Tag Archives: Indiana

Vision Expo returning to the Indiana State Library

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On Saturday, Sept. 13, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library will present Vision Expo, an event that provides resources and information for individuals with vision loss, families of individuals with vision loss and service providers. This year, many returning, as well as several new vendors and organizations, will be available for attendees to meet.

Vision Expo 2025 logo.A new addition to this year’s event is the game room. The room will be set up so participants of Vision Expo will be able to play some of the new accessible games that the Talking Book and Braille Library now has in its collection. These games include braille-adapted versions of Monopoly, Scrabble and Uno, in addition to large print and braille playing cards. Soon after Vision Expo, these games will be available for library patrons.

Presentation in a meeting room. Vision Expo takes place every other year at the Indiana State Library. Founded in 2006 by former Talking Book librarian Carole Rose, Vision Expo was designed to connect interested consumers with the resources available to support and promote independent living for individuals experiencing vision loss. In 2023, the event had more than 150 participants.

The Indiana State Library is located at 315 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis. Attendees may also enter via the Senate Avenue door on the east side of the building. There is no registration required for this free event.

Please visit the Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library website for updates about Vision Expo as they becomes available, including information about speakers, vendors and exhibitors.

This post was submitted by Indiana Talking Book and Braille Library staff. 

2025 Public Library Budget Workshop recap

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On Thursday, May 29, the Indiana State Library hosted the 2025 Public Library Budget Workshop. This workshop, primarily for an audience of public library directors, bookkeepers, treasurers and trustees, focuses on helping public libraries get ready for the budget planning season for the next fiscal year. We bring together the Department of Local Government Finance and the State Board of Accounts to help guide libraries through this process and any changes that may be coming. This year we were also joined by special guest Sandy Petrie, director of the Noble County Public Library.

The morning started with a presentation by Ryan Burke, assistant budget director of the Department of Local Government Finance. Burke highlighted DLGF’s webinar on new legislation that would be coming up, important dates coming up on the budget calendar, as well as resources on the DLGF website. He reminded libraries of their maximum budget for non-binding review and the process of binding review by fiscal body resolution. Finally, he gave a sneak peak of what they are calling Budget 2.0 – a streamlined and improved application for submitting budget forms in Gateway that is scheduled to launch in 2026 and is already intriguing many of the folks that attended that day.

The afternoon began with a presentation by Beth Goss and Mitch Wilson, government technical assistance and compliance directors at the State Board of Accounts. They touched on new legislation that impacts public libraries, including increased thresholds for local public works projects, changes in retainage requirements for public works projects over $200,000, additional instances where executive sessions may be held by the board and changes for the receipt of FIT and CVET distributions. SBOA reminded libraries that Gateway is not intended for document storage, so to make sure they had copies of their documents as they will be removing some of the older files on Gateway. There was a spirited discussion on accounts payable and receivable, electronic payments and the disbursal of funds.

Following SBOA’s presentation, Noble County Public Library director Sandy Petrie spoke about the importance of understanding cash flow and shared the method and spreadsheet she uses to keep track of expenses and revenue. The day was finished with announcements from Jennifer Clifton, Library Development Office director at the Indiana State Library.

This post was written by Hayley Trefun, public library consultant, Library Development Office, Indiana State Library.

Helen Eaton Jacoby collection

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A recently processed collection at the Indiana State Library from Helen Eaton Jacoby contains not only research and correspondence, but numerous interesting and well-composed photographs documenting both the Eaton, Jacoby and other related families and their descendants in the United States. Most photographs are of individuals or family groups, but there are several photographs that document the places where their families lived and worked. A selection of these photos were digitized and are available on the Indiana State Library’s digital collections page.

Helen Eaton Jacoby was born May 28, 1888, in Indianapolis, to Elias and Julia Eaton Jacoby. Her parents were both from Ohio and met each other at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Elias Jay Jacoby graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1884 and came to Indianapolis to be the assistant of Charles W. Fairbanks. Elias was an attorney for several railroad companies. He also was the attorney and director of the Railroadmen’s Building and Saving Association and, by 1931, he was elected the president and named to the board of directors. Elias J. Jacoby was the potentate of the Murat Shriners from 1907 to 1912. He helped oversee the construction of the Shrine in 1909.

