On February 8, 1955, Harry Grube, an assistant chief attorney for the Veterans Administration; Rudolf (Rudi) K. Haerle, a long-time L. S. Ayres and Company employee and member of the Library Board of the , and , Indianapolis attorney, author, and expert, gathered a small group of men in Haerle’s house for the first meeting of the Indianapolis Civil War Round Table. Throughout its history, the club has maintained the same three goals. These are: (1) the study of the American Civil War; (2) promotion and dissemination of knowledge about the Civil War; and (3) preservation of Civil War battlefields, sites, memorabilia, and artifacts.
For many years, two awards were presented to members who contributed valuable service to the club. These were the Bates Award named in honor of Howard Bates, and the Harman Award in honor of Robert C. Harman, who owned Harman Realty in Lebanon, Indiana. The group took annual bus trips to battlefields and sites of Civil War interest. They met at various locations, including the and the Indiana Historical Society.
In 2005, the club published its fifty-year history, written by Thomas K. Krasean, a Round Table member and local history services director and development officer at the Indiana Historical Society. The Round Table’s newsletter, “The Hardtack,” was made available on the club’s website, which included a monthly quiz. Jennifer Thompson, the long-serving editor, retired from the position in 2020. Besides having a web page, the club maintains a Facebook page where Civil War-related messages can be posted.
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