Contributor

The collection dates back to the early 1990s when local Indianapolis activist Michael Bohr began collecting items related to life for homosexuals in the city of Indianapolis and the national movement for gay rights. The collection is named in honor of Chris T. Gonzalez, a local activist and founder of the first LGBT youth group in Indianapolis, who died of an illness related to AIDS in 1994.&nbsp;

Library founder Michael Bohr with a photo of Chris T. Gonzalez. 

Website

Chris Gonzalez GLBT Archive Collection from IUPUI

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Wearing Gay History: A Digital Archive of Historical LGBT T-Shirts

Since 1995, activists and scholars in Indianapolis have maintained an archive related to LGBTQ history in Indiana and throughout the United States. The library has grown to over ten thousand items and is currently located in the basement of the Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis building which is also the headquarters of Indy Pride. The archive maintains a collection of original LGBTQ publications such as the Daily Mirror as well as local newsletters and personal recollections of numerous local activists. The archive also has a unique collection of material history items, including over two hundred t-shirts from LGBTQ festivals dating back over several decades. 

Chris Gonzalez Library & Archives

As demonstrated by this tour, Indianapolis is home to many incredible museums and libraries. The first half of the tour is perfect for walking, while the second half will require a vehicle. 

Museums and Libraries of Indianapolis

The NCAA Hall of Champions is used "to create an appreciation of the trials and triumphs of the student-athlete as well as incorporate the National Collegiate Athletic Association attributes: learning, balance, spirit, community, fair play, and character."1 Located adjacent to the national office, the NCAA Hall of Champions&nbsp;offers two-levels of interactive exhibits to connect visitors to sport and develop an understanding of college athletic achievement2. All 23 NCAA sports&nbsp;are represented on the first floor including fencing, skiing, water polo, and bowling. The displays also include&nbsp;"current team rankings, video highlights, and artifacts donated from colleges around the nation."3&nbsp; Visitors can learn about each sport by playing trivia on the kiosk screen. The second floor of the museum offers additional interactive exhibits with virtual and hands-on displays.&nbsp;Visitors can watch a current game on one of the seven television screens or play basketball in the 1930s retro gymnasium4. &nbsp; The NCAA Hall of Champions also features a special exhibit each year to commemorate the achievements of different colleges or universities and students athletes. Previous special exhibits include:&nbsp;"Celebrating the Historically Black Colleges and Universities of the NCAA," "The MIAA- Celebrating 125 Years of Student-Athlete Excellence," and&nbsp;"NCAA Vintage Exhibit."5 The special exhibit for 2015, "NCAA Hall of Champion's 60 Years of NCAA Men's Final Four Exhibit" runs from March 10, 2015 until April 12, 20156.&nbsp;&nbsp;Visitors have access to both levels of the museum as well as the special exhibits when they purchase an admissions ticket for the museum.&nbsp; After the NCAA home office relocated from Kansas City to Indianapolis, the NCAA Hall of Champions has offered a new appeal of&nbsp;college athletics to the public7. Opened in 2000, the 35,000-foot facility has served as an educational, entertainment, and athletic complex8. "Anybody who visits our office or the Hall of Champions will immediately understand the appeal of the new site," NCAA President Cedric W. Dempsey said9. "In every sense, this is a partnership with Indianapolis that will work to the advantage of both eh NCAA and the city."10&nbsp; Cost of Admission for NCAA Hall of Champions: Adults- $5.000 Youth (ages 6 to 18)- $3.000 Seniors (ages 60+)- $3.00 Children (ages 5 and under)- Free Parking: White River State Park Underground Parking Garage 650 West Washington Street Indianapolis, IN 46204

The NCAA Hall of Champions is a museum, exhibition center, and conference center located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Listed as one of the ten best places to visit in Indianapolis, according USA Today's Best 10, the museum offers hands-on and interactive exhibits featuring each sport represented in the NCAA. Visitors learn about the NCAA's attributes, the successes of college athletes, and have the opportunity to learn about a new sport. The NCAA Hall of Champions also offers special exhibits throughout the year in order to celebrate and recognize the different contributions that have been made to the NCAA over the years. 

NCAA Hall of Champions

Although the museum boasts a modern facility, the&nbsp;origins of the&nbsp;Indiana State Museum are quite humble. During the&nbsp;Civil War, when Indiana State Librarian R. Deloss Brown began collecting geological materials. The state legislature saw the value of this collection, appointing a&nbsp;geologist categorize and expand the&nbsp;collection. After the war, this collection became a sort of traveling&nbsp;museum until a space was created in the state capitol building in 1888.&nbsp; After World War II, leading Indianapolis businessman Eli Lilly worked to create a state museum. Although his plans failed to materialize, community members continued these efforts &nbsp;and&nbsp;lobbied&nbsp;the Indiana legislature to create funds for a state&nbsp;museum. When the former&nbsp;Indianapolis&nbsp;City Hall became vacant in 1961, plans for a permanent museum seemed to finally be realized. However, the museum in the former city hall required both fundraising and renovations, and it was not until 1967 that the Indiana State Museum became a reality. Plans to expand the museum faltered during the 1980s and 1990s, but the state legislature approved a funding bill that provided for the creation of the current facility in White River State Park in 1999.&nbsp;On May 22, 2002, the current facility held its grand opening in its state-of-the-art building.&nbsp;

This recently-opened history and natural history museum features three floors of gallery space that share the human and natural history of Indiana. The museum also hosts cultural exhibits and events, as well as science programs and history lectures. Among the highlights of the modern facility, completed in 2002, is an IMAX theater, exhibits and programming for children and parents, special exhibits dedicated to state and local history, art exhibits, and a cafe.