The Indianapolis News, Dec. 23, 1922.

Julia Lillian Eaton graduated Ohio Wesleyan in 1884 and taught painting and music. Her voice and paintings were complimented several times in the Indianapolis papers.

Helen E. Jacoby graduated from Charles E. Emmerich Manuel Training High School in June 1905. While in high school she also took art classes at the Herron Art Institute. One of her instructors at Manual was Otto Stark who also taught a summer course at Herron.

Helen attended the University of Chicago, graduating in winter of 1909 with a degree in Art. She later took classes at the Pratt institute. She enjoyed art and design and entered her works in several local and regional exhibitions. Helen also designed the murals in the Egyptian Room, a 1922 addition to the Murat Shrine in Indianapolis. Her father Elias J. Jacoby was the potentate of the Murat Shriners from 1907 to 1912. He helped oversee the construction of the Shrine in 1909.

A birthday gift to Fidelia Anderson is one example of her work. Inside the book is a letter of appreciation with drawings of flowers she was familiar with. She also inserts fanciful illustrations of insects and fairies into the book.

Helen Eaton Jacoby card with letter to Fidelia Anderson. Indiana State Library digital collections.

Helen was a member of many clubs and organizations, including the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Fortnightly Club, both organizations to which her mother also belonged.

The Eaton and Jacoby families were both interested in their families’ genealogy and history. Elias and Helen would correspond with relatives – and possible relatives – to see what information they could provide on their shared ancestors and other family members. They would also travel to visit relatives and the places their ancestors once resided.

In a series of photos from 1922 and 1925, the family documents the parcels of land in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania that their ancestor John Jacoby once owned. The well composed images show both the land and the older buildings possibly built by John. They also took pictures of the current farm on the property along with the wife of the current owner.

Old homestead of John Jacoby. Indiana State Library digital collections.

On one of their visits to Pennsylvania, they photographed part of the town of Summit Station and the nearby area of Summer Hill. One of the images taken in Summer Hill is of a Union church that burned down a year after the photograph was taken.

Summer Hill. Indiana State Library digital collections.

Summit Station. Indiana State Library digital collection.

They traveled back often to Ohio to visit family, and while there they documented the homes of family members and the places they worshiped and were buried. The images of the home of James Eaton in Delaware County, Ohio, along with the burial of the Eaton and Caulkins families, are significant because both the houses and original burial sites were lost to the creation of a reservoir in the 1970s.

James Eaton home. Indiana State Library digital collections.

Caulkins family tombstones. Indiana State Library digital collections.

Eaton family tombstones. Indiana State Library digital collections.

Eaton family tombstones. Indiana State Library digital collections.

The home of Michael Jacoby, located in Marion County, Ohio, may have survived, as there is still a similar shaped home on the same site as the original, but the landscape of the surrounding area has changed due to the subdivision of property as the farmland was sold off and outbuildings were removed.

Michael Jacoby farm and Riverside cemetery. Indiana State Library digital collection.

In June of 1940, Helen Jacoby married Harold W. Evard. When he died later that year, she adopted her stepchildren and raised them. Helen J. Evard died in 1967 at the age of 79 in Indianapolis.

If you would like to see more from the collection, please visit the Indiana State Library’s  digital collection site, or visit the Genealogy Division in the Indiana State Library, located at 315 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis.

Blog written by Sarah Pfundstein, genealogy librarian, Indiana State Library. For more information, contact the Indiana State Library at 317-232-3689 or “Ask-A-Librarian.”

Indiana newspapers: Where to get statistics and titles

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Before you embark on newspaper research, take a moment to assess which publication titles will be helpful to you. Start by discovering which newspaper titles were available in the place and time of your topic. As you go back into the past, you will often run into the following scenarios:

  • In the same town, two or three newspaper publishers will print the exact same title, each of them printed by different people in different periods. Common titles like News, Times and Tribune are examples.
  • Titles often merge over time, resulting in new titles with completely different names, but with an updated coverage area.
  • Titles were often published for less than a decade before disappearing. Although some newspapers have survived for centuries, this is rare.
  • At any given moment during the lifespan of a title, the editor or manager could be replaced many times, with no announcement except for a theme change.
  • A title’s readership or circulation is often not included in the copy either, although publishers typically track this information for their business.

