Many have been taking greater advantage of opportunities recently presented at home to sift through cupboards, closets, attic storage spaces and other nooks and crannies to uncover what is there. Assessing memorabilia and the cumulative legacies of material boxed up, stuffed into corners and drawers, or placed on shelves for safekeeping is not a simple […]
Each year the Indiana Historical Society accepts nominations for several awards to be given to individuals and organizations throughout the state that are working in the fields of history. The emphasis is on excellent scholarship presented in engaging, public-facing ways. As managing editor of the IHS Press, I have enjoyed the honor of reviewing the […]
A century ago an Indianapolis publishing firm, Bobbs-Merrill Company, released a volume that it publicized as the “most talked of book of the day.” Anton Scherrer, a columnist for the Indianapolis Times, said that nothing “rocked the foundations of Indianapolis quite as much” as had the appearance of the publication, titled Neither Dead nor Sleeping. […]
After 40 years of processing manuscript collections, I can still find some that excite me. Such is the case with a recent Civil War letter we acquired, a letter from Lieutenant Harland Richardson of the 19th Indiana (Iron Brigade) to a Mr. Reilly on 24 April 1864. This is particularly exciting for anyone interested in […]
Our online digital photo collections always serve as inspiration for research pursuits of all sorts, including blog posts. While researching trivia question ideas in our W.H. Bass Photo Company collection, I came across a photo from 1926 of a group of people standing in front of the Circle Theatre building (now known as the Hilbert […]
With all the staying-at-home recently, I’ve had time to reflect on my travels the past three years with our History on Wheels traveling exhibit. History on Wheels is a custom trailer with nearly 1,000 square feet of exhibit space. We travel to festivals, fairs, schools and other special events to share Indiana’s rich automotive heritage […]
From America’s post-World War II crusade to democratize Japan, the Korean War, nuclear standoffs with the Soviet Union, the Bay of Pigs, the Vietnam War, and Watergate, Benjamin C. Evans Jr. of Crawfordsville, Indiana, participated in the events that shaped his country’s and the world’s history. In the IHS Press book “Gentleman in the Shadows,” […]
One of the best parts of my job at IHS is that I get to do a lot of reference work helping folks access the behemoth that is the Irwin-Sweeney-Miller Family Collection. Mostly, I spend a lot of time with J. Irwin and Xenia Miller’s papers and with Cummins Engine Co. items that relate to […]
Have you missed a vacation due to the pandemic? My family cancelled our trip, and recently I have been reflecting on missing out on this vacation. Getting to take a vacation is a privilege no matter the timing. Luckily, with the digital collection at the Indiana Historical Society, I was able to take my trip […]
The Indiana Historical Society’s Archive staff receives donated collections all the time, and first look to see if the papers or photographs come in some sort of order. That way if an original arrangement does exist it can help make sense of what may seem like a random assortment. One time we received an entire […]
