2024 Indiana Authors Event: Michella Marino

Michella M. Marino is the author of Roller Derby: The History of An American Sport. She grew up in Morristown, Indiana, a small town located on Highway 52 in Shelby County that has a surprising number of restaurants specializing in fried chicken. Being an athlete has always been a key part of her identity, and she played multiple sports at Morristown High School (as one often does in rural communities), prior to graduating in 2000. She then earned a B.A. in History from Hanover College, a M.A. in History from the University of Louisville, and a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

A lifelong basketball player, Marino began playing roller derby as the ever classy Coors Lightning while in grad school in Massachusetts. She moved half-way across the country to teach American History at a small liberal arts college in Nebraska before returning to her home state to work for the Indiana Historical Bureau division of the Indiana State Library.

As Deputy Director, she oversees IHB’s public history programming. She resides in the Butler Tarkington neighborhood of Indianapolis with her 9-year-old son, husband (a history teacher at Shortridge High School), and super ornery dog.