Knowing these roadblocks in advance can give you an idea of where to search. It can also inform you whether the information you desire can be found in a neighborhood newspaper or if you need to expand your circle of research. Where can you find the newspaper data to clear this fog? The Indiana State Library is here to help! Here are two sources that supply the backstory and statistics for local newspaper titles. Together, these two indexes provide information regarding management, editorship and circulation numbers for every Indiana title – and for every calendar year.

“Indiana Newspaper Bibliography” by John W. Miller

Published by the Indiana Historical Society in 1982, this book furnishes the beginning and ending dates of every Indiana title up to that time, the founders and editors over different periods and the places where preserved copies existed in 1982. The book was also designed to tell the stories of publishing staff and title histories, conveying the themes on which they were based and the reasons why changes were made over time. Obviously, this source won’t help much if you are looking into the recent past. For searching newspapers printed from 50 years ago and beyond, it addresses mergers, title founders and even awkward moments when an owner grabbed the printing press and hightailed it to another community. County sections in the book are subdivided by town. At the end of each county section, an index of local titles lays out where prints and microfilms could be found in 1982.

“Indiana Newspaper Directory” by the Hoosier State Press Association

Published annually, these softback books are packed with statistical information for every Indiana title, broken down by daily or weekly categories. The titles in each category are presented in alphabetical order. For each one, the yearly circulation is listed, as well as names of managers and editors. More recent annual issues include each title’s birth year and the weekday publication schedule. Each title is listed as a morning or evening paper as well. Analyzing these statistics over a period of years, the researcher can discover the exact dates and times when papers changed publication strategies and ownership. You can also track a title’s popularity over time. The yearly population of each title’s town or county is provided, so that circulation can be calculated as a percentage. The data was originally shared by publishers statewide to focus efforts and bolster local support for the HSPA and the legacy of titles it represents. The Indiana State Library currently holds issues of the newspaper directory published from 1948 through 2006.

When you are comfortable with the locations, dates and titles that will inform your project, the Indiana State Library Legacy database can help.

This newspaper microfilm index is searchable by town, county or title name. Once you have opened a list of titles that will work for you, check the available date range by clicking on ones of interest. Repeated, merged and closed titles are documented along with the date ranges available in the microfilm cabinets, to help guide you along the way.

This post was submitted by David Pleiss, newspaper librarian with the Indiana Division of the Indiana State Library. 

Genealogy for Night Owls returns to the Indiana State Library on May 21

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The Indiana State Library is once again hosting its popular Genealogy for Night Owls event on Wednesday, May 21, from 4:30-8 p.m.

The after-hours research event at the State Library will feature a library tour, a presentation on unique items in the library’s collections and Ask-an-Expert sessions with representatives from various local historical, genealogical and lineage organizations.

The schedule is as follows:

  • 5:10 p.m. – Library tour.
  • 5:30 p.m. – Presentation – “Unique Items from the Library Collections.”
  • 5:45 p.m. – Ask-an-Expert sessions begin.
  • 7 p.m. – Ask-an-Expert sessions end.
  • 8 p.m. – Program conclusion.

The tour and Ask-an-Expert sessions are optional. Attendees may spend the entire evening conducting their own research if they prefer. The Ask-an-Expert sessions are 15 minutes in length. Attendees should have questions prepared in advance. The library tour is roughly 20 minutes in length and will cover materials available for genealogy researchers at the Indiana State Library.

Genealogy Division librarians will be on hand to answer questions about the collection. They will also answer research and reference questions and assist in locating materials. The second floor microfilm area will be open and staffed by librarians from the Indiana Division. The Rare Books and Manuscripts and Reference Divisions will not be open during Genealogy for Night Owls. Librarians will not be able to retrieve manuscript collections during this event.

Registration is free and required. Click here to register.

