Madison County Historical Society

During July, signs and banners were hoisted all over town.  A popular one was "Elwood, Ind. Home of Wendell Willkie Our Favorite Son."  Actually this one was on a large billboard that stood at the intersection of State Road 28 and State Road 37 on the east side of Elwood.  Those traveling from the east could easily see the sign and remember it as they proceeded downtown.  Included in the events of the month were Willkie rallies that also drew people downtown.

The Willkie appearance was announced in the August 5 edition of the Elwood Call Leader.  Capehart had already been named chairman of the event by the GOP and, though working with Bonham, he was clearly in charge.  Rumors of the expected large crowds began swarming around town.  However, because Elwood was not a major city, most people were not expecting a large turnout.  Some thought that 50,000 people would be a challenge for the city police force. 

Some plans had begun to be formed.  For example, it was decided that in order to keep traffic flowing during the parade, no automobiles would be permitted  on the streets on the day of the notification ceremony.  All traffic would be routed into great parking lots near Callaway Park.  Newsweek later reported that a total of sixty thousand cars came to Elwood, "which, bumper to bumper would have stretched 120 miles."  Besides the large parking lots, several areas throughout the town were reserved for bus parking.  Several dignitaries would be allowed a car, but they would have a sticker that indicated that they were "Official," "Press," and "Guest".  These were allowed only on certain streets.

It had been rumored that many, many important people would be in Elwood for the big day.  One such notable was John Charles Thomas, the famous tenor from the Metropolitan Opera, who sang Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" at the ceremony the next day.  Many other notables were mentioned.  Someone even had said that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard would be in town.(That rumor turned out to not be true.)  However, "Shipwreck Kelly," the famous flagpole sitter of the 1920s, was in Elwood all day on August 17, sitting atop a flagpole on the Kroger Building.

That evening of August 16th, people had descended upon downtown Elwood where a special meeting and program took place on the steps of Willkie's old high school.  One could hear music, laughter and occasionally cheering filling the quiet, very warm, and humid night.  A popular NBC broadcaster, Walter O'Keefe, was on hand and there was original songs and poems contributed by Willkie enthusiasts.  Some folks worried that rain might come ruin the big event of the day.  As it turned out rain held off until the next afternoon.

On the morning of August 17th, Elwood citizens and guest awoke to another muggy and hot day.  There were no more neat, clean and orderly streets and yards.  Cars were sitting everywhere except on the streets and bed and cots were in people's yards.  Many residents had rented out rooms to the out-of-towners while the owners themselves slept in the yard.  There we make-shift stands with all sorts of items for sale, mainly food and souvenirs.  Ice water was going for five cents a glass;  the same amount could buy you a Popsicle or a bottle of Royal Crown Cola. 

By 11:00 a.m., thousands had already gathered at Callaway Park in anticipation of Willkie's arrival and the beginning of the ceremony.  Many folks had come the night before in order to get choice seats and by 5 a.m., 26,000 cars had already arrived.  Ushers were on hand to help.  From the 92 Indiana counties came 1,200 young men and women to participate in this event.

Where had all these people come from?  Alexandria reported that nearly half its population of 5,000 attended and forty thousand came from Indianapolis.  Crowds also came from Chicago, Illinois and Akron, Ohio.  Perhaps the most distinguished of all was Paul Benjamin who bicycled 2,776 miles from the University of Washington in Seattle.

By noon the weather had become sultry, hot, still, humid and "close''.  Many people were becoming increasingly uncomfortable.  As people moved about, they were trying to take pictures of the stage, the park, and the crowd.  At about 2 p.m., Willkie's train from Rushville had stopped at South J and Twenty-second streets.  There he waited for an hour before getting into his special car that took him over to Anderson Street and downtown Elwood.   

However, Willkie seemed to oppose Roosevelt on almost every other matter and challenged him to an open debate.  In the end, Roosevelt chose to ignore the challenge to debate.

The "sea of humanity" was mostly gone from Elwood by 6 p.m.  According to the papers, Capehart had made a hasty exit.  However, the citizens of Elwood began work immediately to put things back to normal, with work crews clearing the streets and hauling tons of debris off to the city dump. 

Overall the day was deemed a great success.  One newspaper headline read Police Praise Elwood Crowd since there were so few arrests.  Bonham commented:  We are all happy both for ourselves and for Wendell Willkie that everything went off so well.  The same newspaper article stated that Elwood's citizens feel unanimously that 'We put it over and it was a success.'  Next thing to come, they like to believe, will be some sort of celebration when their native son is elected President.

Alas for Elwood, Indiana, this was not to be.