As a college student studying history, I always get the question, “What are you going to do with your degree?” Then I explain that history majors aren’t just left with teaching or staying in academia. There are many other sectors that need history people. This past January I was a reference services intern for IHS. […]
Fans of the IHS blog may remember that last year, I published a blog about Mexico, Indiana and Latin American place names in the state. The research for that blog also piqued my interest to look at places and names that were inspired by the cities and countries of Asia. Examining the time in which […]
I often wonder how the thoughts and perspectives of past writers would differ today. Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924) is one such writer, a popular novelist and environmentalist during the Golden Age of Indiana Literature alongside contemporaries like James Whitcomb Riley and Booth Tarkington. She was a Renaissance woman of the early twentieth century (before women even […]
This is the second installment in our new bimonthly blog series “Revisiting Old Questions.” You can find the first article here. In reviewing a new box of correspondence files from the depths of IHS history, I stumbled upon another great question. This one came from a man in Mitchell, Indiana almost 50 years ago, written […]
Unpopular opinion, I am not a huge fan of “A Christmas Story.” The movie adaptation is 40 years old now, but the origin of the story is that of Indiana author Jean Shepherd’s 1966 book, In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash. This opinion is probably particularly sacrilegious as I grew up in Northwest […]
I’ve decided to expand my surname list by reaching out to my colleagues. Luckily, we’re all a curious sort, so a long list of new surnames and connections to research suddenly appeared. This month’s article features my long-time coworker and friend Susan’s family, the Stanfields. For more than 40 years IHS has had a collection […]
McGuire Studio Inc., owned and operated by Joseph and Georgia McGuire, documented the built environment, businesses, people, and events around greater Indianapolis from the 1960s-1990s. Their body of work has been archived as the Joseph and Georgia McGuire Photograph Collection at the Indiana Historical Society. They took many iconic photos of aerial views and landmarks […]
Visitors to the Indiana Historical Society November through early January each year, have no choice but to get into the Christmas spirit. There are Christmas trees everywhere thanks to our wonderful Festival of Trees. Our library likes to add a little holiday flair to our case exhibits as well. This year, I decided to focus […]
The American Library Association defines Reference Librarian as those who “recommend, interpret, evaluate, and/or use information resources to help patrons with specific information needs.” As a reference librarian, I was particularly drawn to a book while traveling in New York City last year, Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers: A Little Book of Whimsy and Wisdom […]
It probably comes as no surprise that the librarian authoring this blog loves libraries. When tasked with designing an exhibit to be on display in the IHS library, I chose to research libraries. I learned that the history of public libraries in Indiana is far more interesting than I anticipated. Though some public libraries in […]
