>> HERE'S WHAT'S MAKING NEWS
AROUND INDIANA.
THIS WEEK, WE RESUME OUR
ENDANGERED INDIANA SERIES.
IN GRANT COUNTY, A FAMILY OF
DOCTORS IN THE EARLY FIFTIES
BROUGHT INNOVATIVE MEDICINE -
AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TO
MARION.
AROUND INDIANA REPORTER
MARY-RACHEL REDMAN HAS MORE ON
THE STORIED DAVIS CLINIC.
>> YOU KNOW, IF YOU WERE TO
FOLLOW A BUSY DOCTOR, AS HE
MAKES HIS DAILY ROUND OF CALLS,
YOU WOULD FIND YOURSELF HAVING A
MIGHTY BUSY TIME KEEPING UP WITH
HIM.
>> BUT THE DAVIS FAMILY OF
DOCTORS WEREN'T JUST BUSY.
THEY WERE A RARE BREED.
>> IT'S THIS MAYO CLINIC,
DOCTORS -- THE ARTS, ALL THESE
THINGS, IT'S A KIND OF A
FASCINATING STORY.
>> THAT IT IS.
IT STARTED WITH PATRIARCH
DR. MERYL DAVIS AND WIFE
JOSEPHINE, DESCRIBED AS MARIAN'S
MATRIARCH OF THE ARTS.
>> MY GRANDPARENTS WERE VERY
MUCH INTO ARCHITECTURE AND ART.
>> MAJOR ART PATRONS THAT WERE
EXTREMELY WELL CONNECTED.
THE COUPLE ONCE HOSTED AMELIA
EARHART.
>> IT WAS VERY INTERESTING, AS
ALWAYS.
>> AT THE HEIGHT OF HER NAME IN
THEIR MARIAN HOME.
IT'S NOT EXACTLY SURPRISING THAT
JUST OVER A DECADE LATER THEIR
SON RICHARD, NOW A MAYO CLINIC
TRAINED SURGEON WAS WORKING WITH
WORLD FAMOUS ARCHITECT FRANK
LLOYD WRIGHT TO DESIGN A MODERN
HOME IN THE HILLS OF MARIAN.
>> IF THE THING IS SUCCESSFUL,
YOU CAN'T IMAGINE THAT HOUSE
ANYWHERE THAN RIGHT WHERE IT IS.
>> UNCLE DICK BUILD THIS FRANK
LLOYD WRIGHT RIGHT IN SHADY
HILLS.
AS PREPARING TO DO THAT, HE AND
MY GRANDFATHER AND UNCLE AND MY
DAD ASKED HIM IF HE WOULD BE
INTERESTED IN DESIGNING A
MEDICAL BUILDING.
WELL, HE SAID HE HAD NOT DONE
THAT BEFORE
>> WRIGHT DECLINED THE OFFER, IT
WOULD BE AWARDED TO ANOTHER
ARCHITECT, A GUY BY THE NAME OF
HARRY WEISE.
>> HE ALSO DESIGNED THE METRO IN
WASHINGTON, D.C.
>> THE DAVIS CLINIC WAS BORN IN
1952, BRINGING MAYO CLINIC-LIKE
CARE TO THE RESIDENTS OF MARIAN,
INDIANA.
>> MARIAN, UP UNTIL BEFORE THE
WAR, DID NOT HAVE SPECIALISTS.
>> THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE
NOWADAYS JUST ASSUME ARE
AVAILABLE TO THEM IN TERMS OF
MEDICAL CARE WERE STARTED HERE.
>> PERHAPS WHAT MADE THE DAVIS
CLINIC SO UNIQUE, ITS ABILITY TO
RECRUIT SOME OF THE COUNTRY'S
BEST TRAINED DOCTORS,
INCLUDING --
>> ONE OF THE FIRST FEMALES TO
GRADUATE FROM HARVARD MEDICAL
SCHOOL, AND SHE CAME TO MARIAN.
>> AS YOU REMEMBER IT, DOES THIS
STILL LOOK THE SAME?
>> YES, EXCEPT FOR THAT THING
ADDED ON THE FRONT.
>> IT'S NO LONGER REST CARE.
DID THAT SAY DAVIS CLINIC.
>> AND WHEN I WAS BORN, I THINK
IT WAS STILL ONE STORY.
THEY ADDED THE SECOND AND THIRD
STORIES ON ABOUT 1960.
>> IT WAS ATTRACTIVE, AND IT WAS
BRIGHT.
I REMEMBER THE FISH TANKS.
>> I REMEMBER MY GRANDMOTHER
BEING A HUGE PART OF THIS.
SHE WAS BEHIND THE DESIGN AND
THE ARTS.
AND YOU KNOW, IT IS ALMOST LIKE
A MUSEUM TO ME.
>> WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
I THINK THE LEGACY OF THE CLINIC
AND WHAT THAT MEANT FOR THE TOWN
IS WORTH PRESERVING.
WHEN YOU TEAR THE BUILDING DOWN,
THEN A LOT OF THE MEMORY GOES
AWAY.
>> ANYBODY THAT DRIVES BY TODAY,
IT IS JUST MAYBE ANOTHER
BUILDING, BUT THE HISTORY BEHIND
IT, IF THEY KNEW THE LIVES THAT
WERE ENTWINED IN IT AND WHAT
CREATED IT, THE STORY IS JUST
REALLY -- IT'S PRETTY COOL.