History Matters is a blog series where we’ll be talking about the things you’re not supposed to discuss at the dinner table – things that may make some people uncomfortable. These pieces of our history are there if you look but might not be top of mind or in a textbook. We often think of history on a larger scale, […]
I recently cataloged numerous issues of Bandwagon, a publication of the Circus Historical Society. The organization was formed in 1939, and its mission is to “preserve, promote and share through education, the history and cultural significance of the circus and allied arts, past and present.” The first issue of their journal was published in 1940 […]
In preparation for our Mapping Indianapolis panel this Saturday, I thought it was timely to highlight one of my favorite new resources available in the library – the H.B. Fatout Co., Herbert Bloemker Co., and Ernest R. Hamilton Co. Surveying Books collection. The collection includes more than 50 sketchbooks surveying Marion County, beginning in the 1880s. […]
This blog is the inaugural in a series we’re calling History Matters. We’ll be talking about the things you’re not supposed to discuss at the dinner table – things that may make some people uncomfortable. These pieces of our history are there if you look but might not be top of mind or in a […]
Happy New Year! I started my work in 2019 by cataloging a unique item, unlike anything that has ever come across my desk: a nurseryman’s sample book from the late 1880s. It belonged to Henry C. Eickhoff, a well-known nurseryman from Indianapolis. A book like this was used by salesmen to show potential customers images […]
I have been making a conscious effort to catalog more maps recently. I hate to admit it, but I sometimes neglect my duties when it comes to printed materials that aren’t books or pamphlets. For the most part, it is a simple case of “out of sight, out of mind.” Maps waiting to be cataloged […]
In honor of this month, here is a selection of some of Indiana history’s most spectacular mustaches. Enjoy!
We’ve highlighted some of our favorite mid-century modern designs from our collections in previous Design Month posts, but how did MCM become so successful? One word: suburbanization. Suburbanization can be loosely defined as rapid housing development which causes a population shift away from city centers. So why did housing developments increase in the middle of […]
It seems no place is safe. Last Friday saw a murder here at the History Center during this year’s Whodunit? program. Luckily, we had more than 150 detectives on the case to help us put the clues together, interrogate the suspects, and solve the 90-year-old Evansville crime. The victim in question was named William Bohannon, […]
This Friday, we are staging a murder at the History Center of epic proportions. During Whodunit?, it’s up to you to help us figure out who the murderer was, what weapon they used, and where the murder took place. For one night only, our History Lab will be transformed into a crime lab, the Boardroom […]
