From the Files of the Kosciusko County Historical Society

Editor’s note: This is a retrospective article that runs a few times a month on InkFreeNews.      

Information for this retrospective series is courtesy of the Kosciusko County Historical Society.

April 4, 1974 — One person is dead and at least 44 others injured as a result of the tornado that swept across Kosciusko County Wednesday evening, according to State Police Lt. Edward Anweiler.

More than 200 National Guardsmen are assisting 52 state police units today with security, traffic and prohibiting looters, Anweiler said. The National Guard was called by the state police to help patrol the seven northeastern counties of Indiana, which the mad mass of wind ripped Wednesday.

According to state police, the tornado entered the southwest corner of the seven-county northeast district which includes Kosciusko, Steuben, Noble, Whitley, Elkhart, Lagrange and DeKalb counties.

The one person killed in this county was still unidentified late this morning, but it was known that he was a Mexican employed by Kralis Brothers. His skull was crushed when a mobile home in the southeast part of Atwood was reduced to shreds.

April 4, 1973 —  Five years ago, Wawasee Preparatory School on nearby Lake Wawasee was an all-white boarding school for boys.

Then, on the evening of April 4, 1968, students and faculty members were shocked when television programs they were watching were interrupted to announce that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated.

The Rev. Richard John, then prior of the Crosier priests and brothers at Wawasee who operated the school, invited students and faculty to join him in the school chapel to pray for the slain black leader.

During the service, Father John challenged the Wawasee students to come up with a scholarship for a black student as their Christian response to Dr. King’s death.

“Every institution in this country must do its part to help resolve the No. 1 problem in this country — racism,” Father John said. “We must not allow our school to be used as a retreat for those white parents who want their school to avoid school integration.”

Within days, Wawasee students raised $600 for a scholarship and the first black student enrolled in the fall of 1968. Since then, Wawasee Prep has solicited other funds to establish scholarships for minority students, and today 25 percent of the school’s 110 students are black.

The biggest contribution to the scholarship program has come from the Lilly Endowment Fund of Indianapolis, which has donated $65,000 annually for several years for general operating purposes.

April 1, 1966 — A 17-year-old girl gallantly led her nine brothers and sisters from a crowded bedroom, but a 7-year-old brother perished in the blaze as flames swept through the Jessie Whitaker home near Silver Lake late last night.

The victim, Jessie Duane Whitaker Jr., a second-grade pupil at Silver Lake, died of asphyxiation, according to county coroner Dr. Joe Bill Mishler.

Pauline had been left in charge of the 10 children while her parents were working. She smelled smoke, woke the children and led them outside. Jessie, however, did not respond to her call. When Pauline attempted to get back into the structure to save the lad, flames fanned by a brisk wind drove her back, according to a statement given to Deputy Sheriff Roger Fellows.

– Compiled by InkFreeNews reporter Lasca Randels