A Birthday Celebration for Mooresville's True Historical Treasure Trove

Next Saturday (June 11, 2011), Wanda Potts will be celebrating her 90th 29th birthday at a party hosted in the Community Room of Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana).  It is open to the public.  Bring the gift of your questions for Wanda.  I'll explain presently.

Some of my readers may not know (or know of) Wanda, so allow me to elaborate.

MPL Indiana Room

The MPL Indiana Room and Wanda Potts are interchangeable.  Wanda was the Indiana Room Librarian from 1966 to 2002 (although a local newspaper article a decade ago said she started working in that position in 1967, but I think that's slightly off the mark). Virtually EVERYTHING contained in this collection, which is devoted to genealogy as well as state and local history, was assembled by Wanda, with the help of a few assistants and volunteers over the years.  Our Library has this material entirely because of her dedication and diligence in preserving the community's historical records. Quite simply, she is the town historian par excellence.  No living individual knows as much about the history of Mooresville, Indiana (and surrounding communities) as Wanda.

Wanda Potts (the 1998 Recipient of
the Mooresvillian of the Year Award)

Most of us have some detailed knowledge of our hometowns, especially when we were growing up.  But can you tell me what business occupied the southwest corner of a central downtown intersection in your hometown?  In 1938?  1913?  1882?  1968?  Pick any date you like.  Do you remember that level of detail about your hometown?  Wanda does.  She remembers more historical information about her hometown than most of us retain about our own lives. She is the living, breathing history of Mooresville, and that makes her an invaluable treasure.  How do you know where you are if you don't recall where you've been?

Wanda as "Sweet Rosie O'Grady"

(From the 1943 Movie Starring Betty Grable)

Movie Poster (1943)

I wonder if Wanda had Lloyds of London insure her legs for a million dollars, as was done for Betty Grable's legs?  I wouldn't be surprised.  Those are pretty nice legs, so a library colleague tells me.

How was I able to track down these historical tidbits?  You guessed it. Wanda's 3,000-plus vertical files in the Indiana Room Collection had the corroborating details.  You just have to know where to look.

Wanda's birthday party will be a joyous affair, with fond recollections of the good ol' days.  But we need your help!  We want YOUR questions about Mooresville history--questions that only Wanda could answer--to ask her at the celebration.  Email your questions (please type "Questions to Wanda Potts" in the subject line).  If you visit the Library, we have a question box (using old-fashioned, but reliable, 3" x 5" note cards--Wanda would appreciate the low-tech approach) on the circular book display across from the new books (for adult readers) bookshelves.  Write down your questions and drop those cards into the box.  What could be easier?

We hope to see you at Wanda's celebration.  There will probably be some food--always a good reason to visit the Library--but, most importantly, you will be sharing the wisdom and life's work of a pillar of our community.  That, my friends, is well worth the price of admission, which is free, of course.  We are a public library, after all, and the information and research assistance we provide in our Indiana Room Collection is due entirely to Wanda Potts.  So, thanks are definitely in order.

Watch our program trailer (above) to see some of the photographs Wanda Potts safeguarded in our historical collections.

Here is another of our program trailers, this one promoting the Library's self-guided walking tour of downtown Mooresville, Indiana, made possible, once again, by Wanda's resources in the MPL Indiana Room.

In this program trailer (above), we learn why Wanda's work is so significant.

One of the number one records of 1939, when Wanda Potts graduated from Mooresville High School, was "Stairway to the Stars," performed by Ray Eberle (vocalist) and Glenn Miller and his Orchestra (recorded June 26, 1939).

Hers Was a Light That Shone Brightly

In June, 2011, the Library helped celebrate Indiana Room Librarian Emeritus Wanda Potts' 90th birthday.  Wanda passed over this week (Wednesday, July 25, 2012).  Aside from a few years' stay on the far west side of Indianapolis, she was a lifelong resident of Mooresville, Indiana.

