BANTA, RICHARD ELWELL: 1904-
Born in Martinsville, Ind., on Feb. 16, 1904, Richard Elwell Banta is the son of William Atley and Pearle Edna Elwell Banta. He lived in Los Angeles with his family for two years before taking up permanent residence in Indiana in 1909. He attended the Crawfordsville public schools and Wabash College. While in college he wrote articles and drew illustrations for the CHICAGO DAILY NEWS, COLLEGE HUMOR, WEIRD TALES, and other periodicals and newspapers. In 1926 he married Caroline Kennedy French and they had one daughter, Kathleen Ann. In 1925 Banta formed an advertising agency and sold it in 1934. He organized a book business in 1930, selling antiquarian and trade books to academic libraries throughout the country, and continued that operation until his retirement in 1969. From 1937 to 1955 he was part-time assistant to the president of Wabash College, handling real estate and supervising the library, public relations, and physical plant. Although not formally trained in the subject, Banta became interested in American history. He read widely and while in his middle thirties began to speak and write in that field, contributing to learned journals, periodicals, and encyclopedias. He edited several works including Hoosier Caravan and Indiana Authors and Their Books, 1816-1916. He is a member of the editorial committee of Indiana Authors and Their Books, 1917-1966, supplement to the original volume, and an adviser to the present editor. Banta was awarded an honorary Litt.D. degree by Wabash College in 1961. He was an American Academy of Social and Political Science fellow.
Information from Donald E. Thompson.
- A Venture in Backwoods Book-Making. New
York, 1938.
- William C. Smith, Gentleman Bookseller.
Hattiesburg, Miss., 1938.
- The Ohio. New York, 1949.
- Life in America: The South. Grand Rapids,
Mich., 1951.
- Benjamin Fuller and Some of His Descendants, 1765-1958.
Crawfordsville, Ind., 1958.
- A Century of Banking: The First National Bank and Trust Company
1864-1964. Crawfordsville, Richmond, Ind., 1964.
- Crawfordsville: 143 Years in the Hoosier Athens.
Crawfordsville, Ind., 1965.
- The Ohio Valley; a Student's Guide to Localized
History. New York, 1966.
- First 90 Years of a Hoosier Town; a History of Roachdale.
Roachdale, Ind., 1969.
