Graduation Photo--1950

In the early spring of 1950, eighth graders gathered on the lawn of IPS #57 for their special graduation photo. Most of the kids later attended Thomas Carr Howe High School in the fall. While we do not know the name of every child in the photograph, we do have several of the names. Contact me at williamfranklingulde@gmail.com to add or correct any names. This photograph has been scanned thanks to Bill Sohn, a member of this class.

Graduation Photo, School #57: Front Row (left to right) James Riggs, Mark Mitzner, ?, Bill Sohn, Tom Litteral, ?, ?, Mike Stark, ?,?; Second Row: Joan Stumph, Donna Burris, Julia Wurster, ?,?,?,?, Earlene Terry, Virginia Garrison, ?, Nancy Pflueger, ?, ?; Third Room: Norma Soots, ?,?, Linda Huggins, John Stumph, ?, ? Dick Hildreth, ?,?,?, Margaret Moreland, Barbara Warrick, ? Patricia Lawhorn, Janet Newcomer; Fourth Row:  Pat Murphy, Jerry Coonse, ?, Cynthia Leslie, ?, Carolyn Barnett, Leonard ?, Judy Lawson, ?, Elizabeth Johnson, ? Jim Baker, Donna Funk

Growing Up Along Downey Avenue

Anton and Ruth Fulton Sohn, who resided at 378 South Downey Avenue, had four children named  Annalouise, Anton Paul, William (Bill) Peter, and Robert Fulton Sohn. The family's modest bungalow became a gathering site for many of the neighboring children; however, the entire area served as their playground in the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s.

Kelly's Fish Pond c1940: Located behind 364 South Ritter Avenue, remnants of the fish pond still remain in 2019. Pictured in the photo (left to right): Bill Sohn, Joan Williams, Rita ?, Anton Sohn, Annalouise Sohn (photo courtesy of Bill Sohn)

Bill Sohn drove his first "car" in 1941 next to his home at 378 South Downey Avenue. He would later save up enough  money while working at the local Standard Grocery at the southwest corner of Washington and Audubon to buy his first real car while still in high school. Standing next to him donning a great hat is Anton Sohn.  (Photo courtesy Bill Sohn)

Children gathered in the back lot of 378 South Downey Avenue for this photo likely taken in 1939. Pictured (top row, left to right): Lyle Hanna, Dick Wickliff, unidentified adult, Ralph Williams, Leo Scheibelhut; (Front Fow, left to right): Joan Williams, Annalouise Sohn, Anton Sohn, Bill Sohn  (photo courtesy Bill Sohn)

Perfect for climbing, hanging down, or gymnastics, Anton and Ruth Fulton placed this playground piece into their backyard at 378 South Downey Avenue around 1940. If you look at the photo closely, you will see numerous kids on it! (photo courtesy of Bill Sohn)

As the children grew older, they were allowed to wander farther from their home. The Sohn brothers, Anton and Bill, loved to visit two nearby "woods." The first plot of nature was actually across the street from their home on the north west corner of Ritter and Downey Avenues. The forested lot belonged to the Stultz family at the time who lived next to the woods at 340 South Ritter Avenue. The second natural area stood east of Ritter Avenue, south of Burgess Avenue, and north of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Later this area would be developed into a small subdivision. The wooded plots served as the perfect place to explore nature. Both boys later joined the Boy Scouts.

Annalouise, Anton, and Bill Sohn posed for this photograph in 1941. Behind them, you can see the small woods that used to be across from their home at 378 South Downey Avenue. Next to the trees, you can see the side of the bungalow at 373 South Downey Avenue. 

Although forbidden, the grounds of the former Butler University also proved to be an enticing to visit. By the late 1930s, the campus had been abandoned and some of the empty structures proved to be perfect places to explore and have egg fights with other neighborhood boys. Dr. Anton Sohn described the abandoned college in his family memoir titled, The Straight and Narrow (1992):

     In the 40s the campus was in ruins: there were two buildings, twenty-five acres of hills and rouble, and a caved-in well. In one of the three story classroom buildings was a small apartment--the rest of the structure was in shambles--where a caretaker and his family lived. They shared the building with hundreds of pigeons. 

 The nearby Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and many of the local businesses associated with that line also proved intriguing for the neighborhood kids. During World War II, the children would run to the tracks to wave to troops who were passing through Irvington on their way to or from the war. A nearby apple orchard along Burgess Avenue also provided some delicious and healthy snacks.

In 1950, Mr. Sohn allowed the construction of a new basketball court towards the rear of their lot. The entire endeavor seemed to be a community event as even a nearby neighbor, George Harris, who resided at 364 South Downey Avenue and worked for the telephone company, provided the goal post. The court became so popular among the neighboring boys that occasionally the Sohns had to wait in line to get court time. Later, Bill wired up a light so that they could also play at night. Both the concrete pad and the telephone post still remain in 2019.