 Indiana State Museum

Short Biography of Museum Founder, Harrison Eiteljorg
The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art first opened to the Indianapolis community in 1989. The birth of the museum, however, follows the life and atypical artistic passions of Harrison Eiteljorg.&nbsp;Garnering a love for art early in his life, in part due to his mother’s involvement in painting and the local art scene, Eiteljorg would spend much of his early life traveling thousands of miles to attend exhibits and visit museums. In the 1940s, Eiteljorg traveled to the West on coal mining ventures, which brought him intimately close to Western and Native American art.&nbsp;Throughout this continuous travel around the US, and especially the Southwest,&nbsp;Eiteljorg gave financial support to several young artists and began building a personal collection.&nbsp;His appreciation for Western and Native American work is best described in his own words, "In these paintings," he said, "there is very little evidence of the violence which marked the settling of the West. But the Indians and their culture, the cattle drives, wagon trains and the other themes we associate with the Old West are represented."1&nbsp;
Museum Features
The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art retains its highly respected position on the national art scene for the sheer breadth and completeness of its collection. Spread throughout the museum, there are&nbsp;three distinct, yet interconnected, collections, including the Native American Collection, the Western Collection, and the Contemporary Collection.&nbsp;Within the Native American Collection, which is located in the second floor galleries, visitors can discover everything from traditional objects, such as weaponry and basketry, to contemporary Hopi Katsina carvings and Inuit sculptures. The Western Collection, on the other hand, captures the spirit of aesthetic manifest destiny, and the collection holds a special focus on artworks by members of the Taos Society of Artists as well as works from early modernist artists.2&nbsp;
The exhibitions at the museum are continually in rotation, which means that no two trips to the museum are the same. Some past exhibitions have included “Gold! Riches and Ruin” and “Jingle Rails: The Great Western Adventure.”&nbsp;







The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art is also involved with Indianapolis cultural events, such as the Indian Market and Festival, the Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, and the Quest for the West Art Show and Sale.&nbsp;

The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art is widely respected for being the only museum in the Midwest that specializes in both Native American and Western artists in the same facility. In fact, the Eiteljorg is one of two museums of its kind east of the Mississippi. 

Located within Indianapolis’s White River State Park, the museum seeks to inspire an appreciation of art, history, and culture associated with the American West and the indigenous peoples of North America. Thus, visitors to the museum can experience a broad view of the American experience from two specific perspectives. 

At the same time, visitors to the museum can experience the world’s finest collection of contemporary Native American art as well as works by George Winter, Ansel Adams, and Georgia O’Keefe. Throughout the year, the Eiteljorg museum also hosts a variety of Indianapolis’s premier cultural events.

Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art

<div>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-area 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.</div><div> </div><div>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 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 small private club for publishing local history."</div><div> </div><div>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.</div><div> </div><div>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). The will of philanthropist Delavan Smith in 1922 caused the Society to start its William Henry Smith Memorial Library, as he not only willed to the Society a vast sum of money, but a sizable collection of books as well. During the 1940s Howard Henry Peckham was the director of the Society and while there had established many professional standards in the field of Historical society work.</div><div> </div><div>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. In 2009, the IHS is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its award-winning quarterly, popular history magazine, Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. It also publishes the family history magazine The Hoosier Genealogist: Connections twice a year.</div><div> </div><div>By 1970 the membership of the Indiana Historical Society reached 5,000 members. The most noted of these was Eli Lilly, a longtime trustee, whose donations allowed for the obtainment of additional building additions in 1976. Lilly's bequest allowed the IHS to achieve its own identity with its offices and library occupying a floor in the addition. Also at this time, the IHS/Indiana Historical Bureau leadership was separated with the creation of the title of Executive Secretary being retained for the IHS leadership. Lilly's bequest 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.</div><div> </div><div>For years, the headquarters was in the Indiana State Library and Historical Building, but in 1999 it moved to its current headquarters. The 165,000-square-foot building includes the 300-seat Frank and Katrina Basile Theater, the William Henry Smith Memorial Library, a vault to house the IHS's priceless collections, the Stardust Terrace Cafe, conservation and preservation imaging facilities, classrooms, the Basile History Market, the Cole Porter Room, Eli Lilly Hall and various exhibition spaces. <div>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 37,000 digital images are currently available through the IHS Web site.</div><div> </div><div>Also among the items held by the Society is a 130-year-old Bible used in 2008 to swear in Mayor Greg Ballard of Indianapolis. One of the most significant items in the IHS collections is the original glass-plate negative of an 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.).</div><div> </div><div>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.</div> </div>

A private, nonprofit membership organization, IHS maintains the nation's premier research library and archives on the history of Indiana and the Old Northwest and presents a unique set of visitor experiences called the Indiana Experience. The History Center features interactive experiences, an on-site cafe, and the Basile History Market. The Society also boasts an impressive research library that is open to the public.

Indiana Historical Society

The notion
of a state library was first mentioned in the Journal of the Constitutional Convention
in 1816 when the territorial capital was located at Corydon (It would serve as
the state capital from 1816-1825).&nbsp; However,
it was not formally established until the capital moved to Indianapolis in
1825.&nbsp; It was originally established to
assist state legislators with conducting research on various topics and space
was designated for the library in the new statehouse with the Secretary of State
serving as the first librarian. 

The library
eventually outgrew its statehouse home and plans for a new building began in
1929, the same year as the advent of the Great Depression.&nbsp; A 2-cent tax was levied to raise funds for
the new library, the site was purchased in 1931, and an architectural design contest
was created.&nbsp; This contest was won by the
firm of Pierre and Wright and their plans were completed by 1932.&nbsp; Construction began that same year and was
completed two years later.&nbsp; Their design
combined elements of both Neo-classicalism and art deco and called for a simple
and clean exterior.&nbsp; 

Carved into
the limestone exterior are numerous bas-relief figures.&nbsp; The smaller carvings, just above the first-floor
windows, represent the history of the state and the advance of
civilization.&nbsp; Included in this
collection are a Native American, pioneer, an airplane and a designer with instruments.&nbsp; The larger figures, along the Senate Avenue
side, represent the growth and development of the state and include an
explorer, soldier, legislator and an aspiring student.&nbsp; Inside the building is a soaring, 42-foot
vaulted foyer, a grand marble staircase, and a two-story circulation room that
features stained glass, murals, stencil work, and wood paneling and carvings.

