Dates

• Majority of material found within 1957 - 2009

Extent

3 boxes Linear Feet (Leonard Allen Abrams (March 25, 1927 – December 15, 2013) served as a long-time member of the Indiana Borough Council from 1960 to 2009. Abrams came to Indiana as a 9-year-old boy when his family moved from Pittsburgh. In 1936, his father David Abrams became co-owner of Ash Shoes in the 700 block of Philadelphia Street. Leonard Abrams graduated from Penn State University in 1951 with a degree in economics and commerce. He later ran the family shoe store with his brother Howard Abrams before going into the brokerage business. Leonard Abrams was first elected to the Indiana Borough Council in 1960. Borough councilmen serve on committees and make recommendations regarding purchasing, finance, health, police, streets, engineering, and traffic. He served as council vice president, chaired the Indiana Borough Council’s Street Committee, Insurance Committee, and the Police Civil Service Commission. He helped create a borough parking authority. During Leonard Abrams tenure on the Indiana Borough Council, urban renewal projects included the construction of the borough sewage treatment plant, building of the new borough administration building (with the facilities for the police and fire departments), the construction of the Water Street parking garage and the new Indiana County Courthouse were all undertaken. Leonard Abrams was also Indiana’s first Jewish council member. The Indiana County Trustees selected the site of Indiana Borough in Indiana County, Pennsylvania on April 11, 1804. George Clymer (1739-1813), signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, donated 250 acres of land under the Act of March 25, 1805. This act specified the town shall be called Indiana and further specified the size of the town lots and width of streets. A three-day auction was held in which Indiana town lots were sold. Indiana was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the General Assembly on March 11, 1816. The Leonard Abrams Collection is housed in three archival boxes. These papers contain meeting minutes and correspondence relative to the business of Indiana Borough and borough council. The papers have been arranged by topic and then chronologically within each topic. For more information about the Borough of Indiana, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, visit https://www.indianaboro.com/)

Language of Materials

English