The Sohn brothers along with their cousin William Fulton were very active with the local Boy Scouts. (photo and names courtesy of Anton Sohn) 

Anton and Bill Sohn had a few basketball courts on their property at 378 South Downey Avenue. The early courts were gravel and could be painful for those who took a fall. Later, the family built a proper court towards the rear of the property. (photo courtesy of Anton Sohn)

In 1950, the Sohns added a brand new concrete basketball court. Anton worked as an intern for  the Glenroy Construction Company while he was in high school so the company provided the labor and Ready Mix Concrete donated the concrete for the pad. Behind the court, you can see the rear of several homes in the 300 block of South Ritter Avenue.

Their neighbors, the Wickliffs, Kirkhoffs, the Harrises, and the Masters and others are all gone now, but their memories recently came back to life as Bill Sohn and I strolled along Downey Avenue on a beautiful June morning in 2019. We stood in front of the former Sohn home and Bill told me of the giant willow, walnut, oak, silver maple, and catalpa trees that used to be on the lot. A medical facility now stands across the street where the small grove of trees used to be. The alley next to their home is still gravel just as it was over seventy years ago. We chuckled as we spoke of one former neighbor who had no patience for children as she constantly shooed them away from her yard. On this morning, Downey Avenue was quiet with the only noticeable sounds coming from the cardinals and robins who, like us, were out enjoying the morning.

Bill Sohn plays with his pet bunny in the spring of 1941. Unfortunately, the rabbit bit Mr. Sohn and later became dinner for the family.  (photo courtesy of Bill Sohn) 

I am indebted to Bill and Anton Sohn, who opened both their photo collections and memories to me. 

The Sohn Family of Downey Avenue

In 1905, eighteen-year-old Anton P. Sohn (1887-1961) slipped out of New Albany, Indiana with a $5 gold piece secretly given to him by his mother. He headed north on the Monon Line for Indianapolis where he started a new life. His first jobs were in various butcher shops. He found lodging above the stores at the corner of Washington Street and Ritter Avenue.  With a talent for business, he soon opened his first grocery store at 1744 Brookside Avenue. Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, the entrepreneur opened and sold additional grocery stores, purchased the Manhattan Movie Theater on West Washington Street, and bought a Jackson County farm. His life was about to change, however, when he met and eventually married Ruth Fulton.

Ruth Fulton (1903-1986) grew up in Hindsboro, Illinois. A talented student, young Ruth loved to write poetry. Her family, even to this day, treasure her poems and travel journals. Upon her graduation from high school in 1921, she moved to Indianapolis where her brother William, a dentist in Irvington, was living. Two sisters, Helen and Mabel, also resided in the Indianapolis area. Upon moving to the city, Ruth applied for nursing training at the Protestant Deaconess Hospital at the corner of Ohio Street and Senate Avenue. She was accepted and worked as a nurse for the next eleven years.

Anton Sohn and Ruth Fulton married on February 1, 1933, at Mr. Sohn's bungalow at 378 South Downey Avenue. Mr. Sohn was able to purchase the house at the height of the Great Depression because his grocery store at 1035 Fletcher Avenue managed to turn a profit during the hard times. He paid $4000 for the house in 1931. Built in 1915, the dwelling had previously belonged to the Olsen family. Mr. Sohn told his son Bill years later that many homes in Irvington, especially those along South Ritter Avenue, could be found at a cheap price during the Depression. Mr. Sohn, a financially prudent man, resisted the temptation to buy other nearby properties.

The modest one-and-a-half-story residence would serve as the Sohn family home for over fifty years. The couple raised four children in the bungalow. Dr. Anton Sohn, a son of Anton and Ruth Sohn, in his family memoir, Straight and Narrow (1992) noted that the house:

     ...was about1,200 square feet and consisted of six rooms, not including the bath, pantry, and porches. Oak hardwood floors were throughout the house and the walls were papered. When Bill (his brother) and I were older, part of the upstairs was finished with a bedroom and a full bathroom.

 Dr. Sohn noted that the house had a:

     coal chute under the kitchen window, but it was sealed when a gas furnace was installed after the War. Before then, Dad would let the coal fire burn out during the night. In the morning, we lit the oven and congregated in the kitchen until the furnace heated the house. 

The family planted a victory garden during World War II. Mrs. Sohn had a green thumb and planted a variety of flowers including many scented species, which filled the house with wonderful smells. The children played with the neighboring kids along Downey and Ritter Avenues.  The kids grew up hearing the sounds of trains along the nearby Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the noise associated with the busy Irvington Ice and Coal Company on South Ritter Avenue.

In part two, you will learn more about the children and what it was like growing up along Downey Avenue in the 1930s and 40s.

