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Lecture Series

Lecture Series

CORNELIUS O’BRIEN LECTURE SERIES

"The more I see and hear of the Cornelius O’Brien Lectures, the more I appreciate the great influence these lectures have in Indiana.” –Herman B Wells (May 19, 1981)

Established in 1972, the Cornelius O’Brien Lecture Series supports Indiana groups and organizations (including cities, counties, and towns) by sharing the costs of bringing expert speakers to share their knowledge of historic buildings and landscapes.

Speakers must be recognized authorities in their subjects and legally reside outside of Indiana. Their presentations must be free and open to the public. A complete description of requirements and responsibilities as well as application forms are available here.

Cornelius O’Brien (1883-1953) was a banker, manufacturer, and farmer who purchased a historic house—Veraestau, in Dearborn County, Indiana—and passed on his interest in history and historic preservation to his wife and daughters. An early advocate for historic preservation, O’Brien was among “the first to realize,” in the words of former O’Brien Committee Chair Dean Eunice C. Roberts, “the need for preserving Indiana’s historical structures and sites.”

He was a longtime member of the Indiana State Library and Historical Board and served on the executive board of the Indiana Historical Society. The O’Brien Lecture Series was funded in his honor by his widow, Anna Cook O’Brien (1883-1953) and daughter, Mary O’Brien Gibson (1915-2007).

Indiana University is proud to sponsor the Cornelius O’Brien Lecture Series as part of its commitment to education and service to the people of Indiana.

