Each year, nine trustees are elected to a three-year term. This year, the nominees included three new trustee candidates – Frank Basile, James T. Morris and Joseph A. Slash – as well incumbents Joseph E. Costanza, William Brent Eckhart, Richard D. Feldman, Janis B. Funk, Thomas G. Hoback and Margaret Cole Russell.

The Board of Trustees serves as the governing body for the IHS, which is a private, not-for-profit organization. The Board assures that the Society is fiscally healthy and fulfilling its mission. It is comprised of community leaders from throughout the state, who are chosen for their experience and expertise, and to represent the many constituencies of the Society. This volunteer body, which meets on a quarterly basis, is comprised of historians, business and civic leaders, attorneys, teachers, retirees and other citizens of Indiana. 

2008 Board of Trustees Officers
Michael A. Blickman, Chair
Thomas G. Hoback, First Vice Chair
Sarah Evans Barker, Second Vice Chair
James C. Shook, Jr., Treasurer
Patricia D. Curran, Secretary

2008 Board of Trustees

• Sarah Evans Barker, Indianapolis [Second Vice Chair]
• William E. Bartelt, Newburgh
• Frank Basile, Indianapolis
• Michael A. Blickman, Indianapolis [Chair]
• Mary Ann Bradley, Indianapolis
• Joseph E. Costanza, Munster
• Patricia D. Curran, Indianapolis [Secretary ]
• Edgar Glenn Davis, Indianapolis
• William Brent Eckhart, Indianapolis
• Daniel M. Ent, Indianapolis
• Richard D. Feldman, M.D., Indianapolis
• Richard E. Ford, Wabash
• Wanda Y. Fortune, Indianapolis
• Janis B. Funk, Indianapolis
• Thomas G. Hoback, Indianapolis [First Vice Chair ]
• Katharine M. Kruse, Indianapolis
• P. Martin Lake, Marion
• James H. Madison, Bloomington
• James T. Morris, Indianapolis
• George F. Rapp, M.D., Indianapolis
• Margaret Cole Russell, Carmel
• Jane W. Schlegel, Indianapolis
• Jerry D. Semler, Indianapolis
• Randall T. Shepard, Indianapolis
• James C. Shook, Jr., Indianapolis [Treasurer]
• Joseph A. Slash, Indianapolis

Sarah Evans Barker

Sarah Evans Barker has been judge of the United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana, since 1984. Prior to that she was United States Attorney, Southern District of Indiana, preceded by associate and partner with the Bose, McKinney and Evans law firm. She holds honorary doctorates from numerous Indiana universities and many other distinguished awards and recognitions. Judge Barker was born in Mishawaka, and is married to Kenneth R. Barker, a lawyer. They have thee children and reside in Morgantown. She is a life member of the Indiana Historical Society.

Top

William E. Bartelt

William E. Bartelt of Newburgh taught social studies at Evansville’s Harrison High School from 1968 until 2005 where he also chaired the social studies department, and he has served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Southern Indiana since 1986. Holding degrees from Indiana State University and the University of Evansville, Bartelt is a published author with books and articles to his credit and numerous unpublished historical reports. Bartelt has served as a consultant research historian for the Colonel William Jones State Historic Site and as a seasonal park ranger with the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial and the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. He is currently president of the Vanderburgh County Historical Society and serves as historian and administrative board chair of Trinity United Methodist Church in Evansville.  Bartelt is an active member of the U. S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission as well as several state planning groups for the Lincoln Bicentennial. He has contracted with the IHS for a book on the Indiana years of Abraham Lincoln to be published in 2008.  He received the Society’s Hoosier Historian award in 2003.

Top

Frank Basile

Frank Basile was born and raised in New Orleans and is a graduate of Tulane University. Frank is senior vice president of the Gene B. Glick Company, professional speaker, author and columnist. He has served on a number of not-for-profit boards and has received numerous awards for his volunteer and philanthropic activities through the years. His hobbies include ballroom dancing, traveling, art collecting, and attending plays and concerts. He is married to Katrina, not the storm, but the F.C. Tucker Realtor.

Top

Michael A. Blickman

Indianapolis native Michael Blickman has been a member of the law firm Ice Miller LLP since 1980, representing employers in all aspects of employment and labor relations in both the public and private sectors. After graduating with honors from Miami University in Ohio in 1975, he attended Boston College School of Law and graduated in 1978 with honors. Blickman is a member of the Indianapolis, Indiana State, and American Bar associations, and also is active in several community organizations. He is a past president and a current member of the advisory board of Social Health Association, a United Way agency, and Play Ball Indiana; a member of the American Red Cross Hall of Fame; and a member of the personnel committee of the United Way of Central Indiana. Blickman has also lectured extensively and is the author of several articles, including "The Employer's Guide to Avoiding Employment Litigation." He joined the IHS board in 2000 and is chair of the board of trustees.

