Civil War letters and diaries written by soldiers who served with the 28th United States Colored Troops, Indiana’s African-American regiment, are rare. But IHS recently acquired an 1865 letter written by William Trail Jr. Trail, from Henry County, was the older brother of Benjamin Trail. Benjamin, a sergeant major and the first of four brothers […]
“It’s more than just a military installation,” says longtime IHS member Roy Zenor about Camp Atterbury. “It’s part of a bigger family that goes back to before there was a Hoosier State.” And Roy is certainly part of that family. He was a National Guard soldier for 22 years, and in and out of Atterbury […]
Civil War soldier Harvey Harry Boyd fought for the North and for the South in the Civil War, and we are thankful to have diaries telling his unusual story. Boyd was born in Monroe County in what became West Virginia in 1840. In May 1861, he enlisted in the Monroe Guards of the 27th Virginia […]
Thomas Wyatt Binford is best remembered for his connection with the Indianapolis 500 where he served as chief steward for the race from 1974 to 1995, but his contributions to the Indianapolis community extend far beyond the track. His daughter, Florrie Binford Kichler, donated memorabilia from his life, and the collection is now processed and […]
The African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded by Richard Allen in 1816. This new denomination quickly spread throughout the North and arrived in Indiana in the 1830s. In 1836, William Paul Quinn and Augustus Turner established the church that would eventually become Bethel A.M.E. in Indianapolis. Like other A.M.E. churches at this time, Bethel’s congregation […]
IHS owns most of Billy the Kid’s more famous letters – including one in our collections that was previously unidentified. This year, in her book Billy the Kid’s Writings, Words, and Wit, Billy the Kid historian Dr. Gale Cooper specifically authenticated an additional Billy the Kid letter. And it had been here all along. The […]
In May 2011, IHS signed a lease to occupy and manage Twin Oaks, once the home of the Ayres and Lilly families, through the generosity of William and Laura Weaver. The Weavers purchased the property in January 2011 from the heirs of philanthropist Ruth Lilly. IHS uses Twin Oaks as a hospitality center, and it […]
Do you know what a “thrift barn” is? Do you even want to know? If so, all the evidence you’ll need is here in the Indiana Historical Society’s new library case exhibitEat + Drink. Among thousands of menus collected by Hoosier restauranteur Reid Duffy, the Rabbit Patch restaurant in Speedway stands out as the only […]
After spending time fighting the Civil War with Capt. David Enoch Beem, I have returned to working on the Larry Foster Collection. Reading a group of Civil War letters can be emotional and can leave a person feeling cold, tired, a little frightened and even a bit breathless at times. Beem generally wrote on stationery, […]
We keep things. Plain and simple. As a society we have a hard time letting things go. Even as minimalism continues to be the latest fad, there are reportedly 58,000 self-storage facilities in the United States. As museums, we keep things also. For both museums and individuals, it is important to frequently ask yourself why? […]
