From Chorus Girl to Crawfordsville Citizen

 Before she was a Crawfordsville resident, Margaret Peacock performed on the stage and screen as Margie Murphy.  Peacock was a dancer in film classics The Gold Diggers of 1935, The Gold Diggers of 1938, 42nd Street, and Hi Nellie. On the stage, she danced in "George White's Scandals" musical review.

In 1942, Murphy married William F. Peacock, dentist and son of the well-known Peacock family of Darlington. Margie lived in Crawfordsville from 1945 until her death in 1989. She was a member of St. Bernard's Catholic Church, Crawfordsville Country Club, and the Ladies Elks.

Did you know Margaret Peacock? If so, CDPL would love to hear from you.  We are interested in gaining more information about Mrs. Peacock's career as a dancer and about her life in Crawfordsville.

If you'd like to share stories or items pertaining to Margaret Peacock (a.k.a. Margie Murphy), please contact the CDPL Reference/Local History department at 765-362-2242 ext 117 or ref@cdpl.lib.in.us.

Images of America: Crawfordsville now available

The Crawfordsville District Public Library is pleased to announce the release of Images of America: Crawfordsville, a book of photographs, postcards, and other illustrations that tell the story of Crawfordsville's history since 1865. The book, a well-researched, detail-packed collection of archival photographs and captions, was written by Bill Helling, Head of Reference/Local History at CDPL. Helling has directed the digitization of the library's archives and creation of the many local history databases for many years. From the laying of the cornerstone for the Montgomery County courthouse in 1875 to mid-1950s views of city streets, from old Central School to the closing of Horace Mann School, from Bischof's Big Store to R.R. Donnelley, the book presents significant photographs in the life of our city in central Indiana. The book will be available locally as well as from major booksellers.

Kenyon Nicholson

The library has recently acquired a photograph of Broadway playwright Kenyon Nicholson to add to the local history collection. Nicholson was born in Crawfordsville, May 21, 1894, the son of prominent Crawfordsville photographer Thomas Brown Nicholson and his wife, Anne Kenyon Nicholson.  In 1916, Kenyon Nicholson wrote the script for the Montgomery County Indiana Centennial pageant with fellow Wabash College student, Harold Watson. Following graduation from Wabash, Nicholson served in France as a second lieutenant during World War I. After the war, he was a press agent for the Murat Theater in Indianapolis, and later served as assistant to Hatcher Hughes, a prominent playwright and instructor at Columbia University. He wrote eighteen plays during his career, including Honor Bright, which was written with famed Crawfordsville novelist and poet, Meredith Nicholson. His play, The Barker, was his most successful and was made into a movie three times. He died in New Jersey on December 19, 1986.