Indiana Historical Society

. [Beck, Bill. Indiana historical society: oldest state historical society west of Allegheny Mountains celebrates 175 years. "Indiana Business Magazine" December 1, 2005]

Since 1830, the Society has been Indiana's Storyteller, connecting people to the past by collecting, preserving, interpreting, and disseminating the state's history. A nonprofit membership organization, the IHS also publishes books and periodicals; sponsors teacher workshops; provides youth, adult, and family programming including Indiana's participation in the National History Day Competition series; provides support and technical assistance to local museums and historical groups; appoints and trains 92 county historians; and maintains the nation's premier research library and archives on the history of Indiana and the Old Northwest. The Society is located in the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center at 450 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis.

The Indiana Historical Society opened a new 165,000-square-foot headquarters in downtown Indianapolis in July 1999, built on the site of the prior Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Indianapolis. [Church lifts golden dome "Indianapolis Star", December 28, 2007]

History

The Indiana Historical Society was started on December 11 1830, which was the fourteenth anniversary of the statehood of Indiana (December 11 1816). A collection of Indianapolis movers and shakers chose to start the society, and sought to obtain many objects relating to Indiana's history. It was to hold a "collection of all materials calculated to shed light on the natural, civil, and political history of Indiana, the promotion of useful knowledge and the friendly and profitable intercourse of such citizens of the state as are disposed to promote the aforesaid objects". To this day, the headquarters of the Indiana Historical Society has stayed within Indianapolis. [Bodenhamer, David. "The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis" p.739, 740]

In 1831 the Society was granted a charter by the Indiana General Assembly, a charter for which the Society still exists. In the few years afterwards, two of the Society's prevalent backers died, and between the its founding in 1830 and 1886, only twelve annual meetings were held to promote it. Its collections were located in the old Indiana State Bank and old Indiana State Capitol. The Society of those days was described by a historian to be a "a small private club for publishing local history." [Bodenhamer 739] [Beck]

In 1886 the Society was reorganized under the direction of Jacob Piatt Dunn. With trusted associates, Jacob Dunn started the policy of annual meetings of the Society that continues to this day. Dunn was able to enthuse Hoosiers of several occupations to gather resources for the Society, focusing on editors, professional historians, lawyers, librarians and writers. However, Jacob Dunn's attempt to allow women to join the Society failed in 1888; it would not be until 1906 that a woman, editor Eliza Browning, would be admitted. Thanks to Dunn, the Indiana Historical Society had an office at the state capitol building from 1888 to 1914. [Bodenhamer 739] [Beck]

The Indiana Historical Society would continue to affect and be affected by the happenings of the Indiana Historical Bureau (originally the Indiana Historical Commission), the Indiana State Museum, and the Indiana State Library. The Society's executive secretaries would also act as directors of the Historical Bureau for over fifty years, from 1924 to 1976. This connection allowed the "Indiana History Bulletin", controlled by the Historical Bureau, to be distributed to the members of the Society. (Members of the time also received a publication of Indiana University entitled "Indiana Magazine of History", which members of the Society still obtain). The will of philanthropist Delavan Smith in 1922 caused the Society to start the Indiana State Library, as Delavan Smith not only willed to the Society a vast sum of money, but a sizable collection of books as well. [Bodenhamer 739]

Beginning in the 1950s, the Indiana Historical Society started publishing works related to the history of Indiana. The most important of these works was the 1966 multi-volume set concerning the history of Indiana, in celebration of the sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary of Indiana's statehood. Other notable works included the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Old Northwest" in 1950. [Bodenhamer 740]

By 1970 the membership of the Indiana Historical Society reached 5,000 members. The most noted of these was Eli Lilly, whose donations allowed for the obtainment of additional building additions in 1976, and whose will helps the general financial welfare of the society to this day. By 1993 the membership rose to 10,000, with forty percent of the Society's members living in the Indianapolis metropolitan area. [Bodenhamer 740]

For years, the headquarters was in the Indiana State Library and Historical Building, but in 1999 it moved to its current headquarters, drawing the envy of other state historical societies in the United States. [Beck]

As of 2008, the official membership of the IHS includes approximately 7,500 households across the United States.

Operations

The board of trustees oversees the operation of the Indiana Historical Society (28 members), which includes a staff of approximately 84 individuals. Various divisions within the Society include Administration, Collections, Conservation, Development, IHS Press, Marketing and Public Programs. They continue to oversee actions to promote the history of Indiana. Official legislation of the Indiana General Assembly compels the state of Indiana to fund a building for the Society within Marion County, which has been synonymous with Indianapolis since the 1970 city-county merger. [Bodenhamer 740]

The current CEO and president of the Indiana Historical Society, John A. Herbst, joined the IHS in September 2006.

Collection

The IHS Collections and the William Henry Smith Memorial Library both preserve and make accessible one of the largest archival repositories of material on the history of Indiana and the Old Northwest, including 1.6 million photographs (500 visual collections), 45,000 cataloged printed items (books, pamphlets, etc.), 14,000 pieces of sheet music, 5,000 processed manuscript collections, 3,300 artifacts, 1,100 cataloged maps, 575 broadsides and 60 paintings. More than 33,000 digital images are currently available through the IHS Web site. Also among the items held by the Society is a 130-year-old Bible recently used to swear in newly-elected Mayor Greg Ballard of Indianapolis. [O'Shaughnessy, Brendan. "Ballard says crime will be top priority", "Indianapolis Star", January 2, 2008] One of the most significant items in the IHS collections is the original glass-plate negative of a Abraham Lincoln photograph taken by Alexander Gardner just weeks before the Gettysburg address (this image was used as the model for the creation of the Abraham Lincoln National Memorial in Washington D.C.).

Subject strengths of the IHS collections (especially as they relate to Indiana and the Old Northwest) include Architecture, Agriculture, American Civil War, Business, Communities, Education, Ethnically and Racially Identified Groups, Families, Government, Journalism and Communications, Medicine, Military Affairs, Notable Hoosiers, Old Northwest Territory, Organized Labor, Politics, The Professions, Religion, Social Services, Transportation (Including Railroad and Interurban History) and Women.

References

External links

* [http://www.Indianahistory.org/ Official Site]