What does the name “Arago Honors” signify?
In the fall of 2018, my family and I were on an exploratory walking trip through Montmartre in Paris, France with an incredible guide who showed us numerous historical treasures new to us. Among them was the first glimpse of a handful of the series of 135 bronze medallions marking a French “meridian” line, once rivaling the Greenwich timeline. I snapped a picture on my phone of one of the 12 centimeters Arago coins amongst the cobblestones and brought it back to Indianapolis for further research. Each coin says Arago with an N and S to mark direction.
What was this bronze medallion dot on the street of Paris that seemed to be in a seemingly random pattern? What was its significance?
Arago directional medallions (featuring an N and S) have not been forgotten by traveling Paris tourists (like my family), who today find commemorative markers laid by a Dutch artist as representative artifacts.
When we returned to Indy, my family debated and discussed decisions to create a new charitable foundation. One of the most important issues we had to make was to name our new foundation. We knew that we did not want to select our last name. But what name could signify our favorite city?
While we tossed around the name Arago and it was nearly selected as the name of our Foundation, I came to realize that it is better suited for the name of these new innovation honors.
In the early 19th Century, Francois Arago was an innovator and so much more. As a French scientist, mathematician, physicist, astronomer, collaborator, and politician, his name is linked to countless inventions and appears on the Eiffel tower. But the backstory of his failed efforts to put the Earth’s prime meridian as a directional beacon through Paris creates a connection to the world and a memorable metaphor for innovation.
The new Arago Honors by the Meridian Foundation is a tribute to Indianapolis and the many directions nonprofits take to be innovative in their quest to create public value.