2025 Dates:
7–8 p.m.
- February 18
- March 25
- May 13
- July 15
- September 16
- November 18
Tune in as we host a rotation of outside speakers and experts on Indiana History. Topics to include: natural science, history, folklore, and civics. The goal is to bring experts for you to learn about a wide range of topics.
2025 Speakers:
Geriann Albers, Certified Wildlife Biologist at Indiana DNR – Ms. Albers will be discussing central Indiana fur bearing mammals
Date: February 18, 2025
Time: 7–8 p.m.
Location: Prairie House #42 on the guest map
About Geriann Albers:
Geriann Albers is Furbearer and Turkey Program Leader for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Geriann received her Bachelors in natural resources from the University of Illinois and her Master’s in wildlife resources from West Virginia University. She worked in 9 states, including Wisconsin and North Carolina before joining Indiana DNR in 2017. In her free time, she likes to read, watch British murder mysteries, crochet, and weave baskets.
Bryan Glover, Roberts Settlement Descendant – Bryan will discuss the history of the Roberts Settlement, an African American community that began in the 1830s.
Date: March 25, 2025
Time: 7–8 p.m.
Location: Prairie House #42 on the guest map
About Bryan Glover:
Bryan is Vice-President and a Board Trustee for Roberts Settlement. Bryan has directed the organization’s efforts to create the Legacy Walk at Roberts Settlement, an outdoor exhibit about Indiana’s Black pioneers. He has lived in Noblesville since 2007 and is a descendant of Roberts Settlement’s founders. Bryan is a retired small business owner whose career also includes many years as a media & entertainment corporate executive in Los Angeles.
In addition to Roberts Settlement, Bryan currently serves on several community boards of directors including the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce, Hamilton County Community Foundation, Noblesville Diversity Coalition and the Hamilton County Historical Society. He enjoys biking, golfing, reading, music and travel.
Dr. R. Douglas Hurt, emeritus professor Purdue University – Dr. Hurt will discuss the history of agriculture in the 19th century Midwest.
Date: May 13, 2025
Time: 7–8 p.m.
Location: Prairie House #42 on the guest map
About Dr. R. Douglas Hurt:
Doug Hurt is professor emeritus in the department of history at Purdue University where he served as department head. He also has held the positions of professor and director of the Graduate Program in Agricultural History and Rural Studies at Iowa State University, associate director of the State Historical Society of Missouri, and curator of agriculture at the Ohio Historical Society. He is the author of Agriculture in the Midwest, 1815-1900 which won the Jon Gjerde Book Award presented by the Midwestern History Association and American Agriculture: A Brief History.
Dr. James H. Madison – Resistance to the Klan. This program in partnership with other local organizations as part of a series of events discussing the centenary of the D.C. Stephenson trial.
Date: July 15, 2025
Time: 7–8 p.m.
Location: Historic Courthouse in Noblesville
About Dr. James H. Madison:
James H. Madison is the Thomas and Kathryn Miller Professor Emeritus of History at Indiana University Bloomington, where he taught for four decades. His books include Eli Lilly: A Life; Slinging Doughnuts for the Boys: An American Woman in World War II; Hoosiers: A New History of Indiana; A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America; and, most recently, The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland.
Jim has spoken to dozens of public audiences across the state. He is the recipient of the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Lifetime Author Achievement Award and the Indiana Historical Society’s Living Legends Award.
Chris Flook, historian from Muncie – Flook will discuss grave robbing in Indianapolis at the turn of the 20th century.
Date: September 16, 2025
Time: 7–8 p.m.
Location: Prairie House #42 on the guest map
About Chris Flook:
Chris Flook is a public historian from Muncie, Indiana. He’s published four books of public history, including Ghost of Old Muncie, Indianapolis Graverobbing, Native Americans of East-Central Indiana, and Lost Towns of Delaware County. In 2016 he co-authored and edited Beech Grove Cemetery Comes to Life. Flook also writes the bi-monthly “ByGone Muncie History” column for The Star Press. In addition to actively volunteering at the Delaware County Historical Society, Flook works professionally as a motion graphics designer, photographer and documentary filmmaker. He teaches motiongraphic design in the Department of Media at Ball State University as a senior lecturer.
Michael J. Brown, Director of the Indiana Jewish Historical Society – Brown will discuss the history of Jewish communities in Indiana.
Date: November 18, 2025
Time: 7–8 p.m.
Location: Prairie House #42 on the guest map
About Michael J. Brown:
Michael J. Brown was born in Indiana. He served as a medic in the U.S. Army National Guard and Reserve, where he received an honorable discharge. Michael studied Jewish history at the Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he graduated. He then became the Executive Director of Hillel at Southern Illinois University. Later, he worked in several Israeli tech startups in business development and marketing. He is currently the Executive Director of the Indiana Jewish Historical Society and hosts a podcast called the IN-Jewish History.
Additionally, he contributes as a writer for the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Michael currently researches Midwestern Jewish migration patterns and has studied the history of antisemitism in Indiana.
The Speaker Series has been made possible through a grant from Indiana Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