Request for Proposals

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Post-Event Report

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Lectures

Date	Speakers Name	Requesting Organization	Location
October 15, 2022	Bob Score	West Lafayette Public Library	West Lafayette, IN
October 8, 2022	Scott Perkins	West Lafayette Public Library	West Lafayette, IN
September 27-30, 2022	Francesca Ammon; Sharon Ferraro; Michael Nassaney; Kelly Humrichouser; and Lauren Cohen	Indiana DNR and Indiana Landmarks	South Bend, IN
April 2022	Jeff Siegler	Richmond Columbian Properties	Richmond, IN
March 2022	David Barnett	Crown Hill Heritage Foundation, Inc.	Indianapolis, IN
June 2021	Alexandra Lange	Indiana Landmarks	Virtual
September 2019	Donovan Rypkema	Indiana Main Street	Evansville, IN
September 2019	Jason Church	Monroe County History Center	Bloomington, IN
September 2019	Donovan Rypkema	Richmond Columbian Properties	Richmond, IN
July 2019	Jane Griswold Radocchia	Indiana Barn Foundation	Indianapolis, IN
May 2019	Lee Bey	Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
May 2019	Peter Wollenberg	Oak Hill Cemetery & City of Evansville	Evansville, IN
April 2019	Randy Shipp Marisa Gomez Nordyke Leah M. Ruther Martin Bazula William Blair Scott	Indiana DNR	Evansville, IN
September 2018	Matthew Shaw	Landmarks Columbus	Columbus, IN
August 2018	Mark Morgan	Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore	Porter, IN
June 2018	Daniel Marriott Daniel Protess	Indiana National Road Association	Indianapolis, IN
May 2018	Susan Skarsgard	Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
April 2018	Sarah Marsom Dana Saylor Carol J. Dyson Brian Conway Raina Regan Anne Nelson	Indiana DNR	Columbus, IN
October 2017	Brian Conway	ARCH, Inc	Fort Wayne, IN
September 2017	Ed McMahon	Richmond Columbian Properties	Richmond, IN
July 2017	Charles Marohn	City of Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission	Bloomington, IN
June 2017	Dale Gyure	Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
April 2017	Charles Marohn Cameron Potts George Ironstrack	Indiana DNR	Wabash, IN
June 2016	Eames Demetrios	Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
April 2016	Donna Rausch Diane Hunter Debra Carnahan Paul Loether	Indiana DNR	Vincennes, IN
February 2016	Vincent Michael	Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
February 2016	James Young	Indiana Association of Historians	Bloomington, IN
February 2016	Anne Ackerson	Indiana Association of Museums	Indianapolis, IN
June 2015	John Brinkmann	ARCH, Inc.	Fort Wayne, IN
May 2015	Hicks Stone	Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
April 2015	John Margolies Patrick Martin Mark Thompson	Indiana DNR	Kokomo, IN
January 2015	Kim Trent	Historic Madison, Inc.	Madison, IN
October 2014	Ron Tanner	Historic Urban Neighborhoods and Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
June 2014	Matthew Seymour	St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church	Gary, IN
May 2014	Will Fellows	Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission	Bloomington, IN
May 2014	Charles Birnbaum	Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
April 2014	Daniel Bluestone Thomas Edmondson Patricia H. Gay Mark Tebeau	Indiana DNR	New Albany, IN
April 2014	Cheryl Janifer LaRoche	Indiana Department of Natural Resources-Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology	Indianapolis, IN
April 2014	Kurt Culbertson	Indiana Trails Fund, Inc.	Indianapolis, IN and Fort Wayne, IN
January 2014	Evans Woollen	Clowes Memorial Hall of Butler University	Indianapolis, IN
October 2013	Gail Caskey Winkler	Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
May 2013	The Hon. Joseph P. Riley	The Cornerstone Society, Inc.	Madison, IN
May 2013	Neil Rippingale	Monroe County Historical Preservation	Bloomington, IN
May 2013	Dr. Mark Tebeau	DNR	Indianapolis, IN
April 2013	Scott Perkins	Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
November 2012	Steven Kolber	Vincennes/Knox Preservation Foundation	Vincennes, IN
October 2012	Gordon Bock	Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
May 2012	Richard Longstreth	Clark Co. Museum	Jeffersonville, IN
May 2012	Andrea Wulf	Swizterland County Historical Society	Vevay, IN
