birth_date: 1923-01-19 00:00:00
avg_rating: 4.09
name: Alan T. Nolan
about: He was born in Evansville, IN to Val and Jeannette Covert Nolan. When his father was appointed U.S. District Attorney in 1933, the family moved to Indianapolis. He graduated from Shortridge High School and from Indiana University, a Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation from Harvard Law School, he clerked for Sherman Minton at the United States Court of Appeals. In 1948 he returned to Indianapolis to practice law for 45 years with the firm that is now Ice Miller where he served as chairman of the management committee. For seven years, he was Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Indiana Supreme Court.Mr. Nolan was also an author. In 1961, Macmillan published The Iron Brigade, a military history, which has been named by Civil War Times Il He was born in Evansville, IN to Val and Jeannette Covert Nolan. When his father was appointed U.S. District Attorney in 1933, the family moved to Indianapolis. He graduated from Shortridge High School and from Indiana University, a Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation from Harvard Law School, he clerked for Sherman Minton at the United States Court of Appeals. In 1948 he returned to Indianapolis to practice law for 45 years with the firm that is now Ice Miller where he served as chairman of the management committee. For seven years, he was Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Indiana Supreme Court.Mr. Nolan was also an author. In 1961, Macmillan published The Iron Brigade, a military history, which has been named by Civil War Times Illustrated as one of the 100 best books ever written on the Civil War. It remained in print 47 years. He also wrote Lee Considered: General Robert E. Lee and Civil War History, UNC Press, 1991; Rally Round the Flag Boys; Rally Once Again; Giants in their Tall Black Hats: Essays on the Iron Brigade, with Sharon Vipond, and As Sounding Brass, a contemporary novel. He was a regular contributor to numerous Civil War publications, the Indiana Magazine of History, Traces and other periodicals. His last article appeared in Traces in 2008. He lectured widely on Civil War topics at various colleges, universities, round tables and the Smithsonian Institution. He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Indiana University in 1993. In 1994, he was given the Nivens-Freeman award by the Chicago Civil War Roundtable. He was a Fellow of the Company of Military Historians.His deep interest in history led to an active role at the Indiana Historical Society where he served on the board and was Chairman for twelve years during the planning and construction of the present facility. He was named a Living Legend in 2003.Mr. Nolan had wide ranging community interests. He was a founder of the ICLU, the Civil War Round Table and a member of the Catholic Interracial Council. He held a position on the board of the NAACP in 1948 and received the National Council of Christians and Jews Brotherhood Award in 1968. He was instrumental in the successful effort to save the Meridian Street corridor from commercial encroachment in the mid-1960s. He served on the board of the Ensemble Music Society. Two governors named him a Sagamore of the Wabash. He was a member of the Indianapolis Literary Club. ...more
death_date: 2008-07-27 00:00:00