The Indiana State Library is located at 315. W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis.

Please contact Jamie Dunn, Genealogy Division supervisor at the Indiana State Library, with any questions.

This blog post was submitted by Michelle Sharp, collections and outreach manager at the Indiana State Library.

My journey with therapy dogs

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I have been involved in library therapy dog programs since 2007, when I became the head of the Children’s Department at the Crown Point Community Library. CPCL had an ongoing program called Read to the Dogs, and they partnered with a therapy dog group in Lake County called “Power Paws for Kids.” Certified and trained dogs would come to the library and children would pick out a book and “read to a dog.” Dogs are excellent listeners and provide a safe, non-judgmental environment for kids to practice their reading skills. Children don’t feel pressure to read to a dog because the dog won’t judge them if they mispronounce a word or skip a page. From a large Bernese Mountain Dog to a small Chihuahua in a wheelchair, there was a dog for everyone. Most of the children would read but some just wanted to pet the therapy dogs. Others would come to each Read to the Dogs program because they had their favorite dog and wanted to visit them and give them a treat. I watched the group for a few years, and eventually thought my Yorkshire Terrier Gigi could do it.

I remember a person came to the library when the Read to the Dogs program was happening and said, “Cool, so I can bring my dog to the library and get it read to?” We had to explain, “No, the dogs needed to be trained and certified and the dogs were part of the therapy dog group.” There is a lot of training involved before a canine is ready to be in a therapy dog program. Gigi was the first dog that I trained. We went to puppy class, and we needed to retake it because I flunked. These classes are more about training the person. You need to be consistent with the commands you give your dog, and you need to have a lot of patience. It also takes time, and you need to put the time in when training your dog. I did not realize that at the time I was working with Gigi.

To get into the therapy dog group, one needs to pass the Canine Good Citizenship test. There are 10 skills needed, and the test completion needs to be signed off by an American Kennel Club-approved Canine Good Citizenship evaluator:

  • Accepting a friendly stranger.
  • Sitting politely for petting.
  • Appearance and grooming.
  • Walking on a loose leash.
  • Walking through a crowd.
  • Sit and down on cue/stay in place.
  • Coming when called.
  • Reaction to another dog.
  • Reaction to distractions.
  • Supervised separation.

I received extra help from a member of the dog training club. They worked with me one on one on the skills we were weak on. It wasn’t an easy process, as Gigi had trouble not pulling on her leash and she would pop up and not stay in place for the required three minutes. Gigi finally earned her Canine Good Citizenship title and membership in Power Paws for Kids in August 2013 and we were involved visiting many libraries, until we moved back to Grant County in 2014.

Grant County has a different therapy dog group called Love on a Leash. In Indiana, there are six chapters. The Heartland Chapter covers Grant and Miami Counties. Other areas in the state are Terre Haute, Columbus, Hamilton County, Indianapolis and Kokomo. I needed to go through the Love on a Leash evaluation process and discovered that the local Mississinewa Valley Obedience Training Club had an evaluator. Gigi and I took a few classes to brush up our skills. The Love on a Leash evaluation is very similar to the Canine Good Citizenship test but includes a few extra factors about your dog’s demeanor. Factors such as does your dog exhibit apparent aggression, or do they keep their composure if someone approaches in an erratic manner. We passed the Love on a Leash evaluation. Love on a Leash has an extra step that the Lake County group did not have. We needed to do 10 supervised visits with a Love on a Leash evaluator. These need to be completed within a year after you pass the Love on a Leash evaluation. After that, your completed paperwork is turned into the national Love on a Leash group as well as a membership fee.

Gigi and I would go to the Marion Public Library for their Read to the Dogs programs and to Indiana Wesleyan University before their finals at Christmas Break. I had a very heartwarming interaction with a college student at their “Dogs and Donuts” event. A student came up to me and I asked her if she wanted to hold Gigi. She nodded “yes” and she hugged Gigi close to her as tears streamed down her face. She said this was her first time away from home and she missed her dog. It’s hard to keep your composure in situations like those.