Wanda Potts attended the Library's 100th Anniversary

celebration on Saturday, May 12, 2012

Wanda Potts' Obituary
Mooresville-Decatur Times, July 29, 2012

Wanda Rusie was born on June 16, 1921.  Her father's cousin was baseball hall of famer (and Mooresville native) Amos W. Rusie (1871-1942), known as "the Hoosier Thunderbolt," who played professionally for Indianapolis, the New York Giants, and the Cincinnati Reds (1889-early 1900s).  Wanda's talents were more cerebral, although she was rightly proud (who wouldn't be?) of having the fastest pitcher in major league baseball (at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries) in her family.

Growing up, Wanda was passionate about the cinema.  She loved movies and worked for several years in the town's then-only movie theater, the Ritz, located on East Main Street downtown in the Mooresville Times building (as it has been known for the past 40 years). Her school chums, teachers, and co-workers would have been amazed had they known (back in the 1930s and 1940s) that one day Wanda would appear in a major motion picture--Hoosiers (1986), in which she played an extra (she still had a 1950s wardrobe in her closets at home, she said, so why not?)--although, ultimately, her scenes ended on the cutting room floor.  Still, appearing in a real, live movie counts as a brush with stardom, and I'm certain that she was thrilled to appear, even briefly, alongside movie stars like those she saw at the Ritz as a teenager and young married lady (following her nuptials to Carl Richard Potts).

In 1966 Wanda Potts became the MPL Indiana Room Librarian and Assistant Librarian, which was the title (at that time) for the Assistant Director of the Library.  She held this post until she retired in 2002.  Wanda was passionate about local, county, and state history, and it was her life's work to preserve as much information as possible about Mooresville and the surrounding area, as well as historical documentation about Indianapolis and central Indiana.  She cared deeply about family histories, too--especially among hometown residents--so she assembled extensive genealogical data for the community's families.

Wanda was known for decades as the town historian.  Nobody knew more about Mooresville's colorful history than she.  The vast treasure trove of historical collections in the MPL Indiana Room was significantly created, augmented, and entirely maintained by her for nearly four decades, with the help of trusted and valued library colleagues and volunteers she had known for many years.   You would not now be reading this blog if she had not safeguarded and assembled the knowledge necessary to sketch Mooresville's historical canvas.

I would invite you to reprise my earlier blog postings containing Wanda's historical newspaper columns.  There are many such postings, so please browse them at your leisure.  You will learn more about local history than you ever thought possible.

A town’s history is like a lighthouse, shining a community’s collective memories to guide all those sailing the seas of everyday living. Wanda Potts was the lighthouse keeper, whose mastery of Mooresville history was unsurpassed, and who cherished and preserved the knowledge of nearly two centuries of community life here. Hers was the light that shone brightly. Thanks to Wanda’s labors at Mooresville Public Library, that history shines on, assuring modern residents a better understanding of the hometown she loved.

Our Centennial Conservator of Local History

We have enjoyed presenting the Library's century of public service in this blog.  If you, too, have had fun reading the postings this year, we should thank Wanda Potts, the historian of Mooresville, Indiana who will be 91 years old next month.

Wanda Potts

Mooresville, Indiana Historian

MPL Indiana Room Librarian Emeritus

Long-time readers know that Wanda Potts was the MPL Indiana Room Librarian (and Assistant Director of the Library) from 1966-2002.  Our 100-year history presented in this blog, along with the 188-year history of the Town of Mooresville that we have featured throughout, comes directly from information carefully collated and filed by Wanda and her colleagues.  None of this would have been possible without their tireless dedication to the preservation of our local history.  Wanda is truly the Library's centennial conservator of local history, and nobody better deserves the title of town historian.

We have featured Wanda or her newspaper articles in many blog postings.  In the blog search line (upper left-hand corner of the blog page), type (in quotation marks) "Wanda Potts," and your search results should retrieve many posts about her or her writings.

We hope Wanda is able to attend our centennial celebration tomorrow (Saturday, May 12, 2012) at the Library.  There is cake!  I guess you can see why I'll be there.  Well, I'm actually scheduled to work, but cake is a nice perk.

Wanda Potts (May 12, 2012)

UPDATE:  Wanda visited with us at the Library's 100th anniversary celebration.  She was pleased with the Library's maintenance and development of the Indiana Room collections, as well as with digitization efforts to increase information accessibility via the Internet.

