School – Griffith History Museums

August 28, 2026 victoriavm Activities & Events, Griffith Depot and Historical Park, Griffith Historical Society, Support the History Museums, Parks, & Rail-Cam

𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲!

Each year, Griffith Third Graders participate in a week-long activity called “The ElmerJ Program,” sponsored by the Historical Society. Students learn about our town’s history and visit our Historical Park as part of their social studies curriculum.

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝟮 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱-𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲.

Our volunteers & the Canadian National Police Service do presentations & tours at no cost, but there is a fee for the bus & books that the students use for the program. We don’t want any student to miss out, so we are asking for donations to cover the fees. We hope to raise $1500 this year, and we have about $1000 more to go.

(𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴.)

𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗝 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿’𝘀 𝟯𝗿𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀.

Donate online at ghsinc.org/donate or send a check, payable to Griffith Historical Society, to 201 N. Griffith Blvd, #3, Griffith, IN 46319.

Thank you,
Martha Gatlin, Director

June 17, 2026June 17, 2026 victoriavm Activities & Events, Community, Griffith High School, Griffith Historical Society, History Notes

Liberty Trees Planted to Honor America’s 250th 🌳

🇺🇸 𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫!

As part of our celebration and dedication to preserve and honor historical events, the Griffith Historical Society was proud to partner with local schools to plant “Liberty Trees” in honor of America’s 250th Anniversary.

Student volunteers and our America 250 Committee got to work to plant a serviceberry tree at Beiriger, a maple tree at Wadsworth, an oak tree at Griffith High School, and another oak tree at St. Mary School.

Soon, we’ll have plaques to commemorate the trees’ significance. We hope the trees will be a continuing symbol and memorial for this historic year!

Special thanks to John Chance, principal of Griffith High School, Georgia Smith, the Director of Maintenance at the Griffith Public Schools, and Rebecca Maskovich, principal of St. Mary School, as well as our Griffith Historical Society volunteers, Valerie & John Wotkun and Marthann Gatlin, for coordinating and planting the trees, and Ken Karlstedt for taking photos.

Beiriger – Serviceberry Tree

Wadsworth – Maple Tree

High School – Oak Tree

St. Mary School – Oak Tree

November 14, 2024March 2, 2026 victoriavm Griffith High School, Griffith History, History Notes

Early Boys Basketball Team

𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝟭𝟬𝟬!
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭’𝘴 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺!

How much has basketball changed since this photo was taken?!
Is there anyone here you recognize?

September 29, 2024September 24, 2024 victoriavm Activities & Events, Griffith Depot and Historical Park, Support the History Museums, Parks, & Rail-Cam, Volunteer

A final set of Thank Yous

𝐀 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐬 to EVERYONE who donated to this year’s ElmerJ Program for Griffith’s 3rd graders!

This isn’t nearly all the thank you notes and pictures we received. There were oh-so-many more, and all equally as grateful and excited that they were able to visit our museum and learn about Griffith’s history AND that it was all completely funded by the kind donations of our Members!!

So THANK YOU once again! You can donate to us anytime via the “donate” button on our website. And if you would like to volunteer for events like these, or anything down at the Historical Society, please send us a message or email ([email protected])! We are always looking for volunteers and enthusiastic Griffith-ites to help our programs run!