Ruth Fulton Sohn's Wedding Announcement in 1933 (Courtesy of Indianapolis Star)

Anton Sohn, who lived at 378 South Downey Avenue, posed Bill, Annalouise, and Anton Sohn in 1938. (Image courtesy of Bill Sohn)

Anton Sohn pulls his siblings, Bill and Annalouise, in the side yard at 378 South Downey Avenue c1938. The Sohns were the children of Anton and Ruth Fulton Sohn. Behind them, you can see their neighbor's home at 384 South Downey Avenue. The Wickliff family resided in that bungalow at the time the photo was taken. (Image courtesy of Bill Sohn)

378 South Downey Avenue on June 11, 2019

Sources:  Interview with Bill Sohn May 30, 2019; Anton P. Sohn, The Straight and Narrow, (Reno, Nevada, 1992).  E-mail correspondence with both Bill and Anton Sohn. 

New Photo Emerges of 1953 Irvington Plane Crash

On June 20, 1953, two brothers, Charles and Robert Woods, lost control of their small plane and crashed into the Rennard family home at 354 North Bolton Avenue.  Although severely injured, the siblings survived the crash.  Throughout the day, crowds from the neighborhood and beyond gathered at the scene except for the Rennards who were out of town that day. Bill Sohn, a teenager who lived at 378 South Downey Avenue, heard about the crash and grabbed his camera.  He arrived on the scene after the plane had been removed from the attic of the Rennard home and snapped this photo.  To read more about the events of that day, click on the link on below.

On June 20, 1953, the Woods brothers lost control and crashed their plane into 354 North Bolton Avenue. Bill Sohn of 378 South Downey Avenue, photographed the aftermath of the crash. Behind the plane, you can see the houses on the eastern side of the 300 block of Bolton Avenue. (Image courtesy of Bill Sohn)

http://vintageirvington.blogspot.com/2014/12/plane-crashed-into-irvington-home-in.html

Mr. Whitaker's Shop Classroom--1949

Boys in the 1940s at School #57 in the seventh and eighth grades had to make a decision.  Did they want to take woodworking or metalworking from Mr. Hershel Whitaker?  Their classroom, a noisy place, was located in the basement of the school. For one young man, Bill Sohn of 378 South Downey Avenue, the choice was woodworking. Each child aimed towards creating a final product like a hall tree or a stool. Bill chose to create a lamp. At the end of the term, each student placed their item on display. Bill Sohn brought his camera to school and snapped the image seen below. Seventy years later, Mr. Sohn could still recall that the letters "D" and "P" were created by Don Peters, a boy who was a grade behind him. He also noted that for one month the boys and girls traded classrooms.  The boys went into the home economics classroom and the girls attended shop. Bill still recalls sewing a pin cushion.  Mr. Whitaker and his wife, Maria, resided at 5119 Norway Drive so he could have walked to school on nice days. You will see his hat hanging on a hook in the photo.

Boys in Mr. Hershel Whitaker's woodworking class displayed their final products in 1949. Bill Sohn, a student in the class, snapped this photo. He created one of the lamps on the table. 

The image and information for this story is courtesy of Bill Sohn.  

Train Wreck in Irvington--1940

With two rail lines cutting through the neighborhood, Irvington residents have seen a fair number of accidents over the years. On Saturday, April 27, 1940, residents in southern Irvington were jolted by a thunderous crash. Nine train cars pulled by a double header (two locomotives) sped along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Cincinnati. As the train traveled through the community, a coal gondola (open-air car) came loose causing the other eight empty stock cars to slam into each other near South Spencer Avenue. Amazingly, neither the conductor, Ralph Lowry, nor the engineer, Carl Shaefer, were injured in the spectacular crash. Curious neighbors raced to the scene and found the train cars strewn about and the tracks torn up. Since it was a lovely spring day and on a weekend, many walked or rode their bikes down to the scene of the accident.

The Sohn family dwelled at 378 South Downey Avenue. The B & 0 Railroad was just south of their backyard. On the following Sunday, Anton and Ruth Sohn grabbed their family and headed to the accident scene to survey the damage. They didn't have to walk far as the crash site was just behind their home. At some point, Mrs. Sohn photographed her husband and children standing next to the wreckage. The story of the crash made page seven of the Sunday edition of the Indianapolis Star. A dramatic fire in downtown Indianapolis along Pennsylvania Street and Hitler's blitzkrieg through northern Europe occupied the main headlines on the front page of the paper.

Anton and Ruth Sohn dwelled at 378 South Downey Avenue. Mr. Sohn operated a grocery store along Fletcher Avenue. In this photo, he posed with his children most likely on Sunday, April 28, 1940, next to the train wreckage along the B&O RR in Irvington. (Photo courtesy of Anton and Bill Sohn)

Local residents gathered to view the wreckage of nine train cars along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on April 27, 1940.  Mrs. Sohn of 378 South Downey Avenue kept the newspaper articles about the crash in a diary. (Indianapolis Star, April 28, 1940, 7) 

 Information and images for this story are courtesy of the Sohn family.

