2025 Guest Speakers
November 2025 Speaker
October 2025 Speaker
September 2025 Speaker
August 2025 Speaker
Robert Bowling
Hoosier Vigilantes - Frontier Justice & the Evolution of Law Enforcement
Join us at noon, Saturday, August 23, when our speaker, retired police officer, teacher, and local historian Robert Bowling joins us! Robert is a prolific author, whose works include Hoosier Vigilantes: Frontier Justice and the Evolution of Law Enforcement; Wicked Fishers; and Celebrating Hamilton County, Indiana: 200 Years of Change. In addition, his writing has been featured in Officer Magazine, Michigan History Magazine, National Pastime, and Journal of School Safety.
Bowling currently serves as a historical researcher for the “Officer Down Memorial Page,” historian for the Fishers Historical Society, ambassador to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, and member of the Police History Society based in London, England. For more information, please visit www.robbowling.com.
HOOSIER VIGILANTES — FRONTIER JUSTICE & THE EVOLUTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT:
In frontier Indiana, vigilantism was a grim necessity. Beginning with the vigilance committees of the 1860s that lynched the Reno Gang and the Knights of the Golden Circle, who plotted to assassinate Governor Morton, the Hoosier State was a hotbed for citizens taking the law into their own hands. Later groups, such as the White Caps, enforced their own moral code, while the state legislature sanctioned the Horse Thief Detective Association and the Banking Vigilantes.
Bowling currently serves as a historical researcher for the “Officer Down Memorial Page,” historian for the Fishers Historical Society, ambassador to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, and member of the Police History Society based in London, England. For more information, please visit www.robbowling.com.
HOOSIER VIGILANTES — FRONTIER JUSTICE & THE EVOLUTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT:
In frontier Indiana, vigilantism was a grim necessity. Beginning with the vigilance committees of the 1860s that lynched the Reno Gang and the Knights of the Golden Circle, who plotted to assassinate Governor Morton, the Hoosier State was a hotbed for citizens taking the law into their own hands. Later groups, such as the White Caps, enforced their own moral code, while the state legislature sanctioned the Horse Thief Detective Association and the Banking Vigilantes.
July 2025 Speaker
Mark Canada
Puzzling Poe
Join us at noon, Saturday, July 26, when our July speaker, Mark Canada, Ph.D. is the eighth chancellor of Indiana University Kokomo, home of the KEY, an experiential-learning initiative that provides all IU Kokomo students with opportunities to learn through internships, retreats, research, community projects, and educational trips to businesses, museums, and natural and historic settings in Chicago, Louisville, Detroit, New York, Yellowstone National Park, Disney World, Silicon Valley, and other destinations.
As a scholar of American literature, he has written extensively about Edgar Allan Poe, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Wolfe, Rebecca Harding Davis, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and other authors, as well as the intersections of journalism and literature. His seven books include the Audible Originals Ben Franklin's Lessons in Life and Edgar Allan Poe: Master of Horror, along with Literature and Journalism in Antebellum America and Thomas Wolfe Remembered. For more information, please visit: www.markcanada.org.
Edgar Allan Poe was the author of some of the world’s best-known poems and tales: “The Raven,” “Annabel Lee,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and others. He invented the detective story and was a pioneer of science fiction. He was one of the greatest literary critics of the nineteenth century. Meanwhile, his life was one of poverty, misery, neglect, and self-sabotage. In this lecture, Mark Canada, author of the Audible Original Edgar Allan Poe: Master of Horror, will discuss Poe’s literature, life, and legacy.
As a scholar of American literature, he has written extensively about Edgar Allan Poe, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Wolfe, Rebecca Harding Davis, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and other authors, as well as the intersections of journalism and literature. His seven books include the Audible Originals Ben Franklin's Lessons in Life and Edgar Allan Poe: Master of Horror, along with Literature and Journalism in Antebellum America and Thomas Wolfe Remembered. For more information, please visit: www.markcanada.org.
Edgar Allan Poe was the author of some of the world’s best-known poems and tales: “The Raven,” “Annabel Lee,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and others. He invented the detective story and was a pioneer of science fiction. He was one of the greatest literary critics of the nineteenth century. Meanwhile, his life was one of poverty, misery, neglect, and self-sabotage. In this lecture, Mark Canada, author of the Audible Original Edgar Allan Poe: Master of Horror, will discuss Poe’s literature, life, and legacy.
June 2025 Speaker
Gerry Justice
(Most) Centenarians Don't Bite
Join us at noon, Saturday, June 28, when Indianapolis-based Gerry Justice, author of the new book “My 100-Year-Old Friends,” will tell us how the idea for the book came to him, the experience of meeting and interviewing centenarians and supercentarians (those remarkable, extremely rare individuals who have reached the age of 110), what they taught him, how the experience changed his life, and why he believes recording their stories was a project he was destined to fulfill.
Gerry Justice, a seasoned journalist turned marketing guru, holds an MFA degree in Creative Writing from Butler University. He has devoted his life to the written word and wields his pen passionately and purposefully. Gerry’s heart belongs to those less fortunate, as evidenced by his 16-year tenure on the board of Wheeler Mission Ministries, Indiana’s largest homeless shelter. His dedication to service earned him recognition as Volunteer of the Year (for serving 1,000 hours) and Secretary of the Board. But journalism is where Gerry truly shines. He has left his mark on many publications, from national glossy magazines to business publications to online profiles.