May 2012	Alan Hess	Indiana Landmarks	Indianapolis, IN
April 2012	James Howard Kuntsler	City of Whiting, DNR-DHPA, Indiana Landmarks	Whiting, IN
April 2012	James Reap	City of Whiting, DNR-DHPA, Indiana Landmarks	Whiting, IN
April 2012	Thomas Carter	Traditional Arts Indiana	Metamora, IN
November 2011	M. Stephen Doherty	In Plein Air Painters Association	Indianapolis, IN
June 2011	Jim Brown	ARCH - Architecture and Community Heritage	Fort Wayne, IN
May 2011	Mike Jackson	Historic Madison, Inc.	Fort Wayne, IN
April 2011	Stanley Lowe John Stilgoe William Schmickle Wayne Donaldson Barbara Campagna	Indiana Historic Preservation Conference	Indianapolis, IN
September 2010	Sandy McLendon	Indiana Landmarks	King of Glory Lutheran Church, Indianapolis, IN
June 2010	Evans Woollen	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana	Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
June 2010	Jane Powell	ARCH - Architecture and Community Heritage	St. Jude Parish Hall, Fort Wayne, IN
May 2010	Dan Marriott	Indiana National Road Association	Aurora, IN
May 2010	Valecia Crisafulli	Historic Madison, Inc.	Madison, IN
April 2010	Royce Yeater	National Trust for Historic Preservation	Vincennes, IN
April 2010	Jim Houston Bernhard Karpf Paul Goldberger	Indiana Historic Preservation Conference	New Harmony, IN
November 2009	Robert Jaeger	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana	North United Methodist Church, Indianapolis, IN
June 2009	Mike Jackson	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana	Lake County Fairgrounds, Crown Point, IN
June 2009	Richard Sebak	Historic Preservation Commission of South Bend and St. Joseph County; Indiana Lincoln Highway Association	South Bend, IN
June 2009	Douglas Kesiter	ARCH - Architecture and Community Heritage	Fort Wayne, IN
May 2009	Elizabeth Smith	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana	Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN
March 2009	Don Rypkema	Historic Preservation Commission of South Bend and St. Joseph Count	St. Joseph County Public Library
November 2008	Tim Townsend	Jefferson County Historical Society	Madison, IN
June 2008	Paul Duchscherer	ARCH, Inc.	Fort Wayne, IN
May 2008	Patricia Gay	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana	New Albany, IN
May 2008	Susan Tunik	Wabash Valley Trust for Historic Preservation	Lafayette, IN
March 2008	Bill Latoza	ARCH, Inc.	Fort Wayne, IN
February 2008	A. Robert Jaeger	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana	Richmond, IN
December 2007	Paul Finkelman	Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology	Indianapolis, IN
November 2007	Alison Isenberg	IU Committee on Historic Preservation	Richmond, IN
November 2007	Kurt Culbertson	South Bend and St. Joseph County Historic Preservation Commission	South Bend, IN
October 2007	John Staicer	Historic Madison, Inc.	Madison, IN
October 2007	Donovan Rypkema	Cass County Historic Preservation Foundation	Logansport, IN
September 2007	Jonathan Hale	New Harmony's Artist Guild	New Harmony, IN
September 2007	Jack Larkin*	IU Committee on Historic Preservation	Richmond, IN
August 2007	Kurt Culbertson	South Bend and St. Joseph County Historic Preservation Commission	South Bend, IN
July 2007	Peter Gibson
May 2007	Nore Winters	Wabash Valley Trust for Historic Preservation	Lafayette, IN
May 2007	Holly Wiedemann Patrick Kennedy	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana (southern regional office)	Jeffersonville, IN
May 2007	Thomas Barnett	Preservation Alliance of Evansville, Inc.	Evansville, IN
April 2007	Jon Schallert	Vevay Mainstreet, Inc.	Vevay, IN
March 2007	Randall Arendt	Preserve Richmond, Inc.	Richmond, IN
February 2007	Paul Phelps	St. Joseph County Historic Preservation Commission	South Bend, IN
September 2006	Richard Deisl	Historic Preservation Commission of South Bend and St. Joseph County	South Bend, IN
September 2006	Cheryl Hargrove Stephanie Redman	IU Committee on Historic Preservation	Wabash, IN
September 2006	Dianne Ayres	Broad Ripple Village Association	Indianapolis, IN
July 2006	Brian Butko	Historic Landmarks FOundation of Indiana, North Regional Office	South Bend, IN
May 2006	Roger Moss		Indianapolis, IN