School #57 Graduation--1949

Seventy years ago, several members of the eighth grade class at IPS #57 gathered in the front yard of the school for a photo on a warm spring day in 1949. The excited children had so many possibilities ahead of them. Most would attend nearby Howe High School in the autumn.

Members of the Class of 1949 of School #57; Names compiled by Harry Smith
Front Row, Left: Ted Helkema, Gene Toole, John Cordell, Bill Ropp, John Sauer, Gary Crawford, Bill Foster, John Garrison, Harold Brown, Harry Smith, Don Martin; Second Row, Left: Bob Cox, John Kirkhoff, Jack Webb, Anton Sohn, Shirley Garrett, Don Davis, Margarite Esther, Judy Wire, Judy Ball, Marilyn Titus, Judy Janneck, Marilyn Rasener, Bob Pirtle, Ben Benefield, Frank Parish, John Sanford; Third Row, Left: Marcia Shick, Stephanie Moore, Anabelle King, Paula Bailey, Daisy Harrison, Judy Henderson, John Gooch, Diane Hale, Stan Barnett, Charles Russell, Janice Carlock, Bob Schram, David Taylor, Rolland McMaster, Marilyn Lantz, Nancy Tanselle, Marilyn Banaka; Top Row, Left: Ruth Jenkins, Barbara Little, Nancy McMillin, Darlene Baird, Sara Snyder, Ann Schmidt, Kathleen Craig, Louis Hoynes, Jim Fleener, Nathan Negley, Jerry Christianson, Barbara Swengel, Lois Eikenberry, Jerry Webb, Martha Shortridge, Betty Cowell

World War II had been over for four years and Harry Truman was President of the United States. If the young people paid attention to the news, they would have noticed that Henry Schriecker, a Democrat, was the Governor of Indiana while Albert Feeney, another Democrat, served as the mayor of Indianapolis. Their parents likely read in the local newspapers that an organization called NATO had just been formed. Many of the adults probably worried about the Soviet Union as the Red Scare gripped Americans. By the end of year, the Soviets would have the atomic bomb. Some might have breathed a sigh of relief upon reading that the USSR had ended the Berlin Blockade. Hoosiers might have read or heard that Chaim Weizmann became the first president of Israel or that the Irish people finally received full independence from the United Kingdom.

On May 30, 1949, a television station called WFBM-TV started in Indianapolis. It would be several years before residents of Irvington would start placing these bulky boxes in their homes, but many in this photo had likely heard of the device. Most of the kids would have still listened to their favorite programs on the radio. Tarzan, Superman, the Lone Ranger, Buck Rogers, Captain Midnight, Lassie, and The Shadow were just some of the radio series that captivated the kids in this photo. Many of teens likely listened to the dramatic coverage of the Indy 500 that year where Bill Holland raced to victory. Nearby at the Irving Theater they could watch "Canadian Pacific," which was being held over for a second week in early June. Their parents likely viewed "Portrait of Jennie," starring Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.

A dramatic Western ran at the Irving in early June, 1949

"Portrait of Jennie" was not initially received very well by the public, but the film has held up throughout the decades. It played at the Irving in early June of 1949.

In August of 1948, Miss Wallace Montague replaced Mildred Orr as the principal at #57. Miss Montague had just spent a year on a teacher's exchange in England.  She had previously served as a principal for the Indianapolis Public Schools. Throughout the autumn of 1948, Miss Montague spoke to groups about her experience in England including to the PTA at #57 on November 16, 1948. Many other educators influenced the children in this photo including Abbie Kanz, Genevieve Burns, Martha Barber, Helen Loepper, Laura Benson, Ruby Winders, Hershel Whitaker, Virgil Wise, and numerous others.

Miss Montague served as the principal of School #57.  On September 21, 1948, the Indianapolis News featured her on the front page. Miss Montague had just returned from England where she had been on an exchange. 

I was able to obtain the school photograph courtesy of the Sohn family. I first heard from Bill Sohn and then his brother Anton. The Sohns grew up in a bungalow at 378 South Downey Avenue. More about this family will be forthcoming. Anton reports that he became life-long friends with many of the guys in this image. They later formed a social club at Howe High School and gathered well into their adult years. They called their adult club, the Gentlemen's Serenity Club of Pistol Creek. The one aspect that they all shared was a love of nature.

Their friendship began both at School 57 and at Howe but over the years, these Irvington men gathered to hike, fish, hunt, and enjoy the beauty of nature. 

Sources: Sohn Family Collection; On Miss Montague: Indianapolis News, August 11, 1948, 17; "Going to School in England," Indianapolis Star, November 14, 1948, 52; Irving Theater Movies: Indianapolis News, June 9, 1949.