Charles Whistler embodies the mission of the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee. Through his development of public-private partnerships and his ability to see solutions, Whistler, according to his friend and colleague Henry Ryder, “personified the reason that Indianapolis succeeded as a city in growing from a ‘no-place city’ to a ‘first-rate city.’”
Charles Whistler was born in Boswell, Indiana in 1925, the seventh of ten children. A true Hoosier farm boy, Whistler attended school in a one-room schoolhouse and had prize-winning pigs at the Indiana State Fair. As a young man, Whistler entered the U.S. Army Air Corps. Under the G.I. Bill, Whistler was able to attend Indiana University, becoming the first in his family to go to college. Whistler married his Boswell classmate Kay Hartlep and later graduated magna cum laude from IU School of Law. Although he was offered a job elsewhere, Whistler accepted a position at the law firm Baker & Daniels (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath).
According to Whistler’s friends and colleagues, he was extremely focused. To Steve Terry, Whistler showed how “Farm boys are very very hard workers…Farm boys work long hours…Farm boys have a real sense of the world.” Because of Whistler’s intense work ethic, Baker & Daniels adopted the Charles Whistler Rule, stating that all employees must take two consecutive weeks of vacation each year; however, the only person who never kept the rule was Chuck Whistler himself.
Whistler was recognized as a great lawyer and negotiator. He led several GIPC task forces, giving lifelong leadership and concern for our city. In 1970, Whistler helped Dr. Beurt Servaas shape the Bill to create Unigov, making Indianapolis a model in governmental efficiency for tax payers. Whistler also showed an appreciation for city landmarks and cultural integrity. Two examples are his efforts to save the Indiana Theatre (now the IRT) and Lockfield Gardens.
Fellow leaders describe Whistler as kind, fair, and trustworthy. Although Whistler died far too young, he left us, according to the late Dr. Beurt Servaas, “A city of hope.” At the time of his death in 1981, Whistler was a senior partner at Baker & Daniels and chairman of both the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee’s Urban Growth and Revitalization Task Force and the White River State Park Citizen’s Advisory Committee.
An Indianapolis Star editorial noted shortly after Whistler’s death in 1981:
Charles L. Whistler was a visionary, talented and energetic prime mover who had a leading role in shaping the Indianapolis of today and its modern political structure. He loved the capital city and the Hoosier state, town and county, urban scenes with beauty and character, and the great outdoors. He had the persuasive ability often associated with the authors of constitutions, and used it to win strong support and positive contributions from others, often representing diverse interests, for the array of projects and programs that he helped conceive and bring to fruition. He wrote much of the legislation consolidating city and county governments under UniGov. He also had a leading role in the modernization and beautification of downtown Indianapolis and the creation of the City Center on Monument Circle, the adaptive reuse of the Indiana Theater, the downtown retailing mall concept, and the planning of the White River State Park.
Whistler understood working for the future. To ensure Whistler’s legacy lives on, GIPC instituted The Charles L. Whistler Award – the most prestigious award given annually to a community volunteer. The award recognizes one or two individuals who have brought together the Indianapolis public and private sectors for civic improvement. Through this recognition, GIPC remembers Charles Whistler and his many contributions to our city and also thanks those who, like Whistler, continue to improve Indianapolis for a better today and an even better tomorrow.
Whistler Award recipients’ names are added to a limestone and granite monument located in the Charles L. Whistler Memorial Plaza at the City Market in downtown Indianapolis.
Whistler Award Recipients 1983-Present
Click each honoree for more information about their contributions to the Indianapolis community.
