2025 —Speakers Program presentations

Jan. 13, 2025,7 p.m.— Jim Craig presented “The Railroad Photography of Charles Herley 1948-1950”
Charles Herley grew up in Bedford and photographed the trains around Bedford. This was an exciting time for the Monon Railroad and the communities the railroad served. New black and gold freight diesels appeared and the freight trains ran on time. Red and Gray passenger trains with names such as Thoroughbred, Bluegrass and Red Devil passed through town. Herley captured “older” steam engines, some rolling stock and the Milwaukee Road in Bedford.
Feb. 10, 2025, 7 p.m.— Eunice Trotter, director of the Indiana Landmarks Black Heritage Preservation Program, to present “Stopping Erasure of Black Heritage and History in Indiana.”
March 10, 2025, 7 p.m.—Phil Mitchell Excellence in History Contest winners will read their essays and monetary awards will be presented. All Lawrence County 7th and 8th grade students (public, private, and home school) were eligible. Students visit the museum, select an item to research and compose a 200-300 word essay about a person, place, event or artifact located at the museum. We encourage everyone to attend and discover what these excellent students have discovered. The Phil Mitchell Excellence in History Annual Award was established to honor the life and legacy of Phil Mitchell, and encourage 7th- and 8th-grade students to explore and gain a greater understanding of Lawrence County history.
April 14, 2025, 7 p.m.— Ethan Plumier, with the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area will discuss the 9,098-acre parcel of restored prairie and marsh habitat in nearby Greene County. The parkland is managed for hiking, birdwatching, waterfowl hunting, and upland bird hunting.
May 12, 2025, 6:00 p.m.: Brain Games. This event to be held at the StoneGate Center (No monthly meeting)
June 9, 2025, 7 p.m.— Deborah Craton and Lee Hutchinson, “The Long-Lost Portrait of Bedford Educator Georgia Mitchusson.”
July 14, 2025, 7 p.m. Susan Snider Salmon presenting “If Stone Walls Could Talk: Stories of Dry Stack Stone Walls in Southern Indiana.”
Susan Snider Salmon conducts historic research on the construction of dry stack stone walls in Monroe County and southern Indiana. Her work includes identification of the “Harrodsburg” limestone sedimentary limestone layer which lies directly below the Salem/Dimensional limestone our region is known for. She studies 1800s settlement, agricultural records, tax and deed documents, transportation and census data. These sources help identify which land owners may have first engaged in wall construction and help identify who the laborers may have been who designed and implemented the iconic building method. Her goals include historic preservation of what walls remain in our landscape.
Her talk will include an overview of the geologic limestone formations which dictate where the wall construction limestone is found, how the stone differs from dimension limestone, and how socio-economic and historic wall traditions moved north to Indiana with the first settlers. Much of the how and when the walls were built is still subject to ongoing research. Her talk will include an overview of the clusters of walls in Lawrence County.
August 11, 2025, 7 p.m.— Jill Vance, “The Mormons Come to the Salt Creek Valley"
September 8, 2025, 7 p.m.—Historian and Youtuber, Roger Turpen, whose presentation is called “Adventures with Roger: A Lifetime of Exploring Indiana.” Roger’s YouTube Channel, “Adventures with Roger,,” has 73,000 subscribers. This event was held in Brinegar Hall at the Stonegate Center (next door to the museum).
October 13, 2025, 7 p.m.— WBED radio personality and rock and roll expert Mike Shannon will rock on with “The History of Rock & Roll.”
November 10, 2025, 7 p.m.—Speaker: Glenda Ferguson. Her topic “Indiana’s Historic Pathways”
December, 2025—No speaker this month.
December 8, 2025, 5 p.m. —Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, Downtown Depot