June 16
In 1944, Sgt. Allen M. Holding of Greenfield was killed on Saipan Island in the South Pacific during World War II. The 26-year-old was a Greenfield High School graduate and onetime Daily Reporter newsboy.
June 17
In 2000, Mt. Vernon High School’s softball team captured the Class 2A state title, defeating Evansville Memorial 6-0 at Cherry Tree Softball Complex in Carmel.
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June 18
In 1966, St. Michael Catholic Church had an open house in its new building at 519 Jefferson Blvd. The building is being renovated and expanded now.
June 19
In 1895, Marcellus Neal of Greenfield became the first African-American graduate of Indiana University, receiving a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. The university’s Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center is named for him and for Frances Marshall, IU’s first African-American female graduate. She received a bachelor of arts degree in 1919.
In 1967, Hancock County Commissioners sought an appropriation of $60,000 from the county council to buy new right-of-way along Mt. Comfort Road (County Road 600W), anticipating its upcoming role as a feeder for an interchange of Interstate 70.
In 2004, New Palestine High School’s baseball team won the Class 3A state championship, defeating Andrean 3-2 at Victory Field in Indianapolis. The win came a week after New Palestine’s softball team won its first state title, making the school the first in state history to win state titles in baseball and softball during the same season.
June 20
In 1927, the body of an infant girl was found along the traction line tracks in Willow Branch. The baby, wrapped in a towel and an Indianapolis newspaper, was thought to have been 15 to 20 hours old. Coroner C. M. Gibbs said the body had likely been there for several hours and was probably dropped out the window of a car.
June 21
In 1961, Wilkinson and Shirley were without electricity for about an hour after a major Public Service Co. of Indiana line “apparently was severed by high powered rifle shots,” according to the June 24, 1961, edition of the Daily Reporter.
June 22
In 1903, multi-time Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan spoke in Greenfield.
In 2003, the Village (earlier known as the Weil Theater) marked its last day of operation. The last two films were “The Italian Job” and “Alex and Emma.” The Strahl family later donated the building at 122 W. Main St. to Hancock County Visitors Bureau, and it is now the H.J. Ricks Centre for the Arts.