Today, the
library is divided into six divisions: talking books and Braille library, genealogy,
the Indiana Collection, rare books and manuscripts, reference and government
services, and library development.&nbsp; In addition
to the over&nbsp;2 million&nbsp;volumes, the library also houses more than 3,500
manuscripts, 1.5 million images, and&nbsp;thousands of&nbsp;maps.&nbsp; Also located within the library is the
headquarters for the Indiana Historical Bureau which was established in 1915 as
the Indiana Historical Commission.&nbsp; It
was initially created to assist in the preparations for the state’s centennial
celebrations. &nbsp;It promotes the education
of Indiana’s history and places new historical markers throughout the state as
well as maintains those already situated.&nbsp;
It also operates a small gift and book shop within the library.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Indiana State Library was established in 1825 shortly after the state capital was moved to Indianapolis and the building that now houses it was completed in 1934.  The Indiana limestone building is the largest library in the state and contains over 2 million volumes within its walls.  It features stained glass windows, oak and walnut paneling, a marble staircase, hand-painted murals and bas-relief sculptures on its exterior.  The building is also home to the Indiana Historical Bureau and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Indiana State Library and Historical Building

For the first twenty years of the monument's existence, city ordinance prohibited the construction of any building near the monument that exceeded it in height. That ordinance came under fire from downtown promoters and was modified in 1922 to allow buildings to be taller so long as they did not overshadow the monument. For example, the Circle Tower uses a tiered design, with higher stories backing away from the building facade that faces the monument.  The monument was designed by German architect Bruno Schmitz and was intended to honor Indiana's American Civil War veterans. However, the design also pays tribute to those who served in the American Revolutionary War and a number of territorial conflicts including the Mexican and Spanish American Wars. Many times after the Civil War suggestions were made to build a monument honoring Indiana's Civil War veterans. The first proposal was made on April 1, 1862, when an anonymous editorial in the Indianapolis Daily Journal suggested a monument be erected in Circle Park; however, no action was taken. Talk of a monument continued in the years following the war. In 1867 governor Morton suggested a monument be erected on the highest point in Crown Hill Cemetery, but nothing came of it. In 1872 William H. English addressed a group of Civil War veterans and expressed his support for a monument at Crown Hill, but a bill introduced in the state legislature failed to pass. Other potential sites for the monument included University Park, Military Park, and the corner of Washington and Illinois streets in the city's downtown business district, along the National Road.No progress on was made on the monument until August 1875, when George J. Langsdale, a newspaper editor of the Greencastle Banner, presented a plan for a memorial during the first reunion of Civil War veterans, which was held in Indianapolis. Langsdale's idea was favorably received and a monument association was formed. By 1887 the Indiana Department of the Grand Army of the Republic had raised $23,380, before relinquishing responsibility for the monument to the State of Indiana.Further action was taken on March 3, 1887, when the Indiana General Assembly passed a bill to form a monument commission, whose original members included Samuel B. Voyles, D. C. McCollum, Daniel M. Ransdell, George J. Johnson, James, G. Gookins, and Langsdale, who was elected the committee's president at its first meeting on June 28, 1887. Randsell, who resigned two years later, was replaced by Thomas W. Bennett, and William H. English replaced Bennett. Other commissioners included General Mahlon D. Manson, and Thomas A. Morris. The bill also authorized the monument to be built in Indianapolis and appropriated $200,000 for the project. Some state legislators disagreed over use of the Circle as the monument's site; however, the legislative act that authorized it specifically identified the intended site as Circle Park.To select a design for the new monument, the commission established an international contest and solicited ten architects to submit sketches. Notices were also placed in leading newspapers in the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, and Italy, to encourage others to submit their ideas. The contest deadline was set for January 12, 1888, and seventy designs were submitted. The selection committee, who initially did not know the identity of the designers, chose two entries for further consideration. Bruno Schmitz, an architect from Berlin, Prussia, who submitted a design called Symbol of Indiana was the commissioners' unanimous choice as the winner. Schmitz, an architect knowledgeable in the field of monument design, was also a friend and fellow artist of the commission's secretary, James F. Gookins, when the two lived in Munich, Germany. Percy Stone, of London, England, received $500 for his second-prize entry.Several individuals and companies were involved in the monument's construction. Schmitz received his commission as the project's supervising architect in February 1888. His contract for the project specified his commission as five percent of the monument's total cost.[20] Schmitz arrived in Indianapolis from Germany in January 1889. Frederick Bauman, of Chicago, was appointed the project's deputy architect and Schmitz's representative. Enos Hege, of Indianapolis, received the contract to erect the monument's foundation, which was completed in 1888, and Thomas McIntosh, of Greencastle, Indiana, and an expert in stonework, became the project's superintendent. The Terre Haute Stone Works Company was awarded the contract to construct the monument's terraces, approaches, and superstructure. The project's stone and bronze sculptors included Rudolph Schwarz, Nikolaus (or Nicolaus) Geiger, George Brewster, and John Mahoney. Although ambiguous language in the authorizing bill created some confusion over the type of memorial to be erected, either a single monument or a combination of monument and memorial hall, the controversy was cleared up in 1893, six years after the bill's initial passage, when its confusing statement was repealed. In the meantime, construction continued using Schmitz's design.The cornerstone was laid on August 22, 1889. Inside, a copper box contained, among other items, an official list of all Indiana soldiers who had served in the Civil War, newspapers, copies of Indiana's two constitutions, a thirty-eight-star American flag, a photograph of Schmitz, the ceremony's program, and other related paraphernalia from the Grand Army of the Republic, the Women's Relief Corps, the Sons of the Republic, and other groups. Ceremonies held on the northeast corner of the monument included a speech by President Benjamin Harrison, an artillery salute, and a parade. Members of Harrison's cabinet, Indiana's governor Alvin P. Hovey, and other state officials were present. The Department Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic was master of ceremonies. It was the first monument in the United States to be dedicated to the common soldier.Public donations and the Indiana General Assembly's initial appropriations were not sufficient to fund the complete project. More funds were required. The state legislature appropriated an additional $160,000, and in 1891, raised over $123,000 with an additional property tax. Construction on the monument, which began in 1888, took thirteen years to complete. The obelisk was completed in 1892, the main elements by 1894, and its final installations in 1901. In 1893 the circle was renamed Monument Place. The cost to complete the monument was $598,318. An estimate to erect a similar structure in 2014 suggests it would exceed $500 million.The monument was formally dedicated on May 15, 1902. Thousands came to the public event, which began at 8 a.m. with a parade of flags and veterans of the Mexican-American, Civil, and Spanish–American Wars, and ended with an evening fireworks display. The formal dedication ceremony was held at 10 a.m. with General Lew Wallace as the master of ceremonies. General David R. Lucas led the gathering in prayer, and Governor Winfield T. Durbin, Wallace, and John W. Foster, the former United States Secretary of State under President Benjamin Harrison, gave speeches. A male chorus sang and poet James Whitcomb Riley read his poem "The Soldier", which was written especially for the occasion. Musicians played John Philip Sousa's "The Messiah of the Nations", a march he had composed for the occasion. Following a second parade in the afternoon and an evening vesper service, the bells of Christ Church sounded and its choir sang "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."In the years since its public dedication on May 15, 1902, the monument has become an iconic symbol of Indianapolis. It is the first monument in the United States to be dedicated to the common soldier, and the largest outdoor memorial and the largest of its kind in Indiana. The monument was included in the National Register of Historic Places on February 13, 1973. In 2011, the American Planning Association recognized Monument Circle as one of the nation's "great public spaces" in its annual "Great Places in America" ranking. The minor league Indy Eleven soccer team features Victory prominently in their logo.

