Sagamore Gets Grant from Lilly Endowment

Sagamore Institute for Policy Research has been awarded a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., according to Inside INdiana Business. The grant will allow the local think tank to continue and expand its policy research and community leadership mission in Indianapolis and beyond. The $300,000 award will support a full year of research, programming activity, and general operations through 2008.

"Sing! Choirs of Angels!"

The Christ Church Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys will perform a holiday concert of traditional and contemporary seasonal carols and medieval songs at 3 p.m. 16 December (Sunday) in the Indiana History Center, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis. Tickets are $14 for adults, $10 for children, and $12 Indiana Historical Society and Christ Church members.

New BMV Rules Are Problematic

The new Indiana law requiring a valid Social Security number in order to obtain (or retain) an Indiana Driver's License is having all sorts of unintended (and negative) consequences. The Japan-America Society of Indiana has issued an information sheet for their members that has relevance to many of us. Check it out here. It may help you resolve your BMV dilemma!

Golden Age of Literature: Meredith Nicholson

Wander over to the Indiana Historical Society at noon on 19 December for a glimpse at one of the Hoosier state's iconic authors. Historian Ralph Gray will discuss his biography of Meredith Nicholson (left) and the ways the IHS Press and Marion County Historical Society hope to introduce a new generation of readers to Nicholson’s brilliance. The author, diplomat and lecturer -- along with Booth Tarkington, George Ade and James Whitcomb Riley -- is considered a leader in creating the "Golden Age of Literature" in Indiana. Open to the public free of charge in the Indiana History Center, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, it's part of the IHS' Reading Life Series and sponsored by the Stratford at West Clay. For more information, call 317:232-1882.

Movie Premiere at University of Indianapolis

"Prince Among Slaves", a film adapted from the book of the same name, will have its world premiere at 5:30 p.m. Saturday (8 December) in the Ransburg Auditorium of the University of Indianapolis, 1400 East Hanna Avenue, Indianapolis. John Clark notes in his Provocate.org blog that "Prince Among Slaves" is a vivid, dramatic feature film of an extraordinary man (Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori) in extraordinary times, interweaving universal themes of bondage and deliverance, pride and forbearance, guile and providence with the wild and unruly early years of America’s Kingdom of Cotton. There's no charge for admission. Supported with grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Black Programming Consortium, this 60-minute film produced by Alex Kronemer is intended for broadcast on PBS in 2008.

Nancy Robertson Reading at IUPUI

A new book by Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis History Professor Nancy Marie Robertson (pictured) explores how the Young Womens Christian Association (YWCA), the nation's first major biracial womens organization, provided a unique venue for women to respond to American race relations during the first half of the twentieth century and laid the groundwork for the subsequent civil rights movement. She'll talk about her book during a lunch on the IUPUI campus from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. 10 December. Prof. Robertson is an Associate Professor in the Department of History in the IUPUI School of Liberal Arts and an Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies. She is also the director of the Womens Studies Program. Cost for the lunch and program, to be held in the University Faculty Club in Indianapolis, is $10 (book available for optional purchase). Space is limited and reservations are required; call Stephanie, 317:274-7014, or contact the sponsors for more information: Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI and the IUPUI University Library.

Formula One "Might" Return to Indy!

Talks between Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Formula One officials have continued, despite last summer's announcement that the 2008 U.S. Grand Prix would not take place, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal.Those talks have given way to some optimism that the F1 race could be back at the famed Brickyard in 2009, when the IMS will celebrate is centennial. The IMS hosted the U.S. Grand Prix from 2000 to 2007. Attendance for the inaugural race was more than 250,000, but declined over the years until it stabilized just above 100,000 the last couple of years.The event is thought to have generated about $100 million in local tourism revenue, according to the IBJ.