page_title: Conner Prairie
section_title: History and development
hierarchical_section_title: Conner Prairie / History and development
context_page_description: Conner Prairie is a living history museum in unincorporated south-central Hamilton County, Indiana, United States, which preserves the William Conner home. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the museum recreates 19th-century life along the White River.
  The site has a Fishers postal address but has resisted attempts to be annexed by nearby cities in order to preserve the heritage and historic land.
context_section_description: The property and William Conner house were purchased by pharmaceutical executive Eli Lilly in 1933 or 1934. Lilly restored the house, and opened it to visitors; it was initially known as Conner Prairie Farm. Lilly appointed resident Vern H. Fisher manager. By 1940 Lilly added several structures to the property, including a still, a loom house and a trading post. After Fisher's 1942 death, Tillman Bubenzer was farm manager until 1977. The farm was unprofitable, and depended on Eli Lilly's support. 
  In 1964, Lilly transferred the house and its outbuildings to a charitable trust. Earlham College, a Quaker liberal-arts college in Richmond, Indiana, was named as trustee. In transferring the property to the college, Lilly provided an endowment for its operation and continued to offer support with the provision that the property would be open to the public. He also transferred 1,371 acres (555 ha) of surrounding farmland to the college, suggesting that Earlham could sell the land and use its proceeds for the museum. Earlham elected to retain the farmland and expand the museum, constructing an 1836 village (Prairietown) with funds provided by Lilly for the purpose. The museum grew in scope and popularity, and attendance increased by 22 percent from 1975 to 1976.
  In 1999, tensions began to develop between the board of directors and Earlham about the museum's governance and the college's financial policies. The dispute culminated in Earlham's dismissal of the museum's president and board of directors in June 2003. The Indiana attorney general intervened and, after a lengthy and contentious dispute, a settlement was reached in which Earlham resigned as trustee of the charitable trust, the Lilly endowment was allocated between Conner Prairie and the college, and the museum became independent. Conner Prairie has a board of directors, and maintains its finances and endowment fund. In 2009, it joined the Smithsonian Affiliations program.
  On December 17, 2010, Conner Prairie received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service and a $10,000 prize in a ceremony at the White House. The museum opened its newest exhibit in June 2011. "The 1863 Civil War Journey: Raid on Indiana" documents Morgan's Raid with live action, video, and interactive activities.
caption: 1886 baseball demonstration at Liberty Corner
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