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument, situated at One Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis, was dedicated on May 15, 1902. The monument was designed to honor the common soldier and was constructed over a thirteen-year period between 1888 and 1901. The structure is the largest outdoor memorial in the state of Indiana and has become closely tied to the identity of both the state and the city of Indianapolis. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument once housed the Colonel Eli Lilly Civil War Museum until flooding led to the relocation of those artifacts to the Indiana War Memorial. The monument was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 13, 1973.

Soldiers & Sailors Monument 

The Indiana War Memorial Building was designed by architects Walker and Weeks. They designed it to be the centerpiece of the plaza, aligned with the federal building and public library. Before work on the memorial could begin, however, workers demolished five of the seven buildings on the site to make room for the memorial. Construction finally began in 1926 and on July 4, 1927 General John Pershing laid the memorial’s cornerstone. In 1928, construction slowed due to funding problems and though it was still incomplete, the memorial was dedicated on Veterans Day 1933. The building was finally completed in 1965.The architects based their design of the building on reconstruction renderings of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The memorial building was made of Indiana Limestone and stood 210 feet tall, around 75 feet taller than the original mausoleum. Ionic columnns screen each face above the monument’s raised platform and the roof is a stepped pyramid. Between the columnns are tall windows and a blue light shines from each one.Around the monument building are symbolic figures Courage, Memory, Peace, Victory, Liberty, and Patriotism, designed by Henry Hering. On the south side stands Hering’s nude male bronze sculpture, Pro Patria, meaning “For Country” in Latin. At 24 feet high and 7 tons, it was once the largest bronze sculpture in the United States.Inside the building are three main floors. The top floor houses the Shrine Room. Built to symbolize peace and unity, it was crafted out of materials from all over the world to recognize the many countries of the world that were involved in World War I. The Star of Destiny hangs in the center of the world, made of Swedish Crystal, and below that an American flag. The main floor of the monument building holds administrative offices, exhibit space, and the Pershing Auditorium. All the names of Indiana residents who fought in WWI and those who were killed or missing in action from WWII are listed on this floor. The building also houses a free military museum that portrays Indiana’s veterans throughout history. The Indiana War Memorial also houses a significant collection of battle flags from Indiana's infantry regiments. The 11th, 15th, 17th, and 18th Indiana Infantry regiments all served during the Civil War, some of which were associated with well-known Indiana historical figures Eli Lilly and Lew Wallace. The collection includes as well a flag from the 28th United States colored troops, a regiment that served around Petersburg during the war before being deployed to Corpus Christi, Texas in 1865. Beyond Civil War flags, the Indiana War Memorial also holds flags from Indiana units that served in the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I. The inscription on the building’s north side reads: “To commemorate the valor and sacrifice of the land, sea and air forces of the United States and all who rendered faithful and loyal service at home and overseas in the World War; to inculcate a true understanding and appreciation of the privileges of American citizenship; to inspire patriotism and respect for the laws to the end that peace may prevail, justice be administered, public order maintained and liberty perpetuated.”

The Indiana War Memorial Building, located in the center of the Indiana War Memorial Plaza, was constructed starting in 1926 as a tribute to the Veterans of World War I. The architects modeled the building after the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. On each side of the monument stand symbolic statues designed by Henry Hering: Courage, Memory, Peace, Victory, Liberty, and Patriotism. 

Indiana War Memorial Building

The late writer Kurt Vonnegut (who died in 2007) had very strong roots in Indianapolis. He was descended from a distinguished family of local
architects: his paternal grandfather co-founded the prosperous architectural firm Vonnegut and
Bohn, and his father, Kurt Vonnegut, Sr., inherited the firm. As a teenager, he left the city to attend Cornell University and never again lived in Indianapolis,
though he often visited. The writer seems to have had a very ambivalent relationship to his hometown:
he recognized its decisive influence on him and his writing, but deplored what he considered its conservatism and lack of sophistication.&nbsp;In one of his books, he has his hero visit
a place called Midland City, said to be based on Indianapolis, which is rather caustically satirized. However, according to one resident, Indianapolis natives, despite their knowledge of his feelings towards their city, regard him as a "beloved character." The library includes the Kevin Scherr Collection, which contains first editions
of every Vonnegut novel, including several signed editions; films based on his
work; and over 250 magazines featuring reviews, stories and commentary by him.&nbsp;There’s a collection of numerous photos of the
author in informal poses. There are, among the many personal artifacts of the late writer on display, his writing desk, an unopened pack of Pall Mall cigarettes (the brand he favored), his typewriter and even
rejection letters, of which he received many early in his career. One of the most mysterious objects in the
collection is an unopened letter Vonnegut received from his father while he was stationed overseas
as a soldier in the Second World War. It is
not known what the contents of the letter were, why Vonnegut never opened it or why he
kept the letter instead of discarding it. In 2011, the KVML received a large grant
from Muncie's Ball State University, as well as funding from other sources, including the Indiana Historical Society, to finance several projects. One of these is a digital library, which will make available to visitors digitalized archival
materials about Vonnegut stored in many university and other archives throughout the country. (The library lacks the space and staff to securely
store a physical archive itself.) Local public TV station WFYI is a partner in a
project to create an oral history of Vonnegut through interviews with his loved
ones. The KVML is involved in many educational activities. It sponsors the Kurt Vonnegut and Jane Cox Vonnegut
Writing Awards, and it is also involved in teaching teachers to teach Vonnegut’s own works. The library is very strongly opposed to censorship of any kind. In August 2011, the KVML announced that it was
going to give away 150 free copies of Vonnegut’s famous novel
Slaughterhouse-Five, a gift from an anonymous donor, to the students of
Republic High School in Missouri, because the school board had banned the book
from the school library. The museum sent the following message through
the website Reddit: “If you are a student at Republic High School, please
e-mail us… to request your free copy of the book… We think it’s important for
everyone to have their First Amendment rights. We’re not telling you to like
the book… we just want you to read it and decide for yourself.”