Top

Mary Ann Bradley

Mary Ann Bradley was born and raised in the Cleveland area where she was awarded a BA in English Literature and did post graduate work in Information Technology at Case Western Reserve. She became a management consultant in information systems and strategic planning at Ernst and Ernst in Cleveland, and she subsequently became director of computer auditing with Arthur Young & Company in Indianapolis. She married Mike Whelan in 1977, and following busy careers, they moved to Indianapolis in 1998 upon retirement. Mary Ann is active in many local organizations, has a love of antiques and shares an avid interest with her husband in studying the life and times of Sherlock Holmes.

Top

Joseph E. Costanza

Attorney Joseph E. Costanza is a graduate of Wabash College and Northwestern University School of Law, and has been practicing law in northwest Indiana since 1961. He has a passion for history and a desire to extend the involvement of the IHS to that part of the state. He has served on boards for Calumet College of St. Joseph, First National Bank of East Chicago, boards and commissions related to Ogden Dunes, and he currently serves on the board of directors of the Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc. (parent of St. Catherine Hospital, Community Hospital and St. Mary Medical Center).  Costanza has been involved with the revitalization of East Chicago, serving as counsel to the economic development commission, the redevelopment commission, and the housing authority.

Top


Patricia Curran

Indianapolis resident Patricia Curran is one of the founding members of The Worth Collection, Ltd., and currently serves as executive vice president, corporate operations, for the company. Active in the Indianapolis community, Curran serves on the board of directors for the Indianapolis Opera Company and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Guild. Curran is also an active member of the Junior League of Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Museum of Art and has served on committees at the IHS for the Grand Opening and the Hoosier History Fest. Curran is a graduate of Nazareth College of Rochester and attended graduate school at Syracuse University.

Top


Edgar Glenn Davis

Edgar Glenn Davis is a native of Indianapolis, a member of the Institute of Medicine of The National Academy of Sciences, and chairman of the board of the Congressionally-chartered National Fund for Medical Education. Following his retirement as a Vice-President of Eli Lilly and Company, he was named a Fellow at the Center for Business and Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he specialized in business-government relations. Later, he was appointed a Visiting Scholar at Green College, Oxford University, where he conducted research on British and European health policies and organizations.  Currently, he is an Executive-In-Residence at the College of Business Administration at Butler University and an instructor in the University's Honors Program. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Kenyon College where he serves as Trustee Emeritus, and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Harvard University.  His past community activities have included service as vice-chairman of the Indianapolis Symphony, chairman of the Indiana Repertory Theatre, and member of the boards of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. Currently, he serves as chairman of the Development Committee of the Indiana Historical Society.

Top

William Brent Eckhart

President of Eckhart & Co., Inc., a bookbinding and fulfillment company in Indianapolis, Brent Eckhart has a keen interest in preserving Indiana’s past. Possessing a bachelor of arts degree in history from Miami University, he enjoys the challenge of weaving elements of the past into a meaningful story. Eckhart has worked as a freelance writer and currently serves on the boards of the Binding Industries of America, Printing Industry Association of Illinois and Indiana, and Master Printers of America.  Eckhart serves on the Society’s Audit Committee and the IHS Press Editorial Board.

Top

Daniel M. Ent

Daniel Ent is retired partner-in-charge of Ent & Imler CPA Group. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He serves on the board of the Children's Bureau of Indianapolis. In the past, Ent served as chairman of the management advisory services committee and the member benefits committee of the Indiana CPA Society. He has been honored as a Sagamore of the Wabash. He is a graduate of Miami University in Ohio and of Indiana University. Ent joined the board in 2000 and serves as chairman of the audit committee and is the Society’s representative to Crown Hill Cemetery.

Top

Richard Feldman

Richard Feldman is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Medicine and a resident of Indianapolis. He served as the Indiana State Health Commissioner from 1997-2001. He maintains a private practice in family medicine in Beech Grove and is the director of the family medicine residency program at St. Francis Hospital in Indianapolis. He serves on the Indiana Medical History Museum board and is a member of the Eiteljorg Museum board. With an enthusiasm for local history and a wide range of interests, he researched and wrote a book on the Golden Hill Totem Pole and has written several articles for Traces magazine.  Feldman is also an editorial columnist for the Indianapolis Star on health-related issues.

