Madge Augustine Oberholtzer   

Educator

(Nov. 10, 1896 – Apr. 14, 1925). Born in Clay City, Indiana, Madge Augustine Oberholtzer moved to the prominent Irvington neighborhood of Indianapolis in the fall of 1901 with her German American parents George and Matilda Jane Harr Oberholtzer and older brother Marshall Lafferty Oberholtzer who was born on December 25, 1894. George Oberholtzer worked with the Railway Mail Service at Indianapolis’ Union Station.   

The family prioritized church attendance at their place of worship, Irvington Methodist Episcopal Church. George Oberholtzer belonged to the Men’s Bible School class, his wife Matilda actively participated in the Ladies Aid Society, and Marshall and Madge attended Sunday School where they forged lasting friendships with their peers.   

Madge Oberholtzer attended Indianapolis Public School No. 57 and Manual Training High School. During her high school years art was a favorite subject of Oberholtzer’s. Otto Stark, one of The Hoosier Group artists happened to be a teacher of hers at Manual. He recommended Oberholtzer vie for a scholarship to study at Herron Art Institute. Oberholtzer was one of 25 IPS high school students who won a scholarship to nurture their artistic talents three days a week under the tutelage of Stark. Later, in 1912 Oberholtzer won a 12-week summer scholarship to study drawing and painting under William Forsyth and Clifton Wheeler at Herron. She won another art scholarship to study at Herron during her junior year of high school where some of her work was selected for an exhibition. Unfortunately, none of her artwork is known to exist. 

Throughout high school Oberholtzer increased her social consciousness. She joined fundraisers for the Fresh Air Fund which gave impoverished city mothers and children the opportunity to retreat to the countryside. She served lunch during Parent Teacher Association meetings where adults discussed ways to remedy high school problems that students experienced. Oberholtzer also contributed recipes for a cookbook the Ladies Aid Society published in its fundraising efforts.

Though many of Oberholtzer’s friends married after high school, she chose an alternate path. Oberholtzer attended Butler University (Irvington campus) from 1914-1917. She joined Pi Beta Phi sorority which included many prominent women in social, educational, and political reform among its members. These influential women mentored and molded Oberholtzer to challenge existing attitudes that treated women as second-class citizens and caged them in centuries-old conventions about the limitations to women’s roles in the public sphere. Oberholtzer left university in June 1917 shortly after the start of World War I.  

Oberholtzer took a temporary teaching position in Hagerstown, Indiana in January of 1918 to replace the existing teacher who left to serve in the war. At the close of the term, she returned to Indianapolis where she explored a series of jobs as a clerk at American Central Life Insurance, a stenographer at J.D. Adams Machine Company, and a clerical position at Eli Lilly and Company. By June of 1924 Oberholtzer worked at the Modern Finance Company.  

Oberholtzer had earned and saved enough money through her myriad jobs to quit work for a few months of adventure. She purchased a hand-crank Ford Model T coupe, taught herself to drive, and convinced her friend Ermina Moore to join her on a cross-country trip from Indianapolis to California in August of 1924. The women embarked on the two-month road trip, most likely on the new Lincoln Highway. Ever self-reliant, Oberholtzer knew how to change a flat tire and fix a steamed radiator, skills she needed during a time when few women traveled the open road alone.   

Upon returning to Indianapolis, Oberholtzer landed the position of manager of the Young People’s Reading Circle, a division of the Department of Public Instruction at the Indiana State House in 1924. She petitioned for the creation of an educational program aimed at improving literacy rates among disadvantaged people in Indiana. Soon after, Oberholtzer learned of imminent budget cuts that might eliminate her job.    

When fellow Irvington neighbor Ed Jackson won the bid for governor of Indiana, Oberholtzer’s friend and former suitor Stanley Hill joined Jackson’s Inaugural Committee. Oberholtzer volunteered to help Hill organize the event. Hill invited her to the inauguration dinner at the Athletic Club on January 12, 1925, where she met David Curtis Stephenson, Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. Following their initial meeting, Oberholtzer and Stephenson met socially on three occasions. However, Oberholtzer ceased seeing Stephenson after attending a party at his home.  

On the evening of March 15, 1925, Stephenson summoned Oberholtzer to his home to discuss important business. Reluctantly, with her mother’s persuasion, Oberholtzer went to Stephenson’s house. At the house, Stephenson and his associate Earl Gentry forced Oberholtzer to consume an unidentified drink which made her vomit and left her dazed. They then abducted her at gunpoint and forced her to board a train to Chicago. During the trip, Stephenson sexually assaulted Oberholtzer. The trio disembarked in Hammond, Indiana, where Stephenson continued to hold Oberholtzer captive at the Indiana Hotel. Without Stephenson’s knowledge, Oberholtzer ingested six mercuric chloride tablets and became violently ill. On the return trip to Indianapolis, Stephenson repeatedly refused to secure medical care for her.    

After arriving in Irvington, Stephenson locked Oberholtzer in the apartment above his garage. Stephenson’s men returned Oberholtzer to her home the following day. Dr. John K. Kingsbury attended to her during the month prior to her death. Oberholtzer died of a staph infection caused by Stephenson’s vicious bites. On March 28, 1925, she relayed her dying declaration to attorney Asa J. Smith, implicating Stephenson in the circumstances leading to Oberholtzer’s imminent death.   

Oberholtzer’s dying declaration was admitted as testimony during the Stephenson trial. Her autopsy was the first to be admitted as evidence in an Indiana court. Stephenson was convicted of second-degree murder in November 1925. He was sentenced to life in prison ending his control over Indiana politics and thwarting his pursuit of the U.S. Presidency. Stephenson was released in 1956.    

Further Reading