The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library (KVML) is a library and museum that was opened to the public in November 2010, which "champions the literary, artistic and cultural contributions" of the late Indianapolis-born author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. The library was conceived by founder and current executive director Julia Whitehead in 2008, when she found an online library for American author Henry Miller and wondered why there was not a similar resource for a writer as known and loved as Vonnegut. The KVML is located within the historic Emelie Building, a three-story, red brick and limestone building that was constructed in 1902 and was included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. (This is the former location of the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art.) The KVML also hosts events by writers and other artists. 


Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library

<div>The Indianapolis Public Library (formerly known as the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library) is the public library system serving the citizens of Marion County, Indiana, United States and its largest city, Indianapolis. The library was founded in 1873 and has grown to include a Central Library building, located adjacent to the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza, and 22 branch libraries spread throughout the county. The library attracts over four million visitors each year and circulates nearly 16 million items. The library's mission is to enrich lives and build communities through lifelong learning. Its vision is to be a center of knowledge, community life and innovation for Indianapolis.</div><div> </div><div>The Central Library building was designed by architect Paul Philippe Cret, (with Zantzinger, Borie and Medary) and completed in 1917. A complete historic renovation and a major addition to the library was designed by Woollen, Molzan and Partners. The newly renovated Central Library building opened on December 9, 2007, ending a controversial multi-year rebuilding plan. The Central Library also houses the Nina Mason Pulliam Indianapolis Special Collections Room containing a variety of archival adult and children’s materials, both fiction and nonfiction books by local authors, photographs, scrapbooks, typescripts, manuscripts, autographed editions, letters, newspapers, magazines, and realia. The collection features Kurt Vonnegut, May Wright Sewall, the Woollen family, James Whitcomb Riley, and Booth Tarkington. </div>

Visitors to the memorial mall will find the Central Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library and its Indianapolis Special Collections Room at the far north end of the mall. The library was built in 1917, using Indiana limestone upon a base of Vermont marble. The city doubled the size of the library in 2001, combining the original neoclassical building with a modern glass structure featuring an enclosed glass atrium supported by a latticework of columnns. The Indianapolis Special Collections Room features rare photographs, scrapbooks, typescripts, manuscripts, autographed editions, letters, newspapers, and other one-of-a-kind items related to the city's history. 

Indianapolis Public Library

<h4>History of the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site</h4>The year was 1854, and Ohio native Benjamin Harrison had just arrived in Indianapolis with his wife, Caroline, to practice law at the office of John H. Ray. With a prominent career in place and the arrival of the Civil War, Benjamin Harrison was at a crossroads between supporting his family and answering President Lincoln’s call for more recruits for the Union Army. Eventually, and after many discussions with Indiana Governor Oliver Morton, Harrison commanded the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of the XX Corps, a distinction that would put him on the front lines and eventually get him nominated to the grade of brevet brigadier general of volunteers by Abraham Lincoln himself. Back in Indianapolis after the war and elected as a reporter for the Supreme Court of Indiana, Harrison’s reputation grew. By 1872, Harrison campaigned for the Republican nomination for the Governor of Indiana, but ultimately lost his bid, and despite the Panic 1873, Harrison’s personal wealth from the law office led him and Caroline to build the Italianate mansion on 1230 N. Delaware in 1874. The home was finished in 1875 at a cost of around $24,000, and it features the building plans of architect Herman T. Brandt. Within the red brick house, there are 16 total rooms.Harrison became the 23rd President of the United States between 1889 and 1893. During his presidency, Harrison led the nation along the path to a world empire better than any president before him, and he stood as the model for later president Theodore Roosevelt.Some of his foreign policy successes include supporting the annexation of Hawaii, the establishment of a protectorate in Samoa, and his push for a trans-isthmus canal in Central America. In other areas, especially domestic industrial development and poverty, Harrison is not considered to be the best Reconstruction Era president, though he is far from the worst. Aside from his term as an Indiana Senator and U.S. President, Harrison and his family lived in the Italianate house. Caroline, his wife, died in 1892 while Harrison was president, and he returned to the home as a widower. Harrison then outfitted the home with electricity, an English-Regency front porch, and updated plumbing systems. After Harrison died in 1901, his children, Mary and Elizabeth, lived in the home until 1913, and then from 1913 to 1937, several occupants rented the home. By 1964, the United States Department of Interior named the home a U.S. National Landmark.1  <h4>Features of the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site</h4>Nowadays, the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site stands as a snapshot into the life of Indiana’s only U.S. President and the state’s most accomplished citizen. Daily guided tours are available throughout the year, and many rotating exhibits are available on the home’s third floor. As an example, one exhibit was “Death in the White House,” which paid tribute to the eight presidents and three first ladies who have died in the White House.  The collection at the Benjamin Harrison home includes a gallery of Caroline Harrison’s art, Women’s Suffrage information and archives, and a research library.2 Objects related to President Harrison include his Civil War sword; a photo of his original regiment, the 70th Indiana Infantry, at a reunion in Washington, DC for Harrison's inauguration; and items from his 1891 trip around the nation. Other pieces in the presidential site's collection relate to the Harrison family, several of which were received on presidential trips.