Top

Richard Ford

Wabash native Richard Ford has an exemplary record of volunteer service. Ford is past chairman for the National Trust for Historic Preservation Council nd is chairman of the Charley Creek Foundation.  Ford serves on boards for the American Museum in Britain, Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Wabash Marketplace. A graduate of Indiana University, Ford has remained an active alumnus serving on the advisory committee for the IU Museum of Art and on the board of the IU Foundation.

Top

Wanda Fortune

Janis B. Funk is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Butler University, and the Indiana University School of Law. She serves as the executive director of the Indiana Insurance Guaranty Association and has previously served on boards for the Indianapolis Bar Association and Storytelling Arts of Indiana. She currently serves on the National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations board of directors.  Funk has a special interest in the IHS Lincoln collection and in increasing educational outreach programs.

Top

Thomas G. Hoback

Thomas Hoback was elected to the board in 2002, but has a long association with the Indiana Historical Society, having co-founded the Midwest Railroad Research Center in 1997. A native of Peoria, Illinois, he attended Golden Gate University in San Francisco, where he received a bachelor of science degree in transportation and economics. He founded the Indiana Rail Road Company, an Indianapolis-based regional railroad serving south central Indiana and eastern Illinois, and is owner, president and CEO of Central Midland Railway, a freight railroad serving the St. Louis region. He is a board member of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society and the George Krambles Transit Scholarship Fund and also serves on the editorial advisory board for Railroad History, a scholarly journal covering railways. Hoback serves on the Society's executive committee and collections committee.

Top

Katharine M. Kruse

Katharine Kruse has been a volunteer board member in numerous civic and cultural organizations in the Indianapolis area for a number of years, including the Children’s Museum Guild, the Indianapolis Civic Theatre, Indiana State Museum Foundation, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Orchard School, Park Tudor School, Indiana Advocates for Children and more. The owner of three gift shops and a former manager of the Conner Prairie Gift Shop, Kruse received her education at the University of Denver Colorado Woman’s College.

Top

P. Martin Lake

P. Martin Lake is a resident of Marion Indiana, a practicing attorney and an enthusiastic supporter of all things historical. He has a JD from I.U. School of Law and a BS from Purdue and has been practicing law since 1973. He has done extensive government service as a public defender, prosecuting attorney, and a member of the Indiana House of Representatives. He is a member of the Indiana Historical Society’s Finance, Publications and Honors committees. He is co-founder and President of the Mississinewa Battlefield Society. He has been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, US Court of Appeals, US District Court, and the Indiana Supreme Court. He is a member of the Indiana and American Bar Association. He is the author of three historical publications and has been honored as a Sagamore of the Wabash (1993).

Top

James H. Madison

James H. Madison is the Thomas and Kathryn Miller Professor of History and former chair of the Department of History, Indiana University, Bloomington. He is the author of numerous articles and several books, most about Indiana subjects, including Indiana through Tradition and Change: A History of the Hoosier State and Its People, 1920-1945, The Indiana Way: A State History, Eli Lilly: A Life, and A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America. Jim Madison has taught at Indiana University since 1973. In 1994 the University awarded him the Sylvia E. Bowmen Distinguished Teaching Award.  He has also taught, as a Fulbright Professor, at Hiroshima University, Japan, and at the University of Kent, Canterbury, England.  He is the recipient of the Indiana Historical Society's Hoosier Historian Award and has been a fellow at Harvard University, the Newberry Library, and the Huntington Library. From 1976 until 1993 he served as editor of the Indiana Magazine of History.  In 2001 the Organization of American Historians named Professor Madison a Distinguished Lecturer. He joined the IHS board in 2001 and serves on the Editorial board for Traces Magazine.
Top

James T. Morris

For the past five years, James T. Morris served as executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, traveling to most of the 80 countries where WFP is operational and visiting sites of major operations worldwide, including the tsunami region, Pakistan earthquake, Niger, Darfur and southern Africa. His career includes head positions at IWC Resources Corp. and Indianapolis Water Company, Lilly Endowment, Inc., and as Chief of Staff under former mayor Richard Lugar. His numerous service engagements nclude the United States Olympic Committee, several committees at Indiana University, the NCAA Foundation Board of Directors, YMCA, Boy Scouts of America and United Way. His interests include community development, core city revitalization, enhancing opportunities for at-risk youth and developing world issues. He is currently special adviser to the CEO/President of Pacers Sports and Entertainment.