Mooresville Moments (1999): Newspaper Column Looking at Mooresville and Morgan County, Indiana History

Wanda Potts (1921-2012)
(January 8, 1955 photo)

In 1999, to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the founding of Mooresville, Indiana, Wanda Potts, Indiana Room Librarian (1966-2002) at Mooresville Public Library, wrote and edited a series of newspaper columns entitled Mooresville Moments, which examined the local history of the town and surrounding Morgan County, Indiana.  Click the link below to read the articles.

Mooresville Moments, by Wanda Potts (1999)

 

No one knew more about the history of Mooresville and vicinity than Wanda Potts.  Mrs. Potts shared her encyclopedic knowledge of the town and its legacy, and, now, you can, too.

You Are Welcome Here, Always

I met Mrs. Bonita Marley, MPL Director and Librarian, on a Saturday morning in June, 1978.  I was visiting my college girlfriend, a Mooresville native (who lives there still).  She wanted to show me the local library, where she had spent many pleasant childhood hours.

The Library was a fine Carnegie structure.  Such libraries were quite distinctive.  I was surprised that a town the size of Mooresville had such a sizable library.

We walked up the front stairs through the library entrance.  My girlfriend began giving me the grand tour, when an older lady approached us.  "Welcome back," she said to my girlfriend, whom she seemed to recognize.  "I see you've brought a friend," she added, turning to me.  "I'm Bonita Marley," she said.  "Welcome to our library.  May I help you find anything?"

I explained that I was from out-of-town and that my girlfriend was showing me around.  I was a  stranger to Mooresville, and I was pleasantly subsumed in the small town charm of the place.  "I'm glad you dropped by to see us," Mrs. Marley said, with such genuine warmth and kindness that I was immediately put at ease.  "I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have."

Merely reading my recounting of our conversation, 34 years after the fact, you probably won't appreciate just how pleasant, friendly, and inviting Mrs. Marley was that day.  She honestly cared that a total stranger was visiting her library, perhaps only once, which was true--I was never inside the MPL Carnegie Library again--and she wanted me to know that it was her pleasure to have me there.  You would have had to have heard her voice to know this, but it was no feigned "customer service" spiel.  She was accustomed to greeting everybody who entered the library this way.  Mrs. Marley was truly glad to see them there.

Bonita Marley, MPL Librarian & Director (1961-1984)

Mrs. Marley became MPL Director in 1961.  She began her 23-year tenure at the Library's helm by overseeing an extensive renovation of the facilities.  The front entrance, which had two stairways approaching from each side to the front doors, was changed to be a single staircase straight from the doors to the sidewalk (compare the photos below; click images to enlarge).  This was more welcoming--an architectural invitation to enter the library--which Mrs. Marley would surely have favored.  A new heating and air conditioning system was installed, and the basement kitchen was enlarged.  The Library was being modernized to create a public institution attractive to the growing youth population.

MPL Carnegie Library (1916)

(Note Entance Stairs to Sides)

MPL Carnegie Library (ca. 1963)

(Note Single Stairway Entrance)

This youthful appeal was particularly evident in the converting of the basement auditorium into the Pioneer Room, which was a full-time "young people's library" area.  MPL was one of the first Hoosier public libraries to designate a particular section devoted to young adults as their special library gathering place.

Youth services programs greatly expanded under Mrs. Marley's tutelage.  Year-round story times were scheduled for various children's age groups.  Many other youth and adult programs were established, which included such staples as summer reading, arts & crafts, and movies.  There were substantial increases in collection acquisitions, and a steady stream of new patrons was welcomed aboard during the 1960s.  By 1969, the Library's collections totalled 14,500 items.

Bonita Marley holds the India (short for Indiana) Likely Scrapbook,

one of the Library's local history treasures (undated photo)

Myrtle Keller, MPL Assistant Director, Bonita Marley, MPL Director,

and  Babs Sandefur, Page, showcase summer reading options (1970)

Mrs. Marley was cognizant that adults, too, needed to be enticed to come calling upon the Library.  She dramatically increased both fiction and nonfiction holdings in the adult collections.  She also felt that MPL should become the bastion of local history for Mooresville and the surrounding communities.  The Library had a long history of preserving local historical materials, but Mrs. Marley made this a priority.  So, in 1966, she hired the best possible person for the job.

