Tag Archives: Archives

Hoosier Vacations Then and Now: Washington, D.C.

We typically collect photos, documents, books and other materials that relate directly to Indiana or to the Old Northwest. But sometimes our collections include materials from out-of-state and even overseas. This is especially true with family photograph collections that document vacations Hoosiers have taken over the years. My family and I just got back from […]

Witnessing History: Hoosiers for President

Feature Photo: Repblican Presidential Candidate Wendell Willkie at English Theater in Indianapolis, 1940 (Indiana Historical Society) I spend a lot of time preserving and digitizing historical photographs of Indiana events, but I also like to take advantage of witnessing history with my own eyes when the opportunity presents itself. A big opportunity came this week […]

Digital Diaries: Wandering Off Course

Most of the time I try to stay focused on my assigned topics for digitization projects, but I know when to follow an unexpected and interesting story when it presents itself. Recently, I was researching the Brant and Helen McKay Steele Collection for a project on women’s history and came across a folder of photographs […]

Mapping Indianapolis with Survey Sketches

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. […]

Celebrating Design Month, Part 2

When people hear the name “Evans Woollen,” I suspect many think of his high-profile Brutalist structures – like Clowes Hall, Barton Towers or the Minton-Capehart Federal Building. But did you know Woollen started his career designing mid-century modern residences all over Indiana? After studying architecture on the east coast with Philip Johnson, Woollen established his […]

Celebrating Design Month, Part 1

In celebration of Design Month, we are sharing stories from our Collections centering on Mid-Century Modern design in Central Indiana. First up, a little discussed facet of the story of the building that started Columbus’ association with modern architecture, First Christian Church. Although the names J. Irwin and Xenia Miller are synonymous in Columbus with […]

Here’s the Church, and Here’s the Steeple

“Here’s the church, and here’s the steeple, open the door and see all the people.” This children’s nursery rhyme really gets at the heart of what church is all about: community. And that’s what I have experienced while working with Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church members, their historic church records collection at the Indiana Historical […]

Digital Diaries: Lake Life

Lake life is a term that has taken off recently in Instagram tags, clothing lines and even lifestyle TV shows. But lake life as we know it in Indiana has been around for well over a century. There is something special that draws us back to the water each summer, whether it’s boating, fishing, quality […]

Digital Diaries: New Resource for African-American History in Indianapolis

When recently researching Bethel A.M.E. Church, I came across a 32-page pamphlet that had long been in the Indiana Historical Society collection but had never been digitized. The Indianapolis Colored Directory and Year Book 1923 provides a great window into the African-American Community in Indianapolis. Labeled the “First Annual Edition,” it may well be one […]