Lawrence E. McCullough - indyencyclopedia.org

ENCYCLOPEDIA AUTHOR

Lawrence E. McCullough

Articles:

Francis (Scrapper) Blackwell

(Feb. 21, 1903-Oct. 7, 1962). Born in Syracuse, South Carolina, Francis (Scrapper) Blackwell arrived in Indianapolis at age three and was performing guitar professionally by his teens. In 1928, he… Read More »Francis (Scrapper) Blackwell

Leroy Carr

(Mar. 27, 1905-Apr. 28, 1935). The most popular male blues musician of his day, Leroy Carr was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and arrived in Indianapolis from Louisville in 1912. As… Read More »Leroy Carr

Dance Bands

Professional bands hired to perform for public and private social dances began to flourish in Indianapolis during the 1880s. Groups such as the Montani Brothers’ Orchestra, Lyra Society Orchestra, First… Read More »Dance Bands

Ensemble Music Society

The Ensemble Music Society presents the oldest continuous chamber music concert series in Indiana. Organized to encourage public presentation of Chamber Music, amateur violinist Leonard Strauss, who also had helped… Read More »Ensemble Music Society

Hampton Family

Clarke Fielding (Deacon) Hampton (Mar. 14, 1879-May 29, 1951); Laura Buford Hampton (Nov. 4, 1890-May 26, 1967); Aletra Hampton (Oct. 8, 1915-Nov. 12, 2007); Carmelita Hampton (Nov. 16, 1916-May 16,… Read More »Hampton Family

Robert Lee Gholson Jr.

(Jan. 23, 1931-Dec. 7, 1993). A native of Aberdeen, Mississippi, Robert Lee Gholson moved with his family to Gary, Indiana, in 1938. At age nine, he was permanently blinded in… Read More »Robert Lee Gholson Jr.

Erroll Grandy

(Jan. 1, 1918-June 12, 1991). Erroll Grandy was a Jazz pianist affectionately nicknamed the “godfather of Indianapolis jazz” in deference to his influence on the city’s jazz scene from the… Read More »Erroll Grandy

Shirley Griffith

(Apr. 26, 1908 -June 18, 1974). A native of Brandon, Mississippi, Griffith learned to play the guitar at age 10. He moved to Indianapolis in 1928 bearing the stylistic influence… Read More »Shirley Griffith

Ragtime

This uniquely American musical genre, based upon African American rhythms and styles rendered initially by Black banjoists and pianists, flourished throughout the United States from the late 1890s to the… Read More »Ragtime

Ruoff Music Center

Located southeast of Noblesville in Hamilton County, the Deer Creek Music Center, now Ruoff Music Center, was completed in 1989 at a cost of $12 million by Sunshine Promotions of… Read More »Ruoff Music Center

Harry and Albert Von Tilzer

(Harry, July 8, 1872-Jan. 10, 1946; and Albert, Mar. 29, 1878-Oct. 1, 1956). Harry Gumm, born in Detroit, moved to Indianapolis as a boy where he was intrigued by local… Read More »Harry and Albert Von Tilzer

A product of the Indianapolis Bicentennial effort (2020–21), the digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis integrates and accesses the explosion and fragmentation of knowledge created both as born-digital information and as a large new digital archive.

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