MPL Director Bonita Marley and Assistant Director Wanda Potts (Feb. 1978 photo)

Wanda Potts became MPL Indiana Room Librarian (and an MPL Assistant Director) in 1966.  Both Wanda (born in 1921) and Bonita (born in 1906) were Mooresville natives and lifelong residents.  (Well, Mrs. Potts now lives in west Indianapolis, but that's a minor detail to this story.)  They knew as much local history as any two living persons, and they were directly responsible for the quality and breadth of the Library's Indiana Room collections that we enjoy today.  Had it not been for these two librarians, you would not now be reading this blog.  Their historical preservation efforts flow through my fingers as I'm typing.  As is true for all of the MPL librarians over the past 100 years, our century of public service is encapsulated in Bonita and Wanda.  They WERE the flesh-and-bone embodiment of the Library's goals and aspirations.  Our Library would not exist as we know it today without their tireless dedication to excellence and service.

Henry Conduitt House (1911).  Appearing in the picture, from left to right, are:

Florence (Shephard) Conduitt, age 33; Maude (Gray) Kenworthy, age 15;

Bonita (Conduitt) Marley, age 5; and Henry Conduitt, age 67.

Click here to read more about Wanda Potts.  Below are some biographical highlights about Bonita Marley.  Click the image below to enlarge.

As I sit in the MPL Indiana Room, wearing Wanda's mantle as MPL's local historian, I am amazed, daunted, and mystified that I, of all people, should have been entrusted with this great responsibility.  But I am thrilled by the challenges, and the prospect of serving the Library's patrons brings me to work knowing that another day of sheer fun awaits.  I am blessed to have a job that is more play than work.  Who would have thought, way back in the Summer of 1978, when I briefly toured the MPL Carnegie Library, that the future would one day reward me so well?

Of this much, I am certain.  My girlfriend who took me to the Library said she planned to become a librarian because of her joyous adventures at MPL exploring books galore, but, also, because of Mrs. Marley.  She (my girlfriend, then; my wife, now) has been an honored member of the profession for over a quarter century.  I would hope that, if Mrs. Marley's spirit were to walk through the front entrance of our Library today, she would be pleased to see that "young fellow" from 1978, a little greyer in the hair and much more stout, working at "her" Library.  I hope she would be pleased by the way in which I serve our patrons.  I'm sure that she would, once again, welcome me back where I belong.

Noel Plunkett's Library Video (May/June 1987)

Those familiar with the history of Mooresville Public Library (MPL) know that construction of the "new" library building began in June, 1987.  The library is fortunate to have a VHS videotape recording made in May/June 1987 by Noel Plunkett, which shows the "old" library Carnegie building located at 32 West Main Street in downtown Mooresville, Indiana, as well as the construction site for the "new" library, which I call the 1988 building.

What good is a VHS cassette, you may well ask.  Who has videocassette recorders (VCRs) anymore?  Thankfully, there are wonderful gadgets that can convert videotapes into DVDs or digital recordings, and the library has such a gizmo.  Yesterday, I converted the videotape to DVD and digital formats.  Then, I took the raw video/audio and made a quick edit using Wondershare Filmora software.  Here's the result:

Mooresville Public Library, May/June 1987 Video, by Noel Plunkett

(Click Above to Play Video)

 

Mr. Plunkett's video begins by showing the front exterior of the MPL Carnegie building, then moves to selected interior shots.  Three MPL employees were captured on videotape:  MPL Director Sharon Beatrice, MPL Assistant Director/Indiana Room Librarian Wanda Potts, and MPL Staffer Mattie Deaton.  Then, Mr. Plunkett moves a few blocks west to 220 West Harrison Street, where construction began (in June, 1987) on the 1988 building.  Several unidentified construction workers appear in the video.  Mr. Plunkett provides a couple of voice-overs during the recording, in which he states the date of videography at the construction site.

 

Wanda Potts & Mattie Deaton appeared in this photo

of MPL Carnegie's last day (January, 1988)

L to R:  Director Pat Vahey, Asst. Dir. Wanda Potts,

Staffers Mattie Deaton, Theresa Lucas, and Sandy Lefler

 

MPL Director Sharon Beatrice (1984-1987)

Indianapolis News, Monday, June 15, 1987

 

The original video quality was low-resolution, and the audio was captured by a condenser microphone on the camera, so it is difficult to hear.  Retail camcorders from the mid-1980s filmed in analog, so the recording appears fuzzy on modern digital video players.  The quality, however, was standard for the retail market of the mid-1980s.