Sadly, Gigi passed away in 2021 and I really missed going to Love on a Leash events. Our other Yorkie, Ozzy, did not have the right demeanor to be a therapy dog. He is set in his ways and does not like others not “living in his pack.” I was now on the lookout for another dog who could possibly be a therapy dog. In April of 2023, my stepdaughter happened to see a puppy who was up for adoption. A 10-week-old Morkie – a Maltese/Yorkshire terrier mix – needed a home. I was out of town for my job when I saw a picture of the puppy and I immediately called about him. When I met him, I had a feeling that he might make a great therapy dog. He is so friendly, and he has such a happy look almost like he is smiling. We got him on the spot later that evening and changed his name to Rocky.

I knew that I wanted to get Rocky into training classes as soon as I could. Rocky needed to go through the proper vaccination schedule before he could take the Mississinewa Valley Obedience Training Club classes, which are seven weeks long. We started with the puppy class. We worked on walking on a leash and healing and sitting as well as the commands: leave it, stay and come. The next level is the basic level, where we learn more commands: sit stay, down stay, weave between other dogs, recall, stand and turns. After passing the basic class, we could become members of Mississinewa Valley Obedience Training Club. This lets you get the first pick on other classes that are given, and you get a discount. This got us prepared to take the Canine Good Citizenship class.

We passed the Canine Good Citizenship test and the Love on a Leash evaluation on the same night. This meant that we could start with the next task of doing the 10 supervised visits. I was able to get all 10 visits completed by going to a couple of libraries in Grant County, Taylor University and a retirement facility. The final step is to fill out the Love on a Leash paperwork. For each visit, the evaluators sign a form and comment on how you and your dog did. For example, “Do you have your dog under control?,” “Are you talking with the program participants?,” “Is your dog well-groomed and clean?,” and “How does your dog react to the other dogs?” One comment I got from an evaluator was “Rocky did well with the little girl with the beads in her hair.” I did not think about it when it happened, but Rocky did not flinch or try to bite at the beads. Those beads might be a trigger for other dogs to either be afraid of or to try to play with them.

Dogs in the therapy group need to be on their best behavior and be under control. They must show no aggression with people or other dogs and they must be fine with sudden movements or sounds. Rocky has been to the Lowe’s home improvement store many times and he has a fan club there. We take him for car rides. He has spent a lot of time with my young nieces and nephews. It is apparent that he loves adults and children. I’ve also tried to get him used to other sounds – like taking the trash can from the curb to our house. This helps him get used to sounds he might hear at a nursing home with wheelchairs.

Having a therapy dog is amazing on so many levels. With the school-age children, they get to practice their reading skills, and they get to learn about different dogs and how to treat them. College students need to de-stress during finals, or they need some comfort when they are far from home and missing their family and pets. At a nursing home, the residents may not have family close by and they really miss their pets. It took me a couple of years to get Rocky officially in the Love on a Leash group. It is such a joy to share Rocky with others and it is worth all the time, effort and training that is involved.

This post was written by Northeast regional coordinator Paula Newcom of the Indiana State Library Professional Development Office.

Links
https://www.powerpawsforkids.org/
https://www.akc.org/products-services/training-programs/canine-good-citizen/
https://www.loveonaleash.org/

Indiana Department of Workforce Development data

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I’d like to introduce you to data from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, one of the State Data Center’s long time partners in providing access to public data about Indiana. The Indiana DWD produces data and reports about state employment at multiple geographic levels using its website Hoosiers by the Numbers, or HoosierData.IN.gov. With assistance from another SDC partner, the Indiana Business Research Center, they have created dashboards and data visualizations to make it easier for us to understand the current state of employment and labor market in the state.

Let’s start with the county quick stats.

You can drill down immediately to county-level data on the first page of Hoosiers by the Numbers with a clickable map of all 92 counties. With one click, you’ll receive a county profile full of data highlights covering population, education, commuting, labor force, industry and income.

If you choose St. Joseph County in northern Indiana and click the tab for commuting, you’ll see that the total picture of this county in 2023 includes workers who came from the state of Michigan and also from Elkhart, LaPorte and Marshall counties in Indiana to work in St. Joseph. The majority of workers (84%) traveled by car/truck/van to get to work. Five percent of workers used a motorcycle, bicycle or walked to work. One percent took public transportation. Almost 10% of workers worked from home.

