Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This history investigates the beginnings of community foundations in general and the creation of the Indianapolis Foundation specifically and its eventual funding of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. My findings reveal that, contrary to previous histories that have been written, the creation of community foundations was not driven by benevolence but by changes in federal and state banking laws starting in 1913 that allowed banks to have trust departments that broke the monopoly that trust companies had long enjoyed. In response, trust company executives chartered community trusts to publicly position themselves as benevolent, community-minded businessmen. This distinguished them as trustworthy compared to the greedy bankers of the day, which helped trust companies gain trust customers. Community trusts were responsible for identifying and disbursing funds to deserving beneficiaries, thereby relieving trust companies of a costly and time consuming burden. Even more important, the trust companies retained control over the community trusts by appointing surrogate board members. In addition, none of the trust companies that chartered the Indianapolis Foundation donated their own money, yet appeared charitable. All of these factors made community foundations a very lucrative arrangement. Funding the areas of arts and culture was not designated in the Indianapolis Foundation’s original purpose statement, yet the Indiana State Symphony Society was funded at the height of the Great Depression while many Indianapolis citizens went hungry. The love of music played a very small part in efforts by the wealthy elite to garner support from the Indianapolis Foundation for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. The public justifications for funding the symphony began with giving psychological relief to the citizens of Indianapolis from the pressures of the Great Depression, to the need of employment for musicians, then the importance of musical education of children, expanding to the importance of the symphony to the city’s reputation, and finally, in the 1980s, the symphony as a community asset that helped rejuvenate downtown Indianapolis. However, the real reason for funding was that the wealthy elite wanted the symphony to use as a flattering cultural institution that would elevate their social status and attract fellow elites and businesses to Indianapolis.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and determine different energy components existing within historic buildings that will contribute to the development of guidelines for applying modern technology systems within these strucutres and to show the financial, social and physical benefits, which may result without altering the architectural and cultural significance of the building.Union Station, Indianapolis, is an example of historical and architectural ingenuity. If proper and selected energy systems are applied, Union Station will be a strong active force for revitalizing the surrounding area, which has deteriorated and fallen into disuse in recent times. Similar examples of significant historic buildings are scattered all across the country, and with the new development taking place, these historic structures, which are the physical and visual links between us and our past, are being thregtened for the sake of the "glass-box". This study shows the many advantages in preserving these historic links whether economically, architecturally or socially, by bringing the best technology of both worlds and molding them into one system, in which both technologies work together and compliment each other rather than be an isolated system. / Department of Architecture

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Founded in 1876 by a small group of young women who resolved to deliver bouquets to patients in the City Hospital, the Indianapolis Flower Mission quickly grew to become one of the most respected philanthropic organizations in the city. During its almost one hundred and twenty year history, the Indianapolis Flower Mission created lasting institutions such as a nurses’ training school, a visiting nurse program, and two hospitals. While historians may be tempted to dismiss flower missions like the one in Indianapolis as naïve or sentimental groups, closer inspection reveals they were much more. My main argument is that though the work of the Indianapolis Flower Mission may at first glance appear trite, it was actually practical and life-saving and deserves serious consideration from historians. First, delivering flowers to the sick and poor had value, especially when we understand how people at the time thought about flowers and what emphasis people placed on spiritual as well as physical health. Second, the Indianapolis Flower Mission quickly transitioned away from simply delivering flowers into work like providing healthcare to the poor. Third, the Indianapolis Flower Mission provided women a respectable way to work outside their homes and gain experience in philanthropic, business, and political activity. Finally, the Indianapolis Flower Mission provides a specific case study that sheds light on other flower missions around the nation and the world.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI / Charter schools are a major movement in American education and increasingly used as a city strategy for neighborhood rehabilitation. Indianapolis is one of a growing number of urban areas to promote charter schools as catalysts for neighborhood revitalization. Previous studies find mixed results about the causes of neighborhood change or how residents make mobility decisions. The present study seeks to create an empirical model that discovers the impact of charter schools as a neighborhood amenity. This is based on two measures of well-being: change in percentage poverty and change in percentage school-aged residents. Data indicate a negative relationship between charter schools in a census tract and the school-aged resident population. However, statistical analysis did not support a significant relationship between either measure and charter schools in the ten year time frame.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Virtually every society can, at some point, be affected by homelessness. In recent years in the United States, homeless rates have hovered around three percent of the entire population. Although this marginalized population has been studied before, little is known regarding the possible characteristics that can keep an individual in homelessness or affect their living conditions while being homeless. This thesis provides an in-depth look at specific characteristics that could be factors in the length of the homeless experience, as well as how these same characteristics could impact the shelter status while an individual is homeless. The study reveals that homelessness in Indianapolis was mostly experienced by those who were male, African-American, and between the ages of 31-50. Furthermore, the majority were found to live in shelters and be homeless for twelve months or less.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / During the latter half of the nineteenth and in the early twentieth century, the Indianapolis Wholesale District (IWD) operated as a local and regional commercial hub. Analysis of the IWD’s relationship with the railroad network in Indiana points to a widening of trade, yet regional focus due to transportation restrictions. The growth and subsequent specialization of wholesale trading in the district catered to primarily local and regional audiences. Examining the physical presence of the IWD in downtown Indianapolis uncovers the built environment of a midwestern business district. This research project argues for the local and regional significance of the Indianapolis Wholesale District. Additionally, this thesis demonstrates the need to pursue the overlap in specialization, the morphology of warehouses, and transportation development to understand a business district as part of a larger process of American economic development.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The Charity Organization Society of Indianapolis experienced founding, maturing, and corporate phases between 1879 and 1922. Indianapolis provided the ideal setting for the organized charity movement to flourish. Men and women innovated to act on their civic ideal to make Indianapolis a desirable city. As charity leaders applied the new techniques of scientific philanthropy, they assembled data one case at a time and based solutions to social problems on reforming individuals. The COS enjoyed its peak influence and legitimacy between 1891 and 1911. The organization continually learned from its work and advised other charities in Indianapolis and the U.S. The connected men and women engaged in organized charity learned that it was not enough to reform every individual who came to them for help. Industrialization created new socioeconomic strata and new forms of dependence. As the COS evolved, it implemented more systemic solutions to combat illness, unemployment, and poverty. After 1911 the COS stagnated while Indianapolis diversified economically, culturally, ethnically, and socially. The COS failed to adapt to its rapidly changing environment; it could not withstand competition, internal upheaval, specialization, and professionalization. Its general mission, to aid anyone in need, became lost in the shadow of child saving. Mid-level businessmen, corporate entities, professional social workers, service club members, and ethnic and racial minorities all participated in philanthropy. The powerful cache of social capital enervated and the civic ideal took on different dimensions. In 1922 the COS merged with other agencies to form the Family Welfare Society. This dissertation contributes to the scholarship of charity organization societies and social welfare policy. The scientific philanthropy movement did not represent an enormous leap from neighborhood benevolence. COSs represented neither a sinister agenda nor the best system to eradicate poverty. Organized charity did not create a single response to poverty, but a series of incremental responses that evolved over more than four decades. The women of Indianapolis exhibited more agency in their charitable work than is commonly understood. Charitable actors worked to harness giving and volunteering, bring an end to misery, and make Indianapolis an ideal city.