Mr. Plunkett's video is an invaluable historical account that captured the look and feel of the library (and construction site and its surroundings) from the time period.  Captured, too, were images (and faint voices) of some of the library staff from way back then.  For those who lived in and around Mooresville during the 1980s (and who frequented the library), it will bring back fond memories, as well as revealing what the library's current site looked like as construction began.  Sadly, such historical artifacts are often discarded, damaged, or otherwise lost as the years pass.  We are grateful that Mr. Plunkett donated a copy of his videocassette to the library, and that library staff had the foresight to preserve it.

 

Solid Returns For Your Tax Investment (Then & Now)

The minutes of MPL Board of Trustees meetings provide a wealth of information about month-to-month issues facing the Library over the past century.  These meetings are open to the public, and, accordingly, the minutes are public records.  So we can snoop around a bit and discover some interesting details about the Library’s history.

Consider an entry from January 4, 1974.  Librarian and MPL Director Bonita Marley gave the Board a year-end report for 1973, and the Board voted on salary schedules for the Library staff.  These were:

• Bonita Marley:                   $525/month
• Wanda Potts:                      $395/month
• Myrtle Keller:                     $145/month
• Children’s Librarian:          $1.60/hour
• Pages:                                 85 cents to $1 per hour, depending upon experience
• Custodian:                          $100/month

Wanda, you may recall, was Assistant Director/Indiana Room Librarian.  Myrtle was Head of Circulation.  There was a separate youth services librarian, four teenaged pages, and a custodian.

What were salaries for 1975?

• Bonita Marley:                     $6,900/year
• Wanda Potts:                        $5,160/year
• Myrtle Keller:                        $1,980/year
• Mattie Lundy:                        $1,257.80/year
• Cindy Breedlove:                  $2.10/hour
• Cindy Johnson:                     $2/hour
• Bonnie Hamilton:                  $2/hour
• Debby Kouns:                       $2/hour
• Andrea Tucker:                     $2/hour

Mattie was the custodian.  Cindy Breedlove was the “assistant children’s director,” and Cindy J., Bonnie, Debby and Andrea were pages (Mooresville High School students).

Nobody could accuse library employees of getting rich.

You may know some of these folks, as several still live in Indiana, and many have family still living in Morgan County or vicinity.  Each was hard-working, dedicated to the Library and its patrons, and committed to providing quality public service.  When one considers how little they earned, even for the mid-1970s, their dedication leaps off the page (or screen, since this blog is on the Internet).

Salaries have risen since those days over 35 years ago, but they remain considerably beneath what similarly skilled workers command in the private sector (or in federal or even some state or local governmental positions).  That means Library staff are making sacrifices in earning potential, the impact of which is clearly felt at home among their families.  Consider the value and quality of library employees’ services to the public in the taxing district.  Citizens of Mooresville and Brown Township have long received an excellent return for their tax dollars allocated to MPL.  Remember, too, that the Library’s legions of volunteers receive no compensation for their many contributions.  That’s another, even greater value for tax dollars invested in the Library.

1949 Soup Box Derby Competition in Downtown Mooresville, Indiana (UPDATED)

The Library recently received a donation of an undated photograph of a Soup Box Derby competition, which was held in downtown Mooresville, Indiana.  (SOUP box?  Isn't it called "Soap Box Derby"?  Not this one--I'll explain presently.)  When and where did this event occur?  There are several suggestive clues in the photo.  Can you see them?

Undated Photograph Purported to be Downtown Mooresville, Indiana



A comparison to a more current photograph (see below) of downtown Mooresville enables us to positively identify the buildings in the picture above to be the south side of East Main Street, in downtown Mooresville.  So location is definitely nailed down; but what about time period?

