Tag Archives: history

Living the Legacy: Our Upcoming Sept. 29 Redlining Program

We’ve kicked off our new Indianapolis bicentennial exhibit, You Are There 1920: Celebrate Indianapolis with a four-part program series on the history of redlining. Redlining is the discriminatory practice in which banks, mortgage lenders, and insurance companies refused or limited loans, mortgages, and insurance within specific geographic areas, particularly in older and city center neighborhoods, to Black […]

Lost LGBTQ Landmarks

The Famous Door, Bellflower Clinic, Essex House, Body Works. What do these places have in common? They are just a handful of lost landmarks of the Indianapolis LGBTQ community. Even though the structures are gone, these demolished buildings still share their stories with us today. The Essex House was the youngest mid-rise apartment/hotel building in […]

Celebrating Design Month, Part 4

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 […]

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 […]