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Contemporary conversations will explore the lives and livelihoods of a range of current descendants of people who have lived in Howard County, Indiana, as part of “Kokomo Voices,” a local project to commemorate America’s semi quincentennial in 2026.
Organized by the Kokomo Early History Learning Center, Inc. on behalf of the City of Kokomo and Howard County, the project will begin during Native American Heritage Month in November 2025 and continue throughout 2026 as part of local America’s 250th events. Stories will be gathered through digital media and be available as an archive for future research.
“We are honored to be helping the City of Kokomo and Howard County collect and preserve the stories about people who have lived here for centuries,” said Michael Moore, president of the Kokomo Early History Learning Center. “It is a unique opportunity to connect to the past with present-tense conversations.”
Moore emphasized that the history of Kokomo, a Miami-Illinois language word of unknown meaning, is a shared history.
“Our stories do not begin in 1844 when the county was organized, or even in 1776,” he said. “Native people have raised their families here along the Wildcat Creek for at least 10,000 years. We’re still here.”
In addition to conversations with current Native tribal members in the community, the Learning Center will collect information from descendants of the oldest people buried in Howard County cemeteries. This list of people born before 1780 and who came to live and work in the county is already revealing many fascinating stories, according to Howard County Historian Gil Porter, who is helping to manage the project.
“We have two Revolutionary War veterans, the widow of a member of the Kentucky Militia of George Rogers Clark, and the formerly enslaved free woman of color from Virginia named Aliff Henley, born about 1761, who was the first Black American to buy land here,” Porter said.
The Learning Center is working with the City and County as well as the Howard County Historical Society to schedule interviews and share features throughout 2026 on various media platforms as part of the project.
“Kokomo Voices” is made possible thanks in part to the generous support of the Community Foundation of Howard County, Inc., Community First Bank in Kokomo, and Solidarity Community Federal Credit Union.