You can look county-by-county to see a comparison of where people came from to work in Indiana counties and how they traveled to get to work. You can download your results in Excel, Word or PDF formats.

If you choose the tab for industry, you’ll see the people who worked in various industries within each county. For Vanderburgh County in the southwest corner of the state, the majority of people worked in health care and social assistance services in 2023. Manufacturing, retail trade and food service round out the top four.

Under the income tab, you’ll see an industry breakdown with the average pay a person received. In Marion County, the top income in 2023 was in company management ($121,032), followed by Utilities ($115,447). The bottom industries in the county were food services ($27,629) and retail trade ($41,036).

To the right of the quick stats, you’ll find the workforce economy dashboard. Here, you can take a quick look at a real-time statewide picture of employment and how different indicators are increasing or decreasing by the month.

The Hoosiers by the Numbers website is designed to be navigated by a row of tabs at the top.

There are two ways to navigate the site by audience. If you are currently looking for a job, explore the job seekers resources to study up on the labor market you’re diving into and preview the employment outlook projections, as well as the hourly wage dashboard to see the average wage or salary for the different occupations across the state. If you are an employer or business owner, explore the employer resources.

The tab for topics allows you narrow your search for workforce data by topic. For example, choose clusters to view Indiana data by industry cluster or choose economic indicators to look at the statewide indexes and monthly GDP growth chart. You can also view all of the data on the topic of occupations.

Under the tab for “Tools” on the main page, you can click on a variety of data tools, including infographics. For example, “What did Hoosiers study in college?” can show you how many people of varying generations studied a range of topics. But don’t stop there. Under the “Regions” tab, choose the business lookup tool to explore a listing of businesses in your county, georeferenced to pop up on the map. Each listing includes the name, industry, address, number of employees and annual sales.

The Indiana DWD produces current monthly county city, and MSA employment reports that you can access through this website.

Lastly, the DWD Data Request Portal allows you to request data directly from the agency and explains the difference between what is publicly available and what is restricted. Both are available upon request.

Please bookmark this website and plan to revisit it throughout the year, as it is continually updated with the most up-to-date labor market data in Indiana. As always, contact the State Data Center for more information about locating the data you need!

This blog post was written by Katie Springer, reference librarian and director of the Indiana State Data Center. For more information, contact the Reference and Government Services Division at 317-232-3678, or submit an Ask-A-Librarian request.

*A note on the terminology. When data is seasonally adjusted, this means the seasonal patterns are removed from the data using statistical techniques. This is done to smooth out the data and make a clearer picture of the employment data trends. For more information, see the Census Bureau webpage for time series and seasonal adjustment. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas also offers a good explanation.

Probate records as a genealogy tool

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Probate and will records are important in genealogy because they can contain information that cannot be found in any other source. They can be more difficult to navigate than census or vital records, but they can be valuable, especially to anyone looking to glean more information about family relationships. Below is an example of a probate record that gives many specific details. It lists the full names of the deceased man’s surviving children as well as those of his grandchildren whose parent had already died. Several of the children listed never appear on a census record with their father as any federal census prior to 1850 only listed the head of household.

Robert Burnett probate record, Probate Record C, page 374, Fayette County Ohio, 1878.

In the example below, the probate record of Catharine Wall lists her children as Patrick Wall, Margaret Toban, Mary Gore and Ellen Hoban. This is the only record that links the four as siblings, because they never appear on a census record together and marriage records for the sisters, which would list their maiden names, cannot be located.

Catharine Wall probate estate case file, Washtenaw County, Michigan, 1870.

The record below contains the 1820 testimony of Fanny Shaw regarding her husband John, giving a brief biography and listing his heirs, including his daughter, Elizabeth. It also gives the full name of his first wife, Jane Jones. This information is particularly valuable in a period in which women were less commonly found in records.

Fanny Shaw affidavit, Order Book, 1818-1831, Shelby County, Kentucky, 1820.

