Booth Tarkington's Indianapolis

At the dawn of the twentieth century Indianapolis was a city in transition. Sprawling suburbs, booming industry, and increasing numbers of automobiles led to rapid changes in the city’s nineteenth-century core. Inspired by the people and places of his hometown, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Booth Tarkington chronicled this period of intense growth in three novels, The Turmoil (1915), The Magnificent Ambersons (1918), and The Midlander (1923), weaving together the rise and fall of great families, the excesses of nouveau-riche industrialists, the loss of local landmarks, and the effects of rapid industrialization and suburban expansion.
Architectural historian Benjamin L. Ross presents an illustrated talk using Tarkington’s work to explore Indianapolis, highlighting the real landmarks and neighborhoods the author used to show the city’s transformation from the neighborly town of Tarkington’s youth to the soot-stained industrial metropolis of the 1920s.
This event was hosted by Indiana Landmarks on May 7, 2024. Learn more about Indiana Landmarks: www.indianalandmarks.org/