the Firemen’s Festival in August. These were all
successful events raising funds for the Century and a Half committee,
which was in charge of Sesquicentennial activities, and the Batesville
Volunteer Fire Department.
In November 2002, BAHS opened an office in the Memorial Building as a
temporary residence until more permanent space could be found.
By February of 2003 the Batesville Memorial Public Library acquired the
Cinergy Building located at 10 North Boehringer Street directly west of
the Library. The Library’s plans for the building included using some of
it as storage space for the library, and allowing BAHS to use the rest as
a headquarters and museum. After some renovation work by Batesville
Memorial Public Library the building was ready for BAHS to move into its
new headquarters. This was done on Tuesday, October 28, 2003. An Open
House heralded the opening of the museum on October 3, 2004.
In March of 2003 a committee was formed to look into publishing the only
comprehensive history of Batesville in existence - Builders of a City by
Minnie Wycoff.
This work was published as a faithful reproduction of the original
typewritten book which was originally published by Mrs. Wycoff in 1935.
An initial printing run of 200 books was ready for sale by Christmas, 2003
and sold in area stores.
A distinctive memorial was needed for the side of the museum and BAHS
members decided a mural depicting important events in the town’s history
would be a fit and proper adornment for this. Working with the art
department at Batesville High School the students under the direction of
artist Rebecca Davies a very impressive mural was painted. It is eight
feet high and thirty two feet long and illustrates a number of scenes
important in the town’s history. A dedication ceremony was held on Friday
afternoon, May 13, 2005.
These are the important events which have occurred in the life of the
Batesville Area Historical Society to date. For a more complete
accounting, please go to the Histories section and see the meeting
reports for past meetings and other documents from our archives. These will
be posted as I complete them, so
please be patient and check back often.
Author - Paul R. Wonnig
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