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On Christmas Day in 1854, teachers and advocates of education came together to form the Indiana State Teachers Association. At that time, many Hoosiers did not embrace the concept of ""free education, "" instead believing that schools ought to be funded by those who were being educated. Immediately after ISTA's founding, its members began their advocacy of education, especially free public education for all children. Over the next 150 years, members of the Association stood ready to advance the cause of education. This advancement was neither steady nor easy. The Association endured many crises, some financial and in organizational. Pushed at times by charismatic leaders and driven at other times by the winds of cultural change, the Association was, and still is, an organization of individuals.