August 10 – Nicole Poletika from the Indiana Historical Bureau presents “Unigov: The Creation of Modern Indianapolis and Its Suburbs.”  Register here. 

“Unigov: The Creation of Modern Indianapolis and Its Suburbs”

In the late 1960s, recreational and commercial opportunities in Indianapolis were scarce, and those who came to the Circle City did so primarily for governmental and business purposes. Mayor Richard Lugar and business and political leaders sought to change this. They did so via Unigov, legislation that merged the governments of Indianapolis and Marion County in 1970. While Unigov succeeded in making Indy a “top tier city,” it created enduring socioeconomic disparities amongst Marion County communities. Poletika will be discussing these disparities, in addition to how Unigov helped spur the rise of Indy’s affluent suburbs.

Nicole Poletika is an historian with the Indiana Historical Bureau, a division of the Indiana State Library.  Her research focuses on minority history and issues of social justice. She writes text for historical markers and manages the Indiana History Blog. Poletika helped found the Indiana Women’s Suffrage Centennial to commemorate the 2020 anniversary of women’s right to vote. She also serves on the planning committee for the Hoosier Women at Work Conference and the corresponding Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon. More recently, Poletika has entered into the realm of digital history through digitizing Indiana newspapers and helping plan the Digital Encyclopedia of Indianapolis.

Join us at the Indiana State Library, as we host a series of lectures on our open Saturdays during the months of June, July, and August.  The lectures are free and open to the public.  Parking is available in the Senate Avenue parking garage across from the library.  Please bring your Senate Avenue garage parking ticket with you to be validated.  Light snacks will be provided.  All talks will begin at 11:00 a.m.  Each lecture is worth 1 LEU.  Registration required.  

Registration deadline is Wednesday, August 7.