Until recently, probate records were not always indexed and could require looking through many pages. However, FamilySearch’s new full-text capability has made searching through these types of records much easier. Learn more about this new function here.

This post was written by Laura Williams, genealogy librarian at the Indiana State Library.

Borrow interactive kits from the Indiana State Library

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The Indiana State Library’s kit booking program has recently received a facelift. Librarians and teachers in Indiana can now book kits from the new online system powered by SpringShare.

While easy to use, two videos have been created to teach users how to interact with the new system. The quick version covers all the basics including navigating the system, booking different kinds of kits and learning how to use the availability grid. The longer version covers all that in more detail and includes booking limitations and deeper explanations. Additionally, an instructional webinar was offered on March 25. Click here to view the video.

The new system allows users to book kits from the Indiana Young Readers Center including Storytime kits, Lego & Duplo kits, Book Club kits and our new Indiana Escape Experience kits. The Indiana Young Readers Center kits can be booked out a year and a half in advance to accommodate future planning.

There are also a variety of kits available from the Professional Development Office, including NASA kits, Breakout Box kits and Tech kits. Kits from the Professional Development Office can be booked out a year in advance.

Both teachers and librarians in Indiana are welcome to use this system, however it is essential that teachers work closely with their public libraries to book their kit as all kits are delivered through the Indiana State Library’s InfoExpress courier service for Indiana libraries.

Questions? Suzanne Walker in the Indiana Young Readers Center can answer any questions you might have about the Indiana Young Readers Center kits. You can reach Suzanne via email. Kara Cleveland in the Professional Development Office is the contact for the Professional Development Office kits. Kara can be reached via email.

The new system is easy to use. Book your first kit today!

This post was submitted by Suzanne Walker and Kara Cleveland of the Indiana State Library. 

Robert Dale Owen’s Law of Descents

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Robert Dale Owen was the son of New Harmony founder, Robert Owen. A well-known Hoosier, the younger Owen had a long career as a politician and social reformer. He served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1835 to 1838 and 1851 to 1853, as a member of the 1851 Indiana Constitutional Convention and as member of the United States House of Representatives from 1843 to 1847. Additionally, Owen served as U.S. charge d’affaires and minister to Naples, Italy from 1853 to 1858.

He was a champion of women’s rights, particularly regarding property, divorce and suffrage. In working toward women’s suffrage, Owen fought for women’s right to property as part of the 1851 Indiana Constitution, but it was rejected by the convention. In his subsequent term in the Indiana House, he authored Indiana’s revised Law of Descents, giving widows the right to own property.

Pictured is a handwritten copy of Indiana’s Law of Descents by author Robert Dale Owen.

This legislation drastically changed the apportionment of estates in Indiana. The law of descents was meant to provide a will when the deceased has not created one themselves. In a speech published Dec. 20, 1851 by the Daily State Sentinel, he explains that the law’s original intention was to build up and maintain male wealth.[1] Before 1852 in Indiana, if a man died without children and his parents were also deceased, the majority rights to his property would go to any other blood relative before his wife. A widow was allowed to remain a tenant on her deceased husband’s property, but not to be the primary owner. Despite this lack of ownership, the widow would be compelled to pay her portion of taxes levied on that property and maintain its upkeep. If the marriage resulted in children, they would receive full rights to the property. Owen argued that most men in the state left humble estates and passing that income and/or real estate to other relatives doomed many widows to poverty. He also believed that proprietors were better for society as stewards of their land rather than tenants. Owen’s new law, passed on May 14, 1852, divides the property between widow and child. The revision excluded anyone other than the husband’s parents from inheritance and the widow would receive the majority. He saw this revised law as a resounding victory for justice.

He also outlines some of his views on women in a lengthy letter to the publisher of The Atlantic on Aug. 25, 1872 in which he also pitches himself, his writing and experience. He states, “I do not think moral and spiritual progress will keep pace with physical and material until women have a chance of influence in public affairs.”

This blog post was written by Rare Books and Manuscripts librarian Lauren Patton.

[1] Owen, Robert Dale. “Law of Descent.” Daily State Sentinel (Indianapolis, IN), Dec. 20, 1851.