Gerry Justice, a seasoned journalist turned marketing guru, holds an MFA degree in Creative Writing from Butler University. He has devoted his life to the written word and wields his pen passionately and purposefully. Gerry’s heart belongs to those less fortunate, as evidenced by his 16-year tenure on the board of Wheeler Mission Ministries, Indiana’s largest homeless shelter. His dedication to service earned him recognition as Volunteer of the Year (for serving 1,000 hours) and Secretary of the Board. But journalism is where Gerry truly shines. He has left his mark on many publications, from national glossy magazines to business publications to online profiles.
May 2025 Speaker
Chris Flook
April 2025 Speaker
Keith Roysdon
March 2025 Speaker
Dr. Alex Kor
My Holocaust Legacy
My Holocaust Legacy
February 2025 Speaker
Charlotte Halsema Ottinger
Madge: The life and times of Madge Oberholtzer, the young Irvington woman who brought down D.C. Stephenson and the Ku Klux Klan
Indiana author Charlotte Halsema Ottinger will discuss her 2021 book, Madge: The life and times of Madge Oberholtzer, the young Irvington woman who brought down D.C. Stephenson and the Ku Klux Klan. According to newsman Harold C. Feightner, “Few deaths of comparatively inconspicuous people have had the far-flung effects that [Oberholtzer’s] did. Her passing marked the beginning of the end of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana; it resulted in the indictment of Governor Ed Jackson; the indictment and conviction of Mayor Ed L. Duvall, of Indianapolis, and other city officials and a complete change in the capital city’s administration, and it nearly wrecked a political party.”
Ottinger will rely on her four years of intense historical research to discuss Oberholtzer’s limited relationship with Stephenson, Grand Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan, her abduction and assault, her death bed declaration and the trial that sent D.C. Stephenson to prison for second degree murder. In addition to a display of related artifacts from the 1920s, Ottinger will share interesting aspects of Oberholtzer’s short life including her time studying under notable Indiana artists William Forsyth, Otto Stark and Clifton Wheeler. Special attention will be given to the legal precedents established during the trial and Oberholtzer’s lasting legacy. Time will be given for questions and answers.
Bring your own copy of Madge to be signed or purchase a copy following the presentation.
Charlotte Halsema Ottinger is an author, presenter, and history enthusiast who makes her home in Historic Irvington on Indianapolis’ east side. Ottinger has a psychology degree from Purdue University, nursing degree from Indiana University, and a master’s degree from Gallaudet University, a university for the deaf in Washington, D.C. She is a retired professional American Sign Language Medical Interpreter and currently works as a part-time nurse at the Indiana School for the Deaf. She is a current member and former board member of the Irvington Historical Society. In her spare time, she enjoys buying and selling antiques and fostering kittens.
We will meet on Saturday 22 February 2025 at noon. We are meeting in person at the Carmel Clay Public Library (425 E Main St, Carmel, IN 46032) and on Zoom.
Join us for lunch afterwards at Juniper on Main (110 E. Main Street Carmel, Indiana 46032) at 1:30 pm.
Ottinger will rely on her four years of intense historical research to discuss Oberholtzer’s limited relationship with Stephenson, Grand Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan, her abduction and assault, her death bed declaration and the trial that sent D.C. Stephenson to prison for second degree murder. In addition to a display of related artifacts from the 1920s, Ottinger will share interesting aspects of Oberholtzer’s short life including her time studying under notable Indiana artists William Forsyth, Otto Stark and Clifton Wheeler. Special attention will be given to the legal precedents established during the trial and Oberholtzer’s lasting legacy. Time will be given for questions and answers.
Bring your own copy of Madge to be signed or purchase a copy following the presentation.
Charlotte Halsema Ottinger is an author, presenter, and history enthusiast who makes her home in Historic Irvington on Indianapolis’ east side. Ottinger has a psychology degree from Purdue University, nursing degree from Indiana University, and a master’s degree from Gallaudet University, a university for the deaf in Washington, D.C. She is a retired professional American Sign Language Medical Interpreter and currently works as a part-time nurse at the Indiana School for the Deaf. She is a current member and former board member of the Irvington Historical Society. In her spare time, she enjoys buying and selling antiques and fostering kittens.
We will meet on Saturday 22 February 2025 at noon. We are meeting in person at the Carmel Clay Public Library (425 E Main St, Carmel, IN 46032) and on Zoom.
Join us for lunch afterwards at Juniper on Main (110 E. Main Street Carmel, Indiana 46032) at 1:30 pm.
January 2025 Speakers
Cindy Fox and Wendy Otto
Double Trouble, Badge, and Banter: The Adventures of Twin Sisters on the Beat
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We’re thrilled to introduce Cindy Fox and Wendy Otto of Madison County, Indiana, as our January speakers. They, in turn, are thrilled to share their story with us.
In 1987, they were hired by the Anderson (Indiana) Police Department and achieved something quite unique: they became the first set of female identical twin patrol officers in the entire nation. According to Wendy, “Life can be unpredictable, and we’re not afraid to share the messy details. Come along with us as we recount real-life stories of unexpected encounters—from the sharp shock of a dog bite to the awkward upside-down struggle on a fence. We’ll even delve into the chaotic world of late-night encounters and the characters we met, including more than a few drunken revelers. And can you imagine the double-takes we received? Join us for an unfiltered look at the absurdity that life threw our way.” We will be meeting on Saturday 25 January 2025 on Zoom and in person at the Carmel Public Library Meeting Room B (425 E Main St, Carmel, IN 46032). Business meeting starts at 11:00 AM and our speaker will start at Noon. |
See Speed City Sisters in Crime's Youtube Channel for more past guest speakers