FORT WAYNE — The building of the Wabash and Erie Canal brought a boom of production, people and opportunity to Fort Wayne. Women, however, were often left to fend for themselves. Women who came to town with husbands who had since abandoned them, those without families or those with no other means of support turned to the only career option available; a life of prostitution.

In this fascinating look at the life of women in an early settlement town, Karen Richards examines the changing roles of women, the development of the justice system in Fort Wayne, and the progression of Fort Wayne from the “most lawless town in Indiana” to today’s Summit City.

Sin in the Summit City will be presented by Karen Richards at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 1, at the History Center. The George R. Mather Sunday Lecture Series is free and open to the public.