The Benjamin Harris Presidential Site stands as one of Indianapolis’s greatest historic and political charms. Located in the Old Northside Historic District and featuring an Italianate style architecture common in the 1870s and ‘80s, the Benjamin Harris Presidential Site also marks the spot where Harris created his famous Front Porch Campaign during the 1888 Presidential Elections.

Benjamin and Caroline Harrison built the home in 1874-1875. Harrison lived in the home until he died in 1901, except for his U.S. Senate and presidential years. His family continued to live in the home until 1913. His second wife, Mary Lord Harrison, made the home a rental property until 1937, when she sold it to the Jordan Conservatory of Music with the understanding the home and its artifacts would be forever preserved. The school used the home as a dormitory while maintaining certain rooms as presidential museum space.  

In 1966, a not-for-profit operating foundation was established to run home as a historic site open to the public. From the 1950s until 1974, tours were by appointment only. After a 1974 renovation, the entire home was opened for regular daily tours.

The Benjamin Harris Presidential Site is a U.S. National Landmark and it is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. 

Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site

The school is named in honor of&nbsp;Crispus Attucks, an African American sailor who was&nbsp;one of five men who died in the Boston Massacre which led to the&nbsp;Revolutionary War. Crispus Attucks has become a
symbol of American Patriotism, the first to have given the ultimate sacrifice
for freedom.&nbsp; After the&nbsp;Indianapolis school board voted unanimously to build a school for Black students, Black residents petitioned to change the name from that of the slaveholder Thomas Jefferson to the name of this Black patriot.&nbsp;Crispus Attucks High School opened in 1927
and started a tradition of pride amongst the Black community of Indianapolis. However, the creation of a segregated school was met with great opposition initially from the Black
community. But as a second and third order effect of the racial inequality the High
School had an extremely knowledgeable faculty.&nbsp;
Black at the time could attend college as students but were not allowed to
join the faculty, which resulted in many qualified educators for Crispus
Attucks High School.&nbsp; This stroke of
karma had place a faculty of master degree holders and above as the educators
and offered curriculum for African American history in addition the traditional
instruction. &nbsp;

This school also produced the first all-Black team in the U.S. to win a
state Championship in basketball. This athletic
success was followed by another championship and an undefeated season. Oscar Robinson was a member of the championship
teams.&nbsp; 

In 1986, the school became&nbsp;a junior high. It later became a&nbsp;high school once again. Today, it serves as a&nbsp;Medical
Magnet School serving grades 6-12.

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

Crispus Attucks High School became the first segregated high school in Indiana when it opened in Indianapolis in 1927. Given the lack of employment options for African American educators, school administrators were able to maintain very high standards. In an era when many teachers had less than a bachelors degree, every teacher at Crispus Attucks High School had at either a M.A. or Ph.D.

Crispus Attucks Museum (Crispus Attucks High School)

<h3>History of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis</h3>The history of the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis traces back to prominent civic leader and owner of the Stewart-Carey Glass Company, Mary Stewart Carey. In 1924, a year before the Children’s Museum opened to the public, Mary visited the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, which many attributed as her inspiration for the Indianapolis children's museum. At the time, there were only three children’s museums in the United States, including the Brooklyn Museum, the Boston Children’s Museum, and the Detroit Children’s Museum. By 1925, Mary Stewart Carey was advocating for an Indianapolis museum, which led to the formation of the Children’s Museum Association of Indianapolis.In the museum’s early years, however, the Indianapolis association didn’t have money nor access to prominent collectors. To build a collection, Carey and other members of the Association’s board asked around the Indianapolis community for donations. On the museum’s opening day in 1925, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis displayed 600 objects that it had collected from the community. In the museum’s first year, when it was located in the Carriage House at the Propylaeum, it experienced several difficulties and setbacks, such as an inability to pay the rent and bills. The Great Depression in the 1930s didn’t help the museum’s mission as well, but visits from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and architectural designs from Kurt Vonnegut Sr. (father of the famous writer) helped boost the museum’s prominence. By 1942, the museum’s framework for future growth was set. Under the leadership of Grace Golden, the museum was able to acquire a large variety of Native American artifacts in 1947, a gallery of dinosaur skeletons in 1949, and a 19th century log cabin in 1961, among many others. By 1973, a widespread fundraising campaign raised upwards of $8.7 million for the museum’s new building. Five years later, the museum’s current building was finished, and its collections and exhibits continued to grow throughout the 20th century.1<h4>Museum Exhibits</h4>The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis remains highly praised for its variety of interactive and hands-on exhibits. Spread throughout the museum’s 5 floors and 29 acre facility space, 18 permanent exhibits focus on the arts, sciences and humanities.One of the most popular exhibits is the Dinosphere, which allows children to come face-to-face with full-sized dinosaur skeletons. The ScienceWorks exhibit lets children roll up their sleeves and enjoy a multitude of scientific discoveries, such as looking for frogs in a freshwater ecosystem, exploring buoyancy and surface tension in a 30-foot winding creek, or learning how plants can change the world. Other exhibits include “Take Me There: China,” the “SpaceQuest Planetarium,” “Power of Children,” the “Lilly Theater,” “Treasures of the Earth,” and many others.2

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is the largest museum of its kind in the entire world. With over 120,000 artifacts and specimens in its collection and 472,900 square feet of exhibit space across five floors, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis seeks to create extraordinary learning experiences for children in the arts, sciences, humanities, and other fields. 

Within the museum’s collection, which has taken more than 80 years to gather, visitors can explore three large categories of artifacts, including the American Collection, the Natural Science Collection, and the World Cultures Collection. Furthermore, throughout the museum’s 29-acre facility, a wide variety of exhibits give children hands-on exploration and interactive displays. 

Dating back to 1925, making it the fourth oldest of its kind in the world, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and it caters to over one million visitors a year. 

Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

<h3>History of the Indianapolis Museum of Art</h3>
In the summer of 1883, well-known suffragist May Wright Sewell and her husband, Theodore, as well as 17 other art-minded locals in Indianapolis, formed the Art Association of Indianapolis. The culmination of this group didn’t come out of the blue, however, as May Wright Sewell and Theodore were prominent reformers dedicated to bettering education, women’s rights, and world peace, and they were the original founders of the Girls' Classical School in Indianapolis the year before.&nbsp;
By November of 1883, after months of hard work contacting and organizing local and nationally renowned artists, the Art Association of Indianapolis held a large exhibition in the English Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. The exhibition featured 453 works from 137 artists, and the community’s response to the exhibition was nothing less than inspiring for the Association. May and the other founders drafted the Association’s mission statement afterwards.&nbsp;Also, based off this success, the Indianapolis community established the Association as a respected factor on the cultural scene, which ultimately led to more exhibitions as well as lectures. The increase in membership and the growth of its collection led Indianapolis real estate investor, John Herron, to donate $225,000 from his estate with the goal of establishing a permanent art gallery and school.&nbsp;
The John Herron Art Institute then opened in a temporary home in 1902, and in 1906, the Institute opened in a permanent location designed by renowned architect, Arthur Bohn of Vonnegut &amp; Bohn. Two years later, the art school opened, and throughout the 20th century, many prominent exhibitions featuring the works of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Rembrandt, Matisse, Vermeer, and many others drew great esteem to the institute throughout the larger region.&nbsp;
By 1969, the institute changed its name to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and its collection continued to expand to African and Asian works, most notably the Chinese ceramics and scrolls and folding screens from the Edo period.1&nbsp;

Featuring a collection of more than 54,000 works of art spanning 5,000 years, an early 20th century estate, 152 acres of gardens and grounds, and an outdoor art and nature park, the Indianapolis Museum of Art is among the 10 largest and oldest general art museums in the nation. 

The Museum dates back to November 7th, 1883, when the English Hotel in downtown Indianapolis displayed 453 works of art by 137 artists. This exhibition, organized by the Art Association of Indianapolis, attracted large crowds and prompted continual interest and artistic exploration throughout the city.

Changing its name from the Art Association of Indianapolis to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1969 and moving to its current location on Michigan Road, the Museum stands as the Indianapolis’s greatest artistic and encyclopedic treasure, prompting interest and education in world arts as well as history and culture. Its collection includes African, American, Asian, and European works of art, with special emphasis placed on Neo-impressionist paintings, works from the Japanese Edo period, Chinese ceramics, and prints from Paul Gaugin and the Pont-Aven School. 

In addition to its vast collection and permanent and changing exhibits, the Indianapolis Museum of Art supports two libraries and a variety of research programs, ranging from WWII-era provenance to Conservation Sciences. The Indianapolis Museum of Art is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

Indianapolis Museum of Art

The following history of the estate is provided by the Indianapolis Museum of Art.&nbsp;"The Oldfields estate was built by businessman Hugh McKennan Landon as part of a real estate development that came to be called the Town of Woodstock. Landon began construction of his new residence in the early 1910s, when he was an executive of the Indianapolis Water Company. With the French chateau-style house as its centerpiece, the Oldfields landscape underwent further development in the 1920s according to designs by Percival Gallagher of Olmsted Brothers, a successor to the firm founded by Frederick Law Olmsted. Gallagher combined grand, formal elements such as the allée at the front of the house, with intimate and informal areas to create a variety of visual and emotional experiences.<div></div>J. K. Lilly Jr. and his wife Ruth Brinkmeyer Lilly purchased Oldfields from Landon in 1932 and hired Indianapolis architect Frederick Wallick to oversee changes to the house. Wallick enhanced the symmetry of the façade by reducing the number of doors and by moving the entrance from its original off-center position. Wallick also designed a library at the south end of the house to contain Mr. Lilly's growing collection of rare books.<div></div>After their initial remodeling of Oldfields, the Lillys continued to expand and make improvements to the property. In 1939, they chose a site to the southeast of their residence to construct a house called Newfield for their son J. K. Lilly III and his new wife Jean Heller. The next year, they constructed a recreation building to the north of Newfield, which featured indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a garden with a four seasons theme. The late 1950s brought extensive redecoration to Oldfields. The Lillys undertook decorative work throughout the house, including scenic and trompe l'oeil wall paintings by Canadian muralist Douglas Riseborough. Highlighting the new rooms was a collection of portraits by painters such as Nattier, Fragonard, Reynolds and Goya. Many of these were later purchased from the Lilly estate by Herman C. Krannert and donated to the Indianapolis Museum of Art; some are now on view in the galleries.<div></div>Mrs. Lilly died in 1965 and Mr. Lilly died the following year. Oldfields was given to the Art Association of Indianapolis by their children, Ruth Lilly and J. K. Lilly III, to serve as the new site for the museum. In 1970, the newly renamed Indianapolis Museum of Art opened to the public at its new location."

Lilly House is a historic 22-room mansion that was once the home of Indianapolis businessman J.K. Lilly Jr.  Known historically as Oldfields, the estate features gardens and grounds designed in the 1920s by Percival Gallagher of the famous landscape architecture firm Olmsted Brothers.

