279:, Selma furnished and decorated a second-floor area in University Library (present-day Franklin Hall) for his use. The converted space became a welcoming art studio and gathering place on campus where Steele and his wife greeted visitors and students could watch the artist at work. The couple resided in Bloomington during the winter months and returned to their home in Brown County in the summer. Although a fire broke out on the grounds of their Brown County property in 1922, the buildings were saved, but Selma retained a fear of forest fires for the remainder of her life and banned campfires on the site.
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present-day T. C. Steele State
Historic Site are open to the public and have been restored, based on photographs, paintings, correspondence, and other historical documents. Perry also credited Selma for her efforts, despite many challenges, to improve the quality of life in Brown County through upgrades to the local infrastructure (especially its roads) and better educational opportunities, as well as supporting nature preservation and soil conservation in the area.
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Singing Winds. She maintained and supervised improvements to the Brown County property while Steele focused on his painting. Selma is credited with transforming the grounds surrounding their home into gardens and an artistic landscape "interesting enough to be placed on the painter's canvases." Managing the remote hilltop property proved to be a challenge due to lack of many amenities, including accessible roads, electricity, and running water.
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financially. Selma managed the artist's studio, rented out cabins on the property, and sold farm produce and her husband's paintings to earn cash. She also established a small museum in a log cabin on the property and charged admission for studio tours. In 1934 Selma dedicated the "Trailside Museum" in memory of Walter
Neubacher, one of her brothers.
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Following T. C. Steele's death in 1926, Selma served as executrix of his estate. Part of this effort involved creating an inventory of her husband's paintings and authenticating his unsigned works. Selma and her sister, Edith, continued to live at the
Housing of the Singing Winds, but they struggled
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After graduating from high school in 1887, Selma spent ten years teaching second and third grade in the
Indianapolis Public Schools. In 1905, following her graduation from Pratt Institute and a two-year residence in New York, she returned to Indianapolis. Selma became the assistant supervisor of art
259:
In 1911 T. C. and Selma Steele purchased additional acreage to increase their Brown County property to a total of 211 acres (85 hectares) of land, which became the present-day T. C. Steele State
Historic Site. Steele used the landscapes and gardens that Selma created as subjects for several of his
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In 1907, after her marriage to T. C. Steele, Selma left her teaching career in
Indianapolis and moved to Brown County, Indiana. She devoted the remainder of her life to supporting her husband's work as an landscape and portrait artist. Selma became the farm and property manager at the House of the
267:
For the first several years the
Steeles resided at Brown County during the summer months and returned to Indianapolis for the winter; however, they decided to establish themselves as year-round residents in 1912. After the construction of a large studio on the property in 1916, the Steeles opened
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Over the years Selma supervised several improvements to the property, including the addition of landscaping and flower gardens, a west-wing studio, an enlarged screened porch on the west side, a pergola on the home's east side, and kitchen improvements. Selma also supervised housekeeping and farm
291:
Selma corresponded with leaders at IU as early as 1938 about transferring ownership of the House of the
Singing Winds to the school, but the negotiations were never concluded. In July 1945 she donated the entire Brown County property (211 acres (85 hectares) of land) that included the house, its
319:
Art historian Rachel
Berenson Perry pointed out that Selma's work in developing and maintaining the Brown County property and transforming it into a public site "helped memorialize T. C. Steele's life and work in perpetuity." The landscaped grounds and flower gardens that she established at the
238:
T. C. and Selma had known each other for several years before their marriage on August 9, 1907, in
Indianapolis. After the ceremony the couple moved into a newly completed, four-room home and studio on more than 60 acres (24 hectares) of hilltop land in
172:
Selma Laura Neubacher, the daughter of Ludwig (Louis) and Margaret Berg Neubacher, was born on October 21, 1870, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Selma's paternal grandfather, Joseph Neubacher, immigrated to the United States from
388:
The U.S. census and the headstone at her gravesite at the T. C. Steele State Historic Site in Brown County, Indiana, incorrectly indicate the year of her birth was 1872. See "Selma Newbacher Steele (1872–1945)" in
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Selma died on August 28, 1945. Her ashes were buried beside her husband's on a hillside that was reserved for a family cemetery (the T. C. Steele Memorial Cemetery) at the state historic site near
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furnishings and decorative arts, a large studio and other buildings, and more than 300 of her husband's paintings to the Indiana Department of Conservation (the present-day
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to established the T. C. Steele State Historic Site. Her remains are buried beside her husband's in the T. C. Steele Memorial Cemetery at the state historic site near
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After receiving her degree from Pratt, Selma returned to Indianapolis to teach art. She was also a member of the city's Sketching Club and the Portfolio Club.
152:. She is best remembered for her efforts to landscape the grounds and establish the gardens at the House of the Singing Winds, the Steele home and studio in
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The Selma Steele State Nature Preserve on 92 acres (37 hectares) of land within the T. C. Steele State Historic Site in Brown County was dedicated in 1990.
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227:. At that time T. C. Steele was an established artist in Indiana and a widower whose first wife, Mary Elizabeth (Libbie), had died in 1899.
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their home and its grounds to the public. Over the years Selma served at hostess to more than 30,000 visitors to the hilltop studio/home.
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for the local public schools in 1906, and also taught art classes to educators on Saturdays at the John Herron Art Institute in 1906–07.
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Selma sold six of T. C. Steele's paintings to Indiana University in 1931 for $ 6,350 to provide additional income during the
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Although the property had its own spring, potable water had to be hauled in each day from nearby
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labor, managed the farm's livestock (a cow and a horse), and made purchases for the property.
