Cavinder - Forgotten Hoosiers: profiles from Indianas hidden history

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2009 by Fred D. Cavinder

All rights reserved

First published 2009

e-book edition 2013

Manufactured in the United States

ISBN 978.1.62584.337.1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cavinder, Fred D., 1931

Forgotten hoosiers : profiles from Indianas hidden history / Fred D. Cavinder.

p. cm.

print edition ISBN 978-1-59629-746-3

1. Indiana--History. 2. Indiana--Biography. I. Title.

F526.C34 2009

977.20099--dc22

[B]

2009023592

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

How quickly we forget the number of Hoosiers who have done important things in our culture. Part of the forgetfulness is generational; as the aging die off, youths find the recollection of past Hoosiers growing dimmer. More than the passing of torches consigns many Indiana luminaries to the dustbin of yesteryear. Hoosiers have touched so many developmentsespecially during the period of relatively slow progress before the space agethat remembering all of them is challenging.

Past Hoosiers have contributed to government, science, health, industry, arts and letters, music, the military and sports, and the list goes on and on. None of this takes into consideration the many movers and shakers who were not born in Indiana but rather came here during their productive years. This is offset, in its own way, by the many Hoosiers who spent precious few years in Indiana before going to prominence elsewhere. Abraham Lincoln, to use an extreme example, is a viable candidate for the Hoosier label; before rising to fame, he spent his youth in Indiana. Even Abe himself sometimes mentioned his Indiana period as formative.

Countless others made fleeting imprints on the Hoosier spirit. Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the man who cleaned up baseball as its first czar, was a high school dropout at Logansport. But Landis was born in Ohio. Dr. John R. Hurdy, although instrumental in the organization of the Indiana Board of Health, also was an Ohioan. Author Rex Stout was born in Indiana. The Nero Wolfe creator only lived in Noblesville until he was one year old. He joked that he left because I was fed up with Indiana politics. Herb Shrinergenerally associated with Indiana by those who still remember that droll comedianwas not a native; he said he came here as soon as I heard about it. Clearly, deciding who among the former notables should be jogged into memory is a subjective task.

This volume tries to tiptoe through the maze of Hoosier accomplishments by choosing a few Hoosiers. Clearly, fame and accomplishment are close calls in many cases. Also clearly, no compilation of noted forgotten Hoosier could be considered remotely complete. Some of these Hoosiers have well-known names; the fact that they came from Indiana in the first place has lapsed in Hoosier memories. Whatever the reasons, all of these Hoosiers are worth remembering. You are welcome to make your own list of people from Indiana, beyond these, who should not be allowed to fall from the public consciousness.

AMERICAN (HOOSIER) BULLDOG

General Walter Bedell Smith

I am lost in admiration of your patience, ability and skill.

note from General Dwight D. Eisenhower to General Walter Bedell Smith

Perhaps no Hoosier had a more pivotal role in World War II and is so widely forgotten as General Walter Bedell Smith. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called him the manager of the war. He represented Eisenhower at the surrenders of both Italy and Germany. An Indianapolis native, Smith had risen from private to four-star general without ever having attended West Point Military Academy or college. Even before the war, he was instrumental in a major army decision, although perhaps few realized its implications until later.

Smith, affectionately known as Beetle, was General Eisenhowers chief of staff. He was such an integral part of the Allied effort that, had there been television in those days, World War II might have been known as The Ike and Beetle Show. But before the war started, Smith was secretary for General George Marshall, chief of staff in the War Department. At one point during the job with Marshall, Smith recommended that the army purchase forty vehicles from the Bantam Motor Company. The vehicle became the jeep. Untold numbers were later purchased and used by the army.

The jeep was a mainstay of quick transportation for everyone from top officers on down in the war and for years afterward. Its name was later transferred to civilian vehicles, too.

A graduate of Emmerick Manual High School in Indianapolis, Smith had little public recognition, some say, because he never had an army field command. He labored mostly as an administrator, organizer, troubleshooter and expediter. The military gives more accolades to martial leadership as opposed to managerial skill.

Walter Bedell Smith was wounded overseas in World War I but, as a general, supervised the surrenders of Italy and Germany in World War II.

Aside from that, though, Smith also was uncompromising, petulant, wrathful, stubborn and irritable. He was short tempered with underlings in his office, although he could be diplomatic with fellow officers.

Eisenhower called Smith the best chief of staff ever. It may have been an exaggeration, but few had Smiths military experience. As Eisenhowers representative, Smith signed the Italian surrender document in September 1943, and in May 1945 he headed the group accepting the surrender of Germany in a schoolhouse in Reims, France. Smiths refusal to budge on complete surrender helped force the Germans to speed up their capitulation.

Immediately after the war, Smith was ambassador to Russia. He served a short time as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (named by President Harry S. Truman), and Ike named him undersecretary of state in 1953. He was bitter, although he seldom publicly complained, that he had not received his fifth star as general nor had been named chief of staff or given public recognition.

The military always had been Smiths dream, but perhaps in the end it wasnt enough. I always wanted to be an Army officer. I never thought about anything else, and my folks didnt have the money or the political contacts for me to go to West Point, Smith was quoted as saying.

Smith was born on October 5, 1895, to William L. Smith and Ida Frances Bedell, whose maiden name became his middle name. Smith attended Manual High School; later it moved to south-side Indianapolis. At Manual, Smith was trained as an engineer.

Smith joined the guard probably at the age of sixteen, though some sources say he was seventeen. He worked at several jobs: at a soda fountain for six dollars per week or as a mechanic. He enrolled in Butler University for a short time, but his fathers illness caused him to leave. By the time he was eighteen, he was a sergeant in Company D of the Indiana National Guard.