Tag Archives: Constitution

Constitution and Citizenship Week at the Indiana State Library

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The Indiana State Library just finished celebrating Constitution and Citizenship Week. Constitution Day and Citizenship Day are annually recognized on Sept. 17, on the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Constitution and Citizenship Week runs from Sept. 17 to Sept. 23. The observance day was initially established by Congress in 1952, replacing “I Am an American Day,” and was officially adopted the name Constitution Week in 1956 to encourage citizens to reflect on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Painting of Constitution signing.The Indiana State Library partnered with a local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) to create a U.S. Constitution themed display, located on the second floor of the library. The DAR organization has a long history of celebrating the Constitution, and has displayed a Constitution and Citizenship themed exhibit at the State Library for the last few years. In 1955, the group petitioned Congress to annually dedicate Sept. 17-23 for the observance of Constitution Week. The display will be up through the month of September.

Constitution Day display.The Indiana State Library also hosted a free Constitution Day Trivia event on Sept. 17. The event, which was open to the public, consisted of three rounds of questions on topics relating to the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Government and U.S. Census and Population. The winning team took home a Taste of Indiana gift basket. The Constitution Day trivia is the last trivia event of the year, but the Indiana State Library will be hosting future trivia events in 2026. The library also has pocket sized-constitutions, pens, bookmarks and Constitution-themed games and activity printouts for free for those interested.

Crowd watching speaker.

Constitution Day Trivia event.

The Indiana State Library participates in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), whose mission of federal depository libraries is to provide local, free access to information published by the federal government in an “impartial environment.” The Indiana State Library serves as the Regional Depository for the state of Indiana and ensures the public access to government information and civic engagement.

This blog post was written by Indiana State Library federal documents coordinator Brent Abercrombie. For more information, contact the Reference and Government Services at 317-232-3678 or via “Ask-A-Librarian.”

‘Happy Birthday, Indiana’ Bicentennial Manuscript Collection: An Introduction

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Between June 10th and June 29th, 1816, the first Indiana Constitutional Convention met at the territorial capital, Corydon, and created the Constitution for admission to the Union. Friday, December 11, 2015, marked the 199th anniversary of the day President James Madison signed the act admitting Indiana as the 19th state.

Constitutional Elm 1921-1925

Constitutional Elm, Corydon, Indiana, circa 1921-1925; Delegates to the 1816 constitutional convention worked under the shade of this tree.

The official countdown to Indiana’s 200th birthday began when over 120 fourth grade students participated in several Statehood Day activities at the library, including the creation of birthday cards. To learn more about the day, please visit our previous blog post.

Statehood Day 2015 Coloring_web

Statehood Day, December 11, 2015;Students participate in creating birthday cards for Indiana’s birthday

The bicentennial manuscript collection project was drafted in April 2014 and endorsed by the Bicentennial Commission in late 2014. Beginning in January 2016, fourth grade students from around the state will be asked to decorate special, acid-free birthday cards supplied by the library while briefly explaining “Why do you love Indiana?” andIBCLegacyProject_web “What does being a Hoosier mean to you?” The completed collection will include around 10,000 cards from each county and will be preserved for many generations with other notable collections, including William Henry Harrision, Abraham Lincoln and Helen Keller correspondence as well as the Treaty of St. Mary’s.

The first 500 cards received by June 1, 2016 will be on display in the Indiana State Library Exhibition Hall during the summer of 2016. If your class or student would like to participate, please contact a regional planner from the map or Bethany Fiechter, Rare Books and Manuscripts Division Supervisor at bfiechter@library.IN.gov.

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Bicentennial Manuscript Regional Coverage Map_web

This blog post was written by Bethany Fiechter, Rare Books and Manuscripts Supervisor. For more information, contact the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division at (317) 232-3671 or “Ask-A-Librarian” at http://www.in.gov/library/ask.htm.