The spectators' clothing and hairstyles are suggestive of the 1940s, although a small town such as Mooresville would have seen similar styles well into the late 1950s and early 1960s.  The businesses occupying various downtown buildings, all of which still stand today, are a solid method of establishing date ranges.  Knowing, for example, that, during the 1940s, Voelz & Son Market was located in the Jake Mann-constructed building shown in the photo is extremely helpful.  Mooresville Homes & Auto Supply was nearby Voelz during the late 1940s and into the 1950s.  So we may narrow our date range between, say, 1947 and 1952.

Fortunately, the MPL Indiana Room Collection has approximately 2,500 vertical files detailing local, county, and state history.  These files were assembled over the Library's 100 year history (and earlier, from information saved by thoughtful residents who later donated them to the Library).  The librarian most responsible for compiling and safeguarding these rare, irreplaceable historical materials was Wanda Potts, MPL Indiana Room Librarian (1966-2002), who was Assistant Director during the late 1970s and early 1980s.  Helping Wanda amass this historical gold mine were MPL Director Bonita Marley (1961-1984), her assistant, Myrtle Keller (1960s-1970s), and current MPL volunteer Beth Hensley.

Among our vertical files is one captioned "Soap Box Derby (Mooresville)," which includes a packet of undated photographs that include a smaller print of the photo above.  Happily, the packet is marked "1949 Soap Box Derby" (yes, the file tab and photo packet both say "soap box derby," but that's a mistake, as we will see shortly), and newspaper clippings from 1949-1950 reprinted some of these pictures contained in the packet.

Thanks to the resourcefulness of Wanda Potts and her colleagues, we may definitively date the donation photo above to the 1949 Soup Box Derby race.  We know from the newspaper clippings (Mooresville Times, July 7, 1949) that Bud Beasley, who drove the Gibbs Regal Store car, won the Class A Division.  (Gibbs Regal was a local grocery store at the time.)  The Class B Division title was captured by Larry Laudig.  Ray House, who was the timer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was the official starter for the Derby.  Beasley edged Laudig for the grand championship title.

Compare the 1949 photo above with a more recent picture (May 8, 2008) of the same section of downtown Mooresville (below).

A Portion of the South Side of East Main Street,

Downtown Mooresville, Indiana (May 8, 2008)

Soup or Soap?  Another Mystery


The Mooresville Times over the years used both "soap" and "soup" in articles about the races.  It was referred to as the "Soup Box Derby" in the July 7, 1949 edition.  The local newspaper referred to both the 1949 and 1950 races as "soup box derby" events (Mooresville Times, July 27, 1950).   Local reporters mentioned the "1953 Soup Box Derby" in a newspaper article (Mooresville Times, Aug. 6, 1953).

The 1934, 1935, and 1965 races, however, were identified as "Soap Box Derby" contests.  (Mooresville Times,  Aug. 6, 1934; Aug. 22, 1935; July 22, 1965).  So what's the difference?

Thanks to alert reader Larry Laudig, who won the 1949 Class B Division Title and was runnerup that year for the grand championship title, we know who "put the soup" in the derby racers.  As Mr. Laudig mentioned in our comments section, in 1949 Mooresville was running a local race that was not affiliated with the National Soap Box Derby competition.  The name was presumably trademarked, and so Mooresville officials changed their local event to the Soup Box Derby.  It is a catchy title, if you think about "souped up" (i.e., fast-running) cars.  "Souped up" was certainly a commonly used expression in the vernacular of the time period.

Based upon the newspaper accounts from 1950 and 1953, the races held during those years must also have been unaffiliated with the National Soap Box Derby, and so explains the name differential.

Careful reading of the newspaper clippings cited above also reveals why the 1934-1935 and 1965 races were called "Soap Box Derby."  The 8/6/1934 Times story stated that "Raymond Kerns, living about 3-1/2 miles southwest of Mooresville in the Bethseda neighborhood, won the Indianapolis All American Soap Box Derby."  The 7/22/1965 Times column said that Mark Marksbary, then a Mooresville High School sophomore, won the 28th annual Bloomington Soap Box Derby and competed in the national races.  One may presume that these events, held in Indianapolis and Bloomington, were affiliated with the national Soap Box Derby organization and therefore were permitted to use the "official" soap box derby name.

