GEORGE ROGERS CLARK George Rogers Clark Memorial Historic Structures Report Historical Data

This report has been prepared to satisfy the research needs as enumerated in Historical Research Study Proposal, GERO-H-2, Historic Structures Report, George Rogers Clark Memorial, in so far as it applies to Historical Data. The report, besides providing a structural history of the George Rogers Clark Memorial and grounds, contains information which will be useful to the Service in coping with the serious seepage problems which have plagued the memorial structure since the summer of 1933.

A number of persons have assisted with the preparation of this report. Thanks are due Superintendent Albert Banton and Management Assistant Robert Lagemann for securing photographs, information, and contacting local people interested in the construction of the George Rogers Clark Memorial. Four persons interested in the history of Vincennes were especially helpful. They are: Judge Curtis Shake, who championed the construction of the memorial in the 1920s; Rabb and Tom Emison, local attorneys and sons of Ewing Emison, who permitted me to examine the personal papers of the father; and Miss Maxine Batman, the Librarian at the Vincennes City Library. At Indianapolis, the staffs of the Indiana State Library and the William Henry Smith Memorial Library, especially Mrs. Frances B. MacDonald and Miss Caroline Dunn, were helpful. Bob Starrett, Assistant Director, Division of Museums & Memorials, State of Indiana, Department of Natural Resourses, who was intimately associated with maintenance problems at the Memorial in the period 1946-1966, cheerfully shared his knowledge with me. Mr. George Perros, Legislative Reference Specialist, National Archives, made available to me the records of George Rogers Clark Sesquicentennial Commission. My colleague, Frank Sarles, read the manuscript, and his sharp eye and comments have improved the final product, while Architectural Historian Henry Judd shared his knowledge of the memorial's architectural intricacies and answered numerous questions. Finally, I wish to thank Mrs. Judy Sprouse for the many hours she spent typing the manuscript.

Edwin C. Bearss

Washington, D. C.
June 30, 1971