Top

George F. Rapp

George Rapp of Indianapolis is a retired orthopaedic surgeon. He was born in New Harmony and has remained very involved in the preservation of that community. He has been active in the Heartland Film Festival and the New Harmony Project, and he currently serves on boards for the New Harmony Memorial Commission, Historic New Harmony, IUPUI Board of Advisors, Indianapolis Museum of Art board of trustees, Hoosier Salon Board, Riley Hospital Board, Boy Scouts, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Rapp is also an active member of the Second Presbyterian Church and the Junto Men's Club. He joined the IHS board in 2001 and serves on the development and collections committees.

Top

Margaret Cole Russell

Raised in Peru, Ind., Margaret Cole Russell originally became acquainted with the IHS because of her husband’s interest in Civil War history. Her involvement with the Society has grown over the years; she seized the opportunity to name a room at the IHS after her cousin, Cole Porter. Currently, Russell is president and treasurer of the Margaret Cole Russell Charitable Foundation and has served in the past on boards of the Cathedral Arts Foundation, Fairbanks Hospital Executive Committee and the Cole Porter Centennial Committee. She was educated at St. Vincent’s School of Nursing and Indiana University.

Top

Jane Schlegel

Jane Schlegel has worked in community development and international relations for more than twenty years as a volunteer and consultant for Indiana University and the International Center of Indianapolis. Schlegel has extensive experience in grant writing, fund-raising and event coordination. She has chaired the Women’s Fund of Central Indiana and served as board president of the Indiana Repertory Theatre from 2003-05. She is active on the boards of the Indianapolis Opera, Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, Indianapolis City Market Foundation, and the IUPUI Center for Intercultural Communication and the Dean’s Research Council.  In 1998 she was selected as one of the most influential women in Indianapolis by the Indianapolis Business Journal and Indiana Lawyer. Schlegel holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Indiana University. She serves on the Society’s development and collections committees.

Top

Jerry D. Semler

Jerry Semler is chairman of the board for American United Mutual Insurance Holding Company. Under Semler’s leadership, American United Life Insurance Company, a OneAmerica partner company, grew from $1.4 billion to more than $14 billion in total assets. A Purdue University graduate, Semler began his career with AUL in 1959, was named president of the company in 1980, chief executive officer in 1989 and chairman of the board in 1991. He is active in numerous business and civic organizations, including Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, the Heartland Film Festival, Indiana Sports Corporation, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association, Riley Children’s Foundation, Conner Prairie, Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Central Indiana, Indianapolis Museum of Art, and others.

Top

Randall T. Shepard

Randall T. Shepard became chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court in 1987 and, at that time, was the youngest chief justice in the United States. He has practiced law, served as executive assistant to the mayor of Evansville, and served as special assistant to the Under Secretary of Transportation in Washington, D.C. He has held several positions of national leadership within the American Bar Association and was elected to the executive committee of the National Conference of Chief Justices. He will serve as president of this group from 2005 to 2006. Shepard has a longtime interest in historic preservation

Top

James Shook, Jr.

James Shook is a partner in his family’s commercial and residential real estate brokerage company that operates in central Indiana as Coldwell Banker Shook and Coldwell Banker Commercial.  He resides in Indianapolis where he is president of Coldwell Banker Commercial.  Shook is also involved in banking and serves as chairman of the Indiana Business Bank.  He has served on the Historical Society’s development committee and is currently vice-chair of the finance committee.  He also served as chair of the investment advisor selection committee which recently appointed a new advisor to assist the Society with responsible, active management of its endowment.  Shook is co-chair of the 2006 Living Legends dinner, the Society’s primary fundraiser honoring significant living Hoosiers.  He is a graduate of Indiana University and has a keen interest in Indiana history.  He has been a trustee of the Historical Society since 2004.

Top

Joseph A. Slash

Joseph A. Slash is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Indianapolis Urban League and formerly Vice President, Community and Corporate Effectiveness, of Indianapolis Power & Light Company and Deputy Mayor for the City of Indianapolis from 1978-89. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Fifth Third Bank of Central Indiana and AdminiStar Federal, the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee (GIPC) and the Center for Leadership Development; and is also a Director and member of the Executive Committee of the Indiana Sports Corporation and the Circle City Classic, which he serves as Executive Coordinator. He has been honored as a Sagamore of The Wabash, the Jaycee's Outstanding Young Man of the Year; is listed in Who's Who in Black America; and has received the United Way of Central Indiana's Outstanding Service Award, and the Marshall University Outstanding Alumni Award. He and his wife, Meredith, live in Indianapolis and have two daughters.