James R. Fleming was elected president of the Board of Trustees of the
Coliseum in 1952 prior to the dedication of the building. He retained
that post until January, 1954. His term of office included a rather
critical and very successful period in the operation of the Coliseum.
James R. Fleming was born November 8, 1881, in Henry County, Indiana;
his parents were George R. and Sarah (Cummins) Fleming. He completed his
elementary and secondary education in local schools and was awarded the
degree of Bachelor of Law at the University of Michigan in 1904.
After graduation the young lawyer began his practice at Portland,
Indiana, where he was soon elected Prosecuting Attorney for Jay County.
He was later elected to the Indiana General Assembly and served several
years both in the lower house and in the state senate. In 1933 President
Roosevelt appointed Mr. Fleming United States Attorney for the Northern
District of Indiana. Many notorious criminals then operated in this
area; James Fleming held office between 1933 and 1941 and successfully
prosecuted many of these gangsters.
At present Mr. Fleming is engaged in the practice of law in Fort Wayne.
He is chairman of the board, co-publisher, and treasurer of the FORT
WAYNE JOURNAL-GAZETTE; he serves as president and treasurer of Erie
Materials, Incorporated, and Erie Ready-Mix Concrete, Incorporated, and
the director and general counsel for the Sheller Manufacturing
Corporation and its subsidiaries.
In addition to his professional and business interests, Mr. Fleming is
active in many civic and social organizations. As a director of the Fort
Wayne Chamber of Commerce, he became interested in the earliest coliseum
plans. His work in advancing this project was publicly recognized in
1949, and he was appointed to the original Board of Trustees.
[Illustration: James R. Fleming]
He has also been a director of the Fort Wayne Art School, the Fort Wayne
Civic Symphony, the Fort Wayne Community Concert Association, the Fort
Wayne Civic Association, the Fort Wayne Musical Society, and the Fort
Wayne and Indiana Presbyterian Foundations. He is a member of the
American, Federal, Indiana, and Allen County Bar Associations; the
Indiana and the Allen County Historical Societies; the Indiana Society
of Chicago; the Fort Wayne Country Club; the Masons; and the Elks. Mr.
Fleming is also an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of
Fort Wayne. He is married and is the father of two children.
[Illustration: Don L. Myers]