Robert P. O’Bannon

1971

Robert P. O’Bannon entered newspaper work in 1930 and became editor of the Corydon Democrat in 1943. The weekly newspaper has won numerous state and national awards for its professional and journalistic excellence.

O’Bannon is a former president of the Hoosier State Press Association and Indiana Democratic Editorial Association. On May 31, 1977 he received The Indiana State Bar Association’s “Indiana Liberty Bell Award” which recognized his career as a newspaper publisher and his 20 years as an Indiana state senator.

O’Bannon has been recognized by the bar association of Indiana as a “worthy representative of individual citizens who have given outstanding service in the Indiana General Assembly, and his contributions through editorials and columns to the public’s understanding of the rule of law and of the functions of governmental institutions.”

The newspaperman’s 20 years as a member of the Indiana Senate included 12 years as a member of the State Budget Committee which studied reorganization needs of the State Highway Department in 1951-1952.

He retired from the senate in 1970 and returned to his home for a full and active life as a publisher of the Corydon Democrat. There he publishes a regular column of his own entitled “By The Way.”

O’Bannon was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 1971. His home is in Corydon, Indiana. He is married and has five children.