While afternoon tea sessions at West Baden Springs Hotel are
on hold a little while longer as the hotel is closed until February 2 for a
movie shoot, there’s another way you can enjoy tea with a twist.
French Lick West Baden Museum is offering its Women in History Tea & Tour every
Tuesday afternoon through the end of February, so there’s five more chances to
enjoy some tea and refreshments with a little side of history. You’ll learn
about some of the influential women of our area and hear how they shaped these
communities in the Springs Valley.
In the spirit of that, let’s get acquainted with three
remarkable women from our hotels’ past — one of whom, Lillian Sinclair, will be
featured further at the museum’s Tour & Tea event.
 |
| In this early-1900s photo, Lillian Sinclair is seated second from right between her parents Carolyn Persise Sinclair and Lee Sinclair. Her husband, Charles Rexford, is seated far left. Lillian was responsible for renovations that modernized her father's hotel in the 1910s. The seal fountain in the background of this photo was moved from the atrium outside the hotel to create the road roundabout that you see today (pictured below). |
Lillian Sinclair
In the early days, the interior of West Baden Springs Hotel
wasn’t quite the stunning sight we know and love now. We have Lillian to thank
for adding charm and elegance to West Baden’s complexion.
Lillian was the daughter of Lee Sinclair, who owned West
Baden Springs Hotel in the early 1900s and was in his mid-70s when Lillian
married Charles Rexford in 1911. Shortly after, Lee Sinclair began transferring
management of the hotel to Lillian and Charles. While Charles was active in the
day-to-day management, Lillian was still regarded as the driving force behind
this operation.
After Lillian took over her father’s hotel, she immediately
began planning elaborate renovations. Prior to this, the atrium featured a
cement floor and hickory furniture. It was an amazing space, just a little bare
and sterile. Lillian and Charles’ enhancements included rebuilding the formal
gardens, adding the arched entryway and brick road leading the hotel,
repainting the exterior and adding a golf course.
A few years later in 1917, Lillian’s cosmetic renovations
inside the hotel really took shape. Guest rooms were redecorated and
refurnished. The atrium was converted to a Pompeian Court using Greco-Roman
décor and furnishings with new light fixtures, statues, flower urns and
paintings. The atrium’s old cement floor was also replaced with a hand-laid
terrazzo tile floor. Two of the atrium’s signature features — the pendant and
medallion shield at the base of the dome, and the Rookwood fireplace — also
took shape during this time. West Baden Springs Hotel’s restoration sought to
recreate many of these features and the Greco-Roman decorative theme that
Lillian brought to life.
 |
| The atrium before and after Lillian's renovations. |
As part of these renovations, the feature known as the seal
fountain — which took its name from the seal figure in the fountain’s center
that spouted water from its mouth — was moved from the center of the atrium to
outside the hotel, creating a road roundabout. The same fountain is in the same
spot today, just minus the seal. (Which was removed many years ago, though no
one’s sure what happened to it.) But it’s a humorous footnote that Lillian
might be responsible for creating the first roundabout in Indiana, on top of
her other innovations at West Baden.
Lucy Taggart
Lucy was the second-oldest of former French Lick Springs
Hotel owner Tom Taggart’s six children, and she was a lady ahead of her time.
Award-winning artist. A mother figure to her niece. A socialite who ran with
well-known artists, authors and politicians. Yet a grounded soul all the while,
known for her style and grace and contributions to a number of civic and
cultural organizations as well.
Colleagues described her as much too modest about the art
she created. And she knew her stuff. Lucy moved from Indiana to New York City
in at age 19 to study art under prominent artists. Soon after, Lucy sold her
art and exhibited at prestigious shows in the Midwest and East Coast over the
course of three decades. In 1931, at the request of Indianapolis mayor Reginald
Sullivan who was a family friend, Lucy even christened the USS Indianapolis,
the ship that was infamously destroyed by the Japanese Imperial Navy 14 years
later.
Around age 50, Lucy moved back to Indianapolis and taught
painting and portraiture at the Herron Art Institute. Her loyalty to French
Lick, and family, were strong. Unmarried her whole life, Lucy became a mother
figure to her brother Thomas’ young daughter, Eva, following the death of his
wife. Lucy brought Eva to Indianapolis to live with her at the Taggart family
home while Thomas remained in French Lick to tend to the family’s business
interests. A bust of Eva Taggart, created by Lucy, is displayed at the
Indianapolis Museum of Art along with some of Lucy’s other work.
Keep your eyes peeled for a Lucy Taggart original work that’s on display at the resort. It hangs in the concierge waiting area at French Lick Springs Hotel. The painting is undated, but we believe it could be 80 or more years old.
Mademoiselle Louise
If you were a guest at West Baden Springs Hotel 100 years
ago, chances are good you made a point to see Mademoiselle Louise.
Folks from that early 20th Century era had a
fascination for palmistry (reading palms), zodiac and astrology, and this
entrepreneurial lady cashed in on the trend. Ida Hockenberry, a retired school
teacher from Illinois, became Mademoiselle Louise, the medium who would read
your palm or tell your future for 50 cents.
She’d heard about the popularity of the hotel and moved here
to rent a shop alongside the other retail services that were on the outer ring
of the atrium. Business was good, as suggested by two of Mademoiselle Louise’s
business cards we still have today: The earlier business card advertised her
business was in Room 111, and a later business card showed that she had
expanded from Rooms 111-113.
Mademoiselle Louise was a one-woman operation with no days
off. She put in 12-hour days — 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. — seven days a week. Louise’s
business flourished for years likely until the 1920s, and while her unique
business is now just a memory at West Baden, you can find Mademoiselle Louise a
couple times this year at West Baden Springs Hotel. She’s one of the costumed
characters who tells the hotel’s history from their own perspective during Twilight Tours,
which return for the season starting April 25.