Many thanks to Mr. Laudig for alerting us to this important distinction!  We appreciate receiving first-hand knowledge of historical events, which we can then trace through the secondary source historical materials available at Mooresville Public Library (in the Indiana Room Collection) to assure that correct details are provided.

Exponential Library Growth

Everything looked bright and shiny when the newly-built Library opened in January, 1988.  MPL staff eagerly embarked on this latest adventure in providing bibliographical services to their community.  Click images to enlarge.

Opening Day at the New Library (January, 1988)

L to R:

Pat Vahey, MPL Director (1987-1997)

Wanda Potts, Indiana Room Librarian (1966-2002)

Bonita Marley, Retired MPL Director (1961-1984)

Theresa Lucas, MPL Staffer

Mattie Deaton, MPL Staffer

Bonita Marley (left) and Wanda Potts (right) working

at the new Library's Circulation Desk (January, 1988)

From 1988 onward, the Library's growth was exponential.  This mirrored the corresponding increases in population and business development in Mooresville, Indiana, during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.  It was a town on the move, and its citizens expected a Library that could satisfy its burgeoning informational needs.  The Library was glad to accommodate.

Libraries are driven by statistics.  Recall that MPL total collection size in 1988 was 32,000 units.  Let's review MPL's collection growth between 1994 to 2010.

Click Table to Enlarge

By 1998, the Library Board held its first public meetings to determine the feasibility, and to chart a course of action, in undertaking a Library expansion project.  This long-term planning process would ultimately take seven years before sufficient funding was assured, as the Library Board and Director took great pains to prevent the mounting of unmanageable debt.  Sound fiscal practice has been the standard of MPL throughout its century of public service, and the community served owes a huge thanks to the MPL Boards of Trustees and Directors over the past 100 years.  In 2005, a 24,500 square foot addition was grafted to the 1988 building, effectively tripling available space.

The 1990s growth included more than physical materials at the Library.  It also included early Internet databases, electronic resources (e.g., CD-ROMs), and computers for public and staff use.  In the mid-1990s, MPL automated its card catalog and established its first OPAC (online public access catalog) accessible by computer.  The Library also purchased computers and printers for public use.

With the expansion of collections and technologies, Library programs also blossomed, and attendance rose accordingly.  This was particularly noticeable in the MPL Children's Department.  Bigger collections, additional technologies, and larger programming costs money.  Next time, we'll discover how MPL was able to accommodate these elevating expenditures at negligible cost to taxpayers.

Farmers State Bank

Dr. Steve Nelson, an academic colleague at the University of Great Falls (Montana), was fond of positing, "Why reinvent the wheel?" whenever faced with repetitious tasks. Sound advice, this is. (Writing like Yoda in Star Wars, I am.)  So I link one of our website handouts.

Therein lies the tale of the Farmers State Bank, once a pivotal commercial landmark of Mooresville, Indiana, but, alas, this fine institution succumbed to the Great Depression. The building still stands, fortunately, at the heart of downtown--the Main and Indiana Street intersection. This is arguably the highest ground upon which the town is situated. Founder Samuel Moore, as noted Mooresville historian Wanda Potts (1921-2012) said, had the supreme good sense to plat the town on high ground to avoid flooding from nearby White Lick Creek.

(Click images to enlarge.)

Farmers Bank of Mooresville at 2 West Main Street (on the northwest corner of  the  intersection  of  Main  and  Indiana  Streets),  as  it  appeared  during  the  1880s  until  1904,  when  the  building  was  removed.    Its  replacement,  which  still  stands  today,  is  shown  in  Figure  2.    Notice  the  wooden  “guards”  around  the  tree  trunks  to  protect  the  tree bark from hungry horses.

1917 advertisement from the Mooresville High School yearbook

Counter checks (1920s)

More from Wanda later. She was the Indiana Room librarian at Mooresville Public Library (1966-2002) and was the greatest living authority on our local history. She knew everything about this community's history, and what she didn't know, never happened. (If it happened, she remembered. It was amazing, really.) You wouldn't be reading this blog right now (assuming, of course, that you're here, reading it) if it weren't for her dedication to preserving Mooresville's past.  Learn more about Wanda from this 2012 blog post and her obituary.

The Historical Journey Never Ends

Indiana Room at Mooresville Public Library

Just Before the Dedication of the New Addition

(January 26, 2006)

(Last updated:  January 9, 2025).

