From scrambling over avalanche-choked passes in Tibet to track down a source to meticulously tracking down mismanaged U.S. government development aid in Afghanistan, journalist and author Douglas A. Wissing has done whatever it has taken to write his stories. The Bloomington, Indiana, author has, however, also discovered much to write about in his home state […]
IHS has been preparing for the State Bicentennial for years, and we can’t wait to show off our new offerings books, events, programs and special exhibits commemorating our great state. They are designed to reach every Hoosier, whether a fourth grader touring You Are There 1816: Indiana Joins the Nation or a book lover reading […]
Indianapolis-The Indiana Historical Society is proud to announce it joins a leading group of national museums and cultural organizations as an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. The director of Smithsonian Affiliations presented IHS with the mark of distinction at tonight’s annual Founders Day Dinner, at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, located at […]
Part of the Indiana Historical Society?s commemoration of the nineteenth state?s bicentennial, Indiana’s 200: The People Who Shaped the Hoosier State recognizes the people who made enduring contributions to the state of Indiana in its 200-year history. Written by historians, scholars, biographers and independent researchers, the biographical essays in this book will enhance the public’s […]
A lawyer. A surveyor. A tavern keeper. A poet. Is this some sort of weird, old-timey Village People tribute band? Not even close. These are just a few of the occupations that could be attributed to the men who descended upon tinyCorydon in June 1816 to write the state constitution for the Indiana Territory. I […]
You hear odd things in the hallways of the History Center. Recently, I heard “The Great Squirrel Invasion of 1822.” That got my attention, so I did some digging. Though it sounds hilarious, and the picture it paints is even more so, this was a devastating incident for Indianapolis residents and farmers. We know all […]
As many of you likely heard, we recently experienced Back to the Future Day, the day on which Marty McFly and Doc Brown arrived in the future (Oct. 21, 2015) in the 1989 film. Like many others who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, I was oddly excited by the fact that the entire […]
Behind-the-scenes in the Indiana Historical Society, people work to preserve Indiana?s past. They care for, organize and share the many artifacts in our collection. In the process, they get to see old maps, read personal correspondence, and discover unique objects and stories. Since they get to see so many items in the collection, I asked […]
One of the best parts of working at a place like IHS is that there?s always something new to discover. Sometimes you stumble across cool images, collections or book titles. Other times you stumble across items that are a twist on a classic. Take this miniature book titled Pandora?s Box as an example. At 2 […]
When many people think of the Indiana Historical Society, most minds often gravitate toward archives of the state?s history. This is true, but another aspect of its collection is the artwork of Indiana natives donated by them or their families. One such artist named Robert Hugo Selby has a collection that spans his years as […]