Lilly House and Gardens

<h3>History of the Indiana Medical History Museum</h3>
The Old Pathology Building, which houses the Medical History Museum, is located on the grounds of the Central State Hospital. This hospital, which first opened in 1848, was known as the Indiana Hospital for the Insane. Among the 160 acres comprising the hospital grounds, the Old Pathology Building endured as one of the central buildings for mental health&nbsp;research and education.Within the first years of hospital operation, however,&nbsp;doctors only worked with five patients (1848), though the number of admitted patients grew incrementally every year. By 1896, the year the Pathology Department opened, the hospital had developed comprehensive standards for the diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia, depression, general paresis, hysteria, alcoholism, senile dementia, and epilepsy.&nbsp;In order to conduct more thorough research and find more conclusive treatments, the hospital opened the Pathology Department. The height of the hospital’s treatment programs was in 1950, when it housed over 2,500 patients.
At the time of its construction, the Pathological Department of Central State Hospital was a state-of-the-art, two-story building. Among its 19 rooms, the building featured an 150-seat amphitheater, chemical research facilities, a morgue, a library, mental research laboratories, and several other rooms.&nbsp;Because of the optimal educational capabilities of the facility, the Medical College of Indiana and the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons taught classes between 1900 and 1908. The schools would eventually merge, and continue teaching neurology and psychiatry until 1956.&nbsp;Although most of the buildings at the Central State Hospital fell into disrepair by the 1950s and 1960s, the Old Pathology Building remained in near-pristine shape. The building became the Indiana Medical History Museum in 1969 and opened to the public in 1984.1&nbsp;
<h3>Exhibits and Museum Features</h3>
Because of the Pathology Building’s good condition and its historic role in advancing psychiatry, the Medical History Museum stands as one of the foremost centers focusing on the role of psychiatry in the early 20th century in the United States. The mission of the museum is “To present the rich medical history of Indiana - past, present and future - by preserving the Old Pathology Building, collecting medical artifacts, and providing exhibits, publications and programs.”&nbsp;
A good indicator of what to expect at the museum is its visitor’s warning, which states, “Young children and visitors sensitive to topics such as mental illness, death, and autopsy may find the museum disturbing. Human skeletons and preserved organs are on display at the museum.”&nbsp;The museum houses over 15,000 relics related to both medical history and pathology. Some exhibits featured at the museum have included “Lobotomy: Intentions, Procedures, Effects” and “Eight Decades of Leading the Way for Kids: The History of The Social Health Association of Indiana.”&nbsp;
The Medicinal Plant Garden on the museum grounds features over 90 species of medicinal plants, which includes herbaceous spices, annuals, vines, shrubs, trees, and many other specimens. The Garden stands as an aesthetic pleasure as well as an educational tool.&nbsp;The other major feature of the museum, the aptly-called “Doctor’s Office,” is a dedication piece celebrating family physicians who worked in Indiana prior to WWII. This exhibit includes the intact office of Dr. Marion Scheetz of Lewisville, Indiana.2&nbsp;A scene from the 1988 film,&nbsp;Eight Men Out, was filmed in the building. The film covers the 1919 World Series scandal when 8 members of the Chicago White Sox team intentionally threw the game for profit.&nbsp;

The Indiana Medical History Museum interprets and preserves the history of the Old Pathology Building, the oldest surviving pathology hospital in the United States. 

Dating back to 1896, the Pathology Department conducted groundbreaking research regarding the physical causes of mental illnesses. The facility was in operation until the 1960s, becoming a museum at the end of the decade. Through its exhibits, publications, and programs, the museum educates the community concerning health care, health careers, and life sciences in Indiana during the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. 

Tours through the Medical History Museum introduce visitors to the nuances of the two-story Pathology facility as well as a recreated doctor’s office and a medicinal plant garden. The Old Pathology Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Indiana Medical History Museum

The Carnegie funded Hawthorne Branch Library was designed by
the architectural firm of D. A. Bohlen and Son and constructed from 1909-1911.
The Neoclassical library, now home to the Hawthorne Community Center, is the
oldest surviving branch library building in Indianapolis and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places [1; 2].

&nbsp;

History of the
Hawthorne Branch&nbsp;

A free public Library was established in Indianapolis in
1869, which was managed by the city's school board and received its own
building in 1893. The previous year, Miss Eliza Browning had become the first
female head librarian of the Indianapolis system. Browning spearheaded efforts
to establish five branch libraries which operated out of rented storefronts
beginning in 1896. As more and more neighborhoods requested their own branch
libraries, Browning applied to the Carnegie Foundation for funding to build six
permanent branch locations. She was turned down because the request had not
come through the mayor's office, and approached the city newspapers, which were
quick to demand the support of Mayor Charles Bookwalter. In January of 1909,
funding for five branches was granted to the library system. The Hawthorn and
East Washington Branches were built simultaneously, with Hawthorne finished just
days after East Washington on November 18, 1911. Designed by Oscar Bohlen and
his father, German immigrant D. A. Bohlen, the Hawthorne Branch is a City
Beautiful movement Neoclassical style building with an octagonal central core.
Since the library system was controlled by the school board, the Hawthorne
Branch and Nathaniel Hawthorne School (1904) were paired, and stand back to
back [2].



The neighborhood served by the Hawthorne Branch Library experienced
an industrial boom with the completion of the Belt Railroad in the 1870s,
particularly due to the proximity of both the White River and the railroad.
Industries such as Haugh Iron Works, Parry Carriage Factory, Duesenberg Auto
Factory, and the Big Four Railroad roundhouse required skilled labor, and for
cost-cutting hired Eastern European immigrants from the surrounding
neighborhoods. The Hawthorne Branch served not only as a library, but a form of
community center, hosting church gatherings, PTA meetings for the school,
basketball games and girls' gymnastics, and plays in its basement until the
Community House was built in 1924. In September of 1955, the library was closed
and remodeled as an annex to the school next door. Until the 1980s, it served
as an office and meeting space for the public school system. Though the
interior was extensively remodeled, the building still retains its original
doors, hardware, and exterior [2]. The building's present resident is the
Hawthorne Community Center (originally called the West Park Social Service
Association), which was originally formed in 1923 and acquired land formerly known
as Flack's Pasture to build the Community House. The organization's first building
was dedicated on March 2, 1924, with programming overseen by Reverend Clarence
Baker. After suffering two fires (in 1966 and 1975), the organization took
temporary shelter until another building was completed in 1979. Mergers between
multiple service organizations in the 1990s led to the Hawthorne Branch Library
building's second major renovation in 2000, when it was converted into a
community center. The Hawthorne Community Center offers a variety of services
for all ages, including childcare, preschool, and day camps; neighborhood
meetings, recreational and social gatherings, and volunteer opportunities;
English as a Second Language, literacy, GED, and financial classes; public
benefits and employment assistance; a food pantry, mental health services, and
veterinarian services; and senior citizens programs including field trips,
games, and home cooked meals [1].

The Carnegie funded Hawthorne Branch Library was designed by the architectural firm of D. A. Bohlen and Son and constructed from 1909-1911. The Neoclassical library, now home to the Hawthorne Community Center, is the oldest surviving branch library building in Indianapolis and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places [1; 2].

Museums and Libraries of Indianapolis

Chris Gonzalez Library & Archives

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information