{"id":189,"date":"2026-05-04T10:43:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/?p=189"},"modified":"2026-05-04T10:43:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:43:31","slug":"philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","title":{"rendered":"Philanthropy and Legacy: The Ball Family\u2019s Impact on Muncie\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Many Indiana cities and towns are home to successful families that acquired large fortunes from their entrepreneurial ventures.\u00a0Think of Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, the Ball Brothers in Muncie, the Miller\u00a0family\u00a0in Columbus, the Goodrich family in Winchester,\u00a0and many others. These families often passed their fortunes to\u00a0their\u00a0descendants and charitable foundations. These\u00a0philanthropic\u00a0foundations were typically\u00a0established to promote specific causes and to enhance the culture and quality of life in the communities where their businesses originated.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The beneficence of the Ball family has long blessed Muncie. We recently mourned the passing of 96-year-old David Owsley,\u00a0who must be one of the last family members with a living memory of the original Ball Brothers. Mr. Owsley was the grandson of Frank C. Ball, president of the Ball Brothers Manufacturing Company (later Ball Corporation) and father of Owsley\u2019s mother, Lucina (Lucy) Ball. Owsley\u2019s father, Texas lawyer and World War I veteran Alvin M. Owsley, served as national commander of the American Legion.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Though\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/obits.dallasnews.com\/us\/obituaries\/dallasmorningnews\/name\/david-owsley-obituary?id=59377744\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">David began his career in public relations, his passion for art led him to study at New York University and work at some of the world\u2019s most prestigious museums<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Victoria &amp; Albert Museum in London, and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.\u00a0His deep knowledge and appreciation of art shaped his life\u2019s work.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Despite his global career, Owsley never forgot his Indiana roots.\u00a0The Art Museum at Ball State was founded by\u00a0gifts\u00a0and loans from the art collection of the Ball family. Owsley curated and added\u00a0to those gifts so that\u00a0now\u00a0more than 2,500 works, or around one-quarter of the museum&#8217;s current holdings\u00a0trace to\u00a0the Ball family.\u00a0He also led efforts to diversify the collection beyond American and European art. Today,\u00a0the museum\u00a0boasts\u00a0of\u00a0art from\u00a0all seven continents\u00a0on display.\u00a0In 2011, Ball State renamed the museum the David Owsley Museum of Art (DOMA) in his honor.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Adam Smith, in\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Theory of Moral Sentiments<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, wrote that while justice is essential to society\u2019s survival,\u00a0society\u00a0\u201cmay subsist without beneficence\u00a0though not in the most comfortable state.\u201d\u00a0Beneficence,\u00a0however,\u00a0is \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ballstate-my.sharepoint.com\/personal\/cbohanon_bsu_edu\/Documents\/Documents\/Bohanon-Horowitz\/TMS%20II.ii.3.%204\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">the ornament which embellishes<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. David Owsley embodied that ornament; his life\u2019s work made our community more beautiful, thoughtful, and connected to the broader world.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Thank you, David Owsley, for the art, the vision, and the legacy.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many Indiana cities and towns are home to successful families that acquired large fortunes from their entrepreneurial ventures.\u00a0Think of Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, the Ball Brothers in Muncie, the Miller\u00a0family\u00a0in Columbus, the Goodrich family in Winchester,\u00a0and many others. These families often passed their fortunes to\u00a0their\u00a0descendants and charitable foundations. These\u00a0philanthropic\u00a0foundations were typically\u00a0established to promote specific causes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[146],"tags":[1692,1688,1690,1671,1689,1693,11,1691,1687,1640],"class_list":["post-189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","tag-art-museums","tag-ball-family","tag-charitable-foundations","tag-community-development","tag-david-owsley","tag-economic-legacy","tag-indiana","tag-local-history","tag-philanthropy","tag-social-capital"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Philanthropy and Legacy: The Ball Family\u2019s Impact on Muncie\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philanthropy and Legacy: The Ball Family\u2019s Impact on Muncie\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many Indiana cities and towns are home to successful families that acquired large fortunes from their entrepreneurial ventures.\u00a0Think of Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, the Ball Brothers in Muncie, the Miller\u00a0family\u00a0in Columbus, the Goodrich family in Winchester,\u00a0and many others. These families often passed their fortunes to\u00a0their\u00a0descendants and charitable foundations. These\u00a0philanthropic\u00a0foundations were typically\u00a0established to promote specific causes [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Econ Briefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-04T14:43:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"christianhartselle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"christianhartselle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"christianhartselle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622\"},\"headline\":\"Philanthropy and Legacy: The Ball Family\u2019s Impact on Muncie\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-04T14:43:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":426,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"art museums\",\"Ball family\",\"charitable foundations\",\"community development\",\"David Owsley\",\"economic legacy\",\"Indiana\",\"local history\",\"philanthropy\",\"social capital\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\",\"name\":\"Philanthropy and Legacy: The Ball Family\u2019s Impact on Muncie\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-04T14:43:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Philanthropy and Legacy: The Ball Family\u2019s Impact on Muncie\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Econ Briefs\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622\",\"name\":\"christianhartselle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"christianhartselle\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/author\\\/christianhartselle\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Philanthropy and Legacy: The Ball Family\u2019s Impact on Muncie\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Philanthropy and Legacy: The Ball Family\u2019s Impact on Muncie\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs","og_description":"Many Indiana cities and towns are home to successful families that acquired large fortunes from their entrepreneurial ventures.\u00a0Think of Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, the Ball Brothers in Muncie, the Miller\u00a0family\u00a0in Columbus, the Goodrich family in Winchester,\u00a0and many others. These families often passed their fortunes to\u00a0their\u00a0descendants and charitable foundations. These\u00a0philanthropic\u00a0foundations were typically\u00a0established to promote specific causes [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","og_site_name":"Econ Briefs","article_published_time":"2026-05-04T14:43:31+00:00","author":"christianhartselle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"christianhartselle","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/"},"author":{"name":"christianhartselle","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#\/schema\/person\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622"},"headline":"Philanthropy and Legacy: The Ball Family\u2019s Impact on Muncie\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz","datePublished":"2026-05-04T14:43:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/"},"wordCount":426,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["art museums","Ball family","charitable foundations","community development","David Owsley","economic legacy","Indiana","local history","philanthropy","social capital"],"articleSection":["Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","name":"Philanthropy and Legacy: The Ball Family\u2019s Impact on Muncie\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-05-04T14:43:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#\/schema\/person\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/philanthropy-and-legacy-the-ball-familys-impact-on-muncie-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Philanthropy and Legacy: The Ball Family\u2019s Impact on Muncie\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/","name":"Econ Briefs","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#\/schema\/person\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622","name":"christianhartselle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"christianhartselle"},"url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/author\/christianhartselle\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}