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In 1905 Selma's brother, Gustave Neubacher, married Margaret (Daisy) Steele, the daughter of
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911:
Perry, Rachel Berenson (Winter 2016). "Selma Neubacher Steele: A Woman Ahead of Her Time".
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Rachel Berenson Perry (Winter 2016). "Selma Neubacher Steele: A Woman Ahead of Her Time".
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Perry, Rachel Berenson, Selma N. Steele, Theodore Steele, and Wilbur D. Peat (2016).
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In 1922, when T. C. Steele became artist in residence (honorary professor of art) at
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Selma Neubacher Steele collection, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library
780:. Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology
775:"Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)"
416:
Rachel Berenson Perry, Selma N. Steele, Theodore Steele, and Wilbur D. Peat (2016).
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Rachel Berenson Perry, Selma N. Steele, Theodore Steele, and Wilbur D. Peat (2016).
926:"National Register of Historic Places-Nomination Form: T. C. Steele State Memorial"
757:"National Register of Historic Places-Nomination Form: T. C. Steele State Memorial"
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420:(revised ed.). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. p. 63.
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343:(revised ed.). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. pp. 67–162.
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140:(October 21, 1870 – August 28, 1945) was an American educator and writer from
395:. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. p. 360, footnote 105.
296:) to establish the T. C. Steele State Historic Site, which was listed on the
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The House of the Singing Winds: The Life and Work of T. C. Steele
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Skirting the Issue: Stories of Indiana's Historical Women Artists
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Skirting the Issue: Stories of Indiana's Historical Women Artists
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The House of the Singing Winds: The Life and Work of T. C. Steele
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Skirting the Issue: Stories of Indiana's Historical Women Artists
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The House of the Singing Winds: The Life and Work of T. C. Steele
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481:. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. p. 328.
882:(revised ed.). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society.
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Selma graduated from Indianapolis High School (later renamed
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in 1848. Her father was a proprietor of a brass foundry in
919:(1). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press: 4–15.
931:. U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service
762:. U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service
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849:. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press.
991:Marguerite Martyn, "Rise and Fall of the Shawl,"
845:Newton, Judith Vale, and Carol Ann Weiss (2004).
549:Perry, S. Steele, T. Steele, and Peat, pp. 65–66.
243:. They named it the House of the Singing Winds.
477:Judith Vale Newton and Carol Ann Weiss (2004).
391:Judith Vale Newton and Carol Ann Weiss (2004).
745:Perry, S. Steele, T. Steele, and Peat, p. 161.
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709:"T. C. Steele: Selma Steele Nature Preserve"
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966:. Friends of the T. C. Steele Historic Site
832:. Friends of the T. C. Steele Historic Site
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600:. Friends of the T. C. Steele Historic Site
585:. Friends of the T. C. Steele Historic Site
961:"T. C. Steele Historic Site Hiking Trails"
580:"T. C. Steele Historic Site Hiking Trails"
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156:. It 1945 she donated the property to the
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947:. Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites
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913:Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History
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667:Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History
639:Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History
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564:Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History
508:Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History
460:Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History
302:Theodore Clement Steele House and Studio
16:American educator and writer (1870–1945)
691:. See Perry, "Selma Neubacher Steele,"
562:. See Perry, "Selma Neubacher Steele,"
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294:Indiana Department of Natural Resources
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337:"The House of the Singing Winds" in
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158:Indiana Department of Conservation
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1026:People from Brown County, Indiana
811:Perry, "Selma Neubacher Steele,"
798:Perry, "Selma Neubacher Steele,"
729:Perry, "Selma Neubacher Steele,"
665:Perry, "Selma Neubacher Steele,"
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506:Perry, "Selma Neubacher Steele,"
108:Landscaped grounds and gardens at
986:T. C. Steele State Historic Site
110:T. C. Steele State Historic Site
997:(Mrs. Steele collecting shawls)
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540:Newton and Weiss, pp. 152–53.
181:; her mother was a native of
121:(1846–1926), married 1907–26
830:"Explore the Historic Site"
598:"Explore the Historic Site"
144:who was the second wife of
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678:Newton and Weiss, p. 154.
653:Newton and Weiss, p. 153.
531:Newton and Weiss, p. 152.
522:Newton and Weiss, p. 151.
316:, Brown County, Indiana.
164:, Brown County, Indiana.
1031:People from Indianapolis
995:April 30, 1931, image 36
993:St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
168:Early life and education
129:Ludwig (Louis) Neubacher
225:Theodore Clement Steele
131:Margaret Berg Neubacher
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194:Shortridge High School
138:Selma Neubacher Steele
25:Selma Neubacher Steele
778:(Searchable database)
241:Brown County, Indiana
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154:Brown County, Indiana
73:Brown County, Indiana
35:Selma Laura Neubacher
924:Starrett, Robert D.
755:Robert D. Starrett.
277:Bloomington, Indiana
100:art educator, writer
324:Honors and tributes
215:Marriage and family
273:Indiana University
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119:T. C. Steele
63:Indianapolis
58:(1945-08-28)
42:Indianapolis
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1021:1945 deaths
1016:1870 births
283:Later years
260:paintings.
79:Nationality
1010:Categories
856:0871951770
595:See also:
488:0871951770
402:0871951770
373:References
183:Cincinnati
898:cite book
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126:Parent(s)
115:Spouse(s)
970:June 23,
951:June 23,
935:June 23,
836:June 23,
802:, p. 15.
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589:June 23,
206:New York
202:Brooklyn
82:American
823:Sources
566:, p. 9.
510:, p. 8.
314:Belmont
223:artist
175:Austria
162:Belmont
148:artist
142:Indiana
46:Indiana
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247:Career
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904:link
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483:ISBN
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187:Ohio
53:Died
31:Born
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