February 2006	Diane Miller	Indiana DNR	Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis, IN
February 2006	Jean Farnsworth	Episcopal Parish of Madison, Indiana	Madison, IN
February 2006	J. Marshall Davis	Preservation Alliance of Evansville, Inc.	Evansville, IN
November 2005	Marsh Davis	Historic Madison, Inc.	Madison, IN
November 2005	Michael Dolan	Irvington Historical Society	Indianapolis, IN
October 2005	Randall Schmidt Jon Allen	New Harmony's Artist Guild	New Harmony, IN
October 2005	Donovan D. Rypkema	Housing and Neighborhood Development, Bloomington	Bloomington, IN
July 2005	Bruce E. Johnson	Broad Ripple Village Association	Indianapolis, IN
June 2005	Julie Bachrach	Marian College Indianapolis	Indianapolis, IN
May 2005	Thomas C. McGehee	Preservation Alliance of Evansville, Inc.	Evansville, IN
November 2004	Michael Speaks	AIA Indianapolis	Indianapolis, IN
November 2004	James C. Rees	Jefferson County Historical Society	Madison, IN
October 2004	James Massey and Shirley Maxwell	Historic Meridian Park Neighborhood Asociation	Indianapolis, IN
October 2004	Ron Koenig and Sam Harris		Fort Wayne, IN
May 2004	Pieter Roos	Historic Madison	Madison, IN
May 2004	Royce Baier	West Central Neighborhood Association	Fort Wayne, IN
May 2004	Rosemary Thornton	Tippecanoe County Historical Society	Lafayette, IN
March 2004	Paul Westlake	DHPA	Indianapolis, IN
November 2003	Ann Lucas	Jefferson County Historical Society	Madison, IN
October 2003	Steven Flanders	Indiana Historic Preservation Conference
October 2003	James Glass	Historic Fairmont	Fairmont, IN
July 2003	Charles Birnbaum	Irvington Historical Society	Indianapolis, IN
June 2003	Pete Davies	Architecture and Community Heritage (ARCH)/Lincoln Highway Association of Fort Wayne	Fort Wayne, IN
June 2003	William Kimball	Historic Landmarks Foundation (Western regional office)	Richmond, IN
June 2003	Parris Glendening and Harriet Tregoning	Jefferson Main Street, Inc.	Jeffersonville, IN
February 2003	Randall Arendt		Bloomington, IN
November 2002	Thomas McGehee	Jefferson County Historical Society	Jefferson County Heritage Center, Madison, IN
September 2002	Bruce Bradbury Ray Suarez	Indiana DNR	Terre Haute, IN
June 2002	Curtis Carter Wilkie	Jeffersonville Main Street, Inc.	Jeffersonville, IN
May 2002	Nore Winter	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana (Northern Regional Office)	Bloomington, IN
May 2002	Stanley Lowe	Preservation Alliance of Evansville, Inc.	Evansville, IN
April 2002	Constance Beaumont	Jeffersonville Main Street, Inc.	Jeffersonville, IN
November 2001	Stanley Lowe	Spirit & Place Symposium	Indianapolis, IN
November 2001	Senator McConnell	Jefferson County Historical Society	Madison, IN
November 2001	Paul Daniel Marriott	Indiana National Road Association	Cumberland, IN
September 2001	Dr. Francis Griggs	Indiana Historic Bridge Resoration Workshop
September 2001	John Williams	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana
May 2001	Dr. Orloff Miller	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana (Eastern Regional Office)	Huddleston, IN
May 2001	Dianne Perrine Coon		Madison, IN
May 2001	Richard Guy Wilson		Evansville, IN
April 2001	David Woodcock	Indiana Historic Preservation Conference Ball State M.a. Program in Historic Preservation	Muncie, IN
March 2001	Robert C. Yapp, Jr.	Historic Landmarks Foundation	Seymour, IN
January 2001	Nellie L. Longswoth	Wabash Valley Trust for Historic Preservation	Lafayette, IN
January 2001	Thomas Hylton	Jeffersonville Main Street, Inc.	Jeffersonville, IN
November 2000	Martin Gray	Spirit & Place Symposium	Indianapolis, IN
November 2000	Patricia M. O'Donnell	Hillforest Historical Foundation, Inc.	Aurora, IN
October 2000	Nancy Recchie Jeffrey Darbee	IU Historic Preservation Committee	French Lick, IN
May 2000	Robert C. Yapp, Jr.	Evansville Preservation Banquet	Evansville, IN
March 2000	Highbrow Productions, Inc.	Historic Landmarks Foundation
December 1999	Beverly Hafemeister	Hillforest Historical Foundation
November 1999	Thomas Hylton	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana	Trinity Episcopal Church, Indianapolis, IN
September 1999	Ellen Weiss		Warsaw, IN
November 1998	Anne Stillman	Indiana Landmarks	Shelbyville, IN
November 1998	Jeffrey L. Huntington	Hillforest Historical Foundation, Inc.	Aurora, IN
