Speaker series to feature history of Azalia next week

The Bartholomew County Historical Society will be highlighting the history of the small town of Azalia next week during the year’s first talk from the Evelyn Seward Speaker Series.

Larry Perkinson will be discussing the community in the talk “Arise, Azalia, Arise” on Thursday, February 29th.

Perkinson says the town plat was filed on April 1st in 1831. The talk will explore myths and truths about the settlement including history on Levi Coffin, the Reno Gang, the Underground Railroad, a Quaker settlement, Indian mounds, Chuck Taylor and Joseph Anderson.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. on February 29th in the Helen Haddad Hall at the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic offices on Franklin Street. Admission is free. Funding for the event comes from the Evelyn Seward Speaker Series endowment.