What's New - Encyclopedia of Indianapolis

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Ann Kurker Zarick

(May 10, 1897-Jan. 27, 1970). Ann Kurker Zarick was a successful and well-known leader within Syrian and Lebanese women’s and youth organizations in Indianapolis during the 1930s and 1940s. She fostered numerous club activities that helped local Syrian and Lebanese youth and women find paths to greater inclusion within the broader civic community. The reputation she gained through such work eventually allowed her to take on leadership positions in larger regional Arab American organizations. Since these groups were largely male dominated at the time, Zarick’s ascent to prominent roles within… Read More »Ann Kurker Zarick

Carolyn Lucas Dickson

(July 25, 1913–Sept. 19, 2010). Carolyn Lucas Dickson was an Indianapolis physician who served patients for 53 years. She was one of the first African American female physicians to own a medical practice in Indianapolis. This work earned her several statewide accolades, including the Sagamore of the Wabash Award as well as the State of Indiana Half Century Business Award. Lucas was born in Indianapolis to Clarence A. Lucas Sr., a doctor, and Carrie Heston Lucas, a schoolteacher. She had one brother, Clarence A. Lucas Jr. Carolyn Lucas attended and… Read More »Carolyn Lucas Dickson

Indianapolis Arrows

The Indianapolis Arrows was a proposed Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise that represented the city’s attempt to secure a third major professional sports team during the 1980s. Though the team never materialized, the effort to acquire an MLB team generated significant public enthusiasm and demonstrated Indianapolis’s growing prominence as a major-league sports city, one which had developed extensive fan bases for the existing NBA team and following the arrival in 1984 of the NFL squad. Bringing an MLB expansion team to Indianapolis was part of Mayor vision to use sports… Read More »Indianapolis Arrows

Knickerbacker Hall

Knickerbacker Hall was an boarding and day school for girls, located within the complex of buildings developed around Grace Church in Indianapolis. The Episcopalian Church opened the school in September 1891 as Saint Mary’s Hall. It served as the new home for the Indianapolis Institute for Young Ladies (later renamed the Diocesan School for Girls), a small boarding and day school for girls founded in 1885. The Right Reverend D. B. Knickerbacker served as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Indiana at the time the school opened; though he refused… Read More »Knickerbacker Hall

Mexican Film Festival

The Mexican Film Festival was established by the in Indianapolis to bring contemporary Latin American and Latino cinema to the city. During the festival’s inaugural year of 2003, the consulate partnered with the and to bring eleven films to the city. This was the first Indianapolis cultural event sponsored by the city’s Mexican Consulate outside of the traditional fall-time Hispanic Heritage Month. For the next two decades, the festival served as a platform for diverse voices and stories, with a goal of building cultural pride and promoting intercultural understanding. The… Read More »Mexican Film Festival