Field Services and Soul Food

March 1, 2012

The Indiana Historical Society Local History Services staff met with members of the Field Services Alliance in Indianapolis at the end of February. FSA is a network of folks from different states who serve local history groups and cultural organizations to help them do what they do better.

Like the AIM Conference, AAM conference, AASLH conference, In Your Neighborhood meetings and other get-togethers of colleagues, it was a great way to borrow ideas, talk through potential projects and get reinvigorated.

During the FSA meeting, IHS Local History Services talked about a few of the things we are doing:

• The Hoosier Heritage Alliance project and the various components especially the Collections Advisor, the new Endangered Heritage traveling exhibit that aims to help organizations raise money for collections care, and the site-specific collections care site visits.
• The cemetery preservation workshops we offer in coordination with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources-Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. It is a great example of an uncommon public/non-profit partnership to train people in preserving historic cemeteries.
• We also talked about a pilot project that pairs two local history groups with LHS for in-depth conversations about setting priorities. Look for more information on this project as it rolls out in a finished form.

The last part of the meeting was lunch at Maxine?s Chicken and Waffles, a great soul food restaurant in downtown Indy. I had chicken tenders with BBQ sauce, a sweet potato waffle with peach butter and mashed potatoes. I wouldn?t call it health food, but it was fabulous!

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Jeff Harris is director of Local History Services. He constantly travels the state for his job, giving him the opportunity to pursue his dream of finding the perfect mashed potatoes.

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