October 1998	Richard Longstreth		New Harmony, IN
July 1998	John Crosby Freeman	Historic Meridian Park Neighborhood Assoc	Trinity Episcopal Church, Indianapolis, IN
March 1998	Roger Moss and Gail Winkler	Northern Indiana Center for History	South Bend, IN
December 1997	Kathleen Stiso Mullins*
December 1997	John Crosby Freeman
December 1997	Walter E. Langsam
October 1997	Kathleen Stiso Mullins*
October 1997	Carolyn Pitts
November 1987	Nellie Longsworth	Jefferson County Historical Society
September 1987	Frederick L. Rath	Indiana Conference on Historic Preservation	Bloomington, IN
May 1987	Neil Horstman	City of Evansville; Indiana and the Riverside Neighborhood Improvement Fund, Inc.	Evansville, IN
January 1987	Charles H. Liebs	Marion County/Indianpaolis Historical Society; IUPUI	Indianapolis, IN
September 1986	Henry Hope Reed	Indiana Conference on Historic Preservation	Bloomington, IN
June 1986	Mark Wienheimer	West Central Neighborhood Association	Fort Wayne, IN
June 1986	Eric R. Kuhne	Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce	Fort Wayne, IN
November 1985	Richard W. Haupt	Madison-Jefferson County Historical Society in Madison	Jefferson County
October 1985	Sarah Wolf Green	Elizabeth Safe Historic Costume Collection	Bloomington, IN
September 1985	Charles Peterson	Ball State University	Muncie, IN
April 1985	Roger Kennedy	Historic Madison, Inc.	Madison County
March 1985	Sabine D. Jordan	Indiana German Heritage Society; Athenaeum Turners; German Dept. IUPUI, Butler, Indian aCentral University.	Indianapolis, IN
October 1984	Hugh Miller	College of Arch. & Planning - Ball State University; Dept. of Landscape Arch. - Purdue University	Muncie, IN
May 1984	Lisa Purdy	Preservation Alliance of Evansville	Evansville, IN
April 1984	Joe Breiteneicher	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana	South Bend, IN
September 1983	Michael Ainslie	Hanover College	Hanover, IN
April 1983	William H. Pierson, Jr.	Historic New Harmony, Inc. and Harmonie Associates	New Harmony, IN
April 1983	Walter J. Heacock	Historic Madison, Inc.	Madison, IN
March 1983	George E. Thomas	Marian College	Indianapolis, IN
February 1983	Dr. Hubert Wilhelm	Bloomington Restorations, Inc.	Bloomington, IN
September 1982	Charles R. McGimsey III	Indiana University Conference on Historic Preservation	Bloomington, IN
September 1982	Ellen Beasley	ARCH, Inc.	Fort Wayne, IN
May 1982	Graham Hood	Historic Madison, Inc.	Madison County, IN
April 1982	Nancy N. Holmes	Historic New Harmony, Inc. and Harmonie Associates
April 1982	Brendan Gill	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana	Indianapolis, IN
May 1981	Geoffrey C. Upward	Historic Madison, Inc.	Madison, IN
May 1981	Neal R. Peirce	Preservation Alliance of Evansville
April 1981	James C. Massey	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indian ; #2 (Assitsed by Junior League of Indianapolis, Woodruff Place Civic League)
September 1980	Larry Tise	Indiana Conference on Historic Preservation	Bloomington, IN
May 1980	James T. Hickey	Historic Madison, Inc.	Madison, IN
April 1980	Dietrich Oertel	German Institute & Dept., History, Political Science, West European Studies, Fine Arts, SPEA, Chancellor's Office, President's Office	Bloomington, IN
April 1980	St. Clair (Mrs. J.M.P.) Wright	Historic New Harmony, Inc., Dennis T. Lawson, VP	New Harmony, IN
March 1980	Robert Utley	Glenn A. Black Lab or Archaeology	Bloomington, IN
November 1979	Milton Graton	Indiana Covered Bridge Society	Indianapolis, IN
September 1979	Richard W. Haupt	Hillforest Historical Foundation, Inc.	Hillforest, IN
May 1978	Wendell Garrett	Historic Madison, Inc.	Madison, IN
May 1978	Carl Westmoreland		South Bend, IN
April 1977	Geno Baroni	Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana	Indianapolis, IN
November 1976	Holman Hamilton	Hillforest Association at Aurora	Aurora, IN
May 1976	Prof. Arndt		New Harmony, IN
April 1976	Robert Rettig	Historic Landmarks Foundation	Indianapolis, IN
1976	Carol Shull		Vincennes, IN
September 1974	Samuel P. Hayes
September 1974	Bill Alderson	Indian State University	Evansville, IN
May 1974	Roger D. Branigin	Indiana Junior Historical Society	Brownsburg, IN
1973	Mr. Ziegler
September 1972	James L. Cogar		Bloomington, IN