In March, 2010, during a meeting at Mooresville (Indiana) Public Library, one of my colleagues, Suzanne Walker, who was then the library's youth services director, was discussing a social media initiative with the library's executive director, Diane Huerkamp, and me.  The library had already launched its YouTube channel; we could add Facebook, Twitter, and something called "Blogger," whatever that was, which featured "blogs," whatever they were.  Suzanne envisioned expanding the library's "global footprint" through its use of social media.  We could disseminate our messages far and wide to many more people than merely those who entered through the library's doors.

Suzanne already used Blogger to recommend children's and teen books to read and, along with other staff, was about to create new blogs focusing upon the library's youth services programs.  Blogs could also be used for adult services content.  She suggested I write a blog about the history of Mooresville, Indiana.

Would people read a local history blog, I wondered?  With an Internet already overloaded with trivial, over-personalized content, could an audience be attracted discussing the past of a town with fewer than 15,000 residents?  I doubted it, but I was game to try.

So, on April 3, 2010, I "published" my first "post" to this "blog."  Re-reading it now, the tone reminds me of a standup comic whose tired old material is bombing but who doesn't want to surrender the stage in humiliating defeat.  Of course, I was just starting this journey, so I didn't know exactly where I was going or how I planned to get there.  Maybe I should cut my former self some slack.

Thirteen years later, I've reached the end of my library career.  I've written a few hundred blog posts here, as well as over a thousand elsewhere (on four other blogs, two of which are long gone from the web, but two of which are still around here and here).  As of January, 2025, I've reached over 400,000 views with this local history blog; I reached another million views on my other blogs, and over 2.77 million views on the library's YouTube channel.  Suzanne's social media initiative was a success beyond our wildest expectations.

As my retirement date approaches (May 6, 2023), I look back fondly upon the historical tales we've shared here.  Looking back is what historians do; since I've been portraying one at the library for the past 16 years, I wanted to stay in character until my last day, when I will close the library's Indiana Room (and, as manager-in-charge, the library) for what will be my final time.

This blog will remain online until such time as Google (or whoever will control the Blogger site) decides otherwise.  Links to PDFs will remain active until Mooresville Public Library updates to new website servers.  This blog has been a rewarding experience that, with any luck, was somewhat informative and, perhaps, mildly entertaining.  I'm grateful for the support I've received from the library board and the library's executive director (Diane Huerkamp, who retired at the end of December, 2024).  Not many employers would have tolerated my spending endless hours turning out this tripe.  They always had encouraging words for my efforts.  I appreciate that.

There's much local history to be found on these blog posts.  If you've enjoyed it, thank one of my predecessors, Wanda Potts (MPL Indiana Room librarian, 1966-2002, and assistant director from the 1970s to the 1990s) for creating and maintaining the historical collections from which I've drawn everything.  Also thank Bonita Marley (MPL executive director 1961-1984), who preserved all the local history filed before Wanda came aboard (and handed it over to Wanda to preserve thereafter).  Myrtle Keller (MPL staffer & assistant director during the 1960s and 1970s) also contributed to the library's historical collections, as did each of the library directors and staff before Mrs. Marley.  My immediate predecessor, Marylou Smith, also deserves kudos for her fine work preserving Mooresville's past.  None of the material I've presented here (or elsewhere) regarding local history would have been possible without their tremendous efforts to organize and safeguard it.  All I did was type and upload some images.

Finally, thank YOU for reading about Mooresville's past.  Local history collections are diminishing in public libraries these days, so having an interested audience has helped Mooresville Public Library continue its mission to protect the past for the future to explore.  I hope the library's Indiana Room resources will be around for many years to come.  History continues forward, so there will always be something new and fresh to discover.  The historical journey never ends.

Wanda of the Golden Dawn

To help celebrate the 90th birthday of Wanda Potts, MPL Indiana Room Librarian Emeritus, we offer a poem, which we have made into a video (included on our YouTube Channel's Program Trailer playlist, among others).  Here's the "video poem."

Happy 90th, Wanda!  We hope you enjoy today's celebration at the Library to which your life's work has been devoted.  Here are some photos from the big event.