Shirley Willard (born September 28, 1936) is a historian and writer known for her work with the Fulton County Historical Society.
Education.
Willard initially went to college to become a teacher, obtaining her bachelor's from Manchester College in 1959. Willard received her master's from Ball State University in 1966.
Career.
Willard was one of the founding members of the Fulton County Historical Society in 1963. She initially served as the secretary before becoming its president in 1971. Within a few years, Willard began to receive statewide recognition for her work. In 1979, she was elected to represent Fulton County on the Association of Indiana Museums board of directors. The Indiana Historical Society and Indiana Historical Bureau appointed her as the official Fulton County historian in 1981. As historical society president and Fulton County museum director, Willard oversaw major expansion of Fulton County historical properties. During her tenure, the Fulton County Museum and the living history village of Loyal were built and established in Rochester, Indiana. She led the fundraising efforts for the new Fulton County Historical Society building in 1986, with it being built and dedicated on June 24th, 1989. The new location replaced its former headquarters in Rochester's Civic Center. Other new additions include the move and reconstruction of the Bert Leedy Round Barn in 1990, where $65,000 was spent on the initial move and restoration; two new buildings were also added to Loyal in 1998. 
Round barns.
Willard has played an active role in preservation and information on round barns across Fulton County. She is listed as the preparer of the National Register of Historic Places nomination form for the Utter-Gerig Round Barn. She is also listed as a reference on the nomination form for the Bert Leedy Round Barn and in the book "A Round Indiana: Round Barns in the Hoosier State" (second edition). The Bert Leedy barn was converted from a barn to a historical building and opened to the public as the Round Barn Museum in 1991.
Trail of Courage festival and caravan.
In 1976, Willard founded the Trail of Courage Living History Festival to honor descendants of Potawatomi families affected by Indian Removal on the Trail of Death. The festival is an annual event featuring historical reenactments and activities that include traditional Native craft and music, as well as representation of frontier era Indiana. Every five years since 1988, a commemorative caravan embarks along the route of the Trail of Death after the festival, making stops at historically significant spots and sharing history from the march in 1838. Willard helped found the Potawatomi Trail of Death Association in 2005 to focus on further recording Potawatomi history. Her work with the Association focuses on the time of Potawatomi removal via the Trail of Death and honoring living descendants of these people. Willard worked in collaboration with members of the Potawatomi tribe to establish historical markers along the route of the Trail of Death from Indiana to Kansas. A total of eighty-two markers have been placed across Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas as a result of the efforts of the commemorative caravan. 
Willard retired in 2001 after 30 years of serving as president of the Fulton County Historical Society. She is still active as a writer and historian with the Potawatomi Trail of Death Association. 
Awards.
Willard's continuing work in recognizing local history has received numerous awards. Notable awards include two from the Indiana Historical Society. In 2004, Willard received the Dorothy Riker Award for Innovation in the Field of History. Willard was also awarded the Indiana Historical Society's 2017 Eli Lilly Lifetime Achievement Award. Willard was one of the torchbearers representing Fulton County in the 2016 Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay. In 2019, Willard was given the Golden Hoosier Award by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, acknowledging senior Hoosiers who have made distinguished contributions to their communities.