A cartoon of architect Edward D. Pierre at his drafting table, drawn ca. 1930s-1950s
Christmas around the Circle: A Poem Inspired by Edward D. Pierre
Tag Archives: Rare Books & Manuscripts
It’s Our War, Too!: The WAC at Camp Atterbury during WWII
Ever wonder when women were first allowed to serve in the U.S. Army (besides nurses)? The answer is 1942!
Technician 5th grade Norma Boudreau and Master Sergeant Louis Dovilla with posters of Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms, July 12, 1943
With the United States embroiled in World War II, the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) was established on May 15, 1942 as a noncombatant auxiliary to the army. The corps was renamed the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) upon its full incorporation into the army on July 1, 1943, enlisting each new recruit with the goal of “releasing a man from service.” Continue reading
Treaty of St. Mary’s
In late 2014, staff from the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division found the Treaty of St. Mary’s intact, tightly rolled and placed into a box with miscellaneous documents. After spending some much needed time in the Martha E. Wright Preservation Lab, we are happy to announce it has a permanent home in appropriate archival housing. Patrons who wish to view the document can make a request through our “Ask-A-Librarian” service, here: http://www.in.gov/library/ask.htm.
Indianapolis Brewing Company Digital Collection
The Indiana State Library is proud to announce the newest digital collection available through Indiana Memory, the Indianapolis Brewing Company photograph album. The collection contains 66 photographs of the C. F. Schmidt brewing plant, one of three plants owned by the Indianapolis Brewing Company. The photographs, taken sometime in the early twentieth century, depict the exterior and interior of the brewing plant, and also includes several photographs of brewing equipment. The brewery was located at the corner of McCarty and High St. where the present day Lilly Corporate Center is located.
The original brewing plant was founded by Christian Frederick Schmidt and Charles Jaeger in 1858. The duo owned and operated the brewery until 1889, when the plant merged with two other local brewing plants to form the Indianapolis Brewing Company. The Schmidt brewery brands included a Bock, Budweiser, Cream Ale, Dublin Porter, Stock Ale, and Tonica. The brewery grew in popularity for their ability to produce a bottom-fermented lager that closer resembled European beers more familiar to Hoosiers than the strong ales made from baking yeast that was common for the period.
The Indianapolis Brewing Company, founded in 1887, was the largest Indiana based brewery. The brewery was comprised of three separate brewing plants, the P. Lieber Brewing Company City Brewery, the Casper Maus Brewery, and the C.F. Schmidt Brewing Company. The Indianapolis Brewing Company won medals for its Duesseldorfer beer at the Paris Exposition of 1900, the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, and at Liege, Belgium in 1906. In 1918, the state of Indiana instituted Prohibition, forcing the Indianapolis Brewing Company to begin producing non-alcoholic beverages and tonics. The C.F. Schmidt plant of the Indianapolis Brewing Company ceased operations May 27, 1920, after 70 years of brewing.
Be sure to continually visit Indiana Memory, http://digital.library.in.gov, to find the latest digital collections published by the Indiana State Library. The Indiana State Library, through Indiana Memory, continues to produce digital collections highlighting the library’s rich and varied collections. The Indianapolis Brewing Company photograph collection is located within the Indiana State Library Rare Books and Manuscripts Division Photograph Collections, http://cdm16066.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16066coll13. Take a minute to enjoy a unique behind the scenes view of a pre-Prohibition era brewery!
This blog post was written by Brent Abercrombie, Rare Books & Manuscripts Librarian, Indiana State Library. For more information, contact the Indiana State Library at (317)232-3678 or “Ask-A-Librarian” at http://www.in.gov/library/ask.htm.
Researching the Photograph Collection
Staff of the Rare Books and Manuscripts division recently finished re-processing its Photograph Collection and updated guide. The 93 box collection includes images from all 92 counties and is organized alphabetically by location or subject. The Photograph Collection was originally located in the old Manuscripts Reading Room. The natural light and fluctuating temperatures in the room were harmful to the photographs necessitating its move to the library’s temperature and climate controlled vault.
Since most of the library’s photographs are not cataloged, researching them can be a little tricky. The general Photograph Collection contains the bulk of the library’s photographs, but we also have specific photograph collections that include a name and call number. Most of these smaller photograph collections include a finding aid (or guide) that provides more specific information. Rare Books and Manuscripts finding aids are all located on the library’s Finding Aid Index page. Staff and patrons still rely on the Photograph Index cards for locating specific information about a particular image.
The Photograph Index cards contain information about individual images found in both the library’s picture collections and in our printed material (i.e. books, pamphlets, etc.). The cards contain information that helps librarians retrieve the item. For images identified in the Photograph Index, the card will contain a location (Benton County) or subject term (Churches). The Photograph Collection also includes many portraits, which are organized by the subject term Portraits and then alphabetically by the individual’s last name. For images located in printed material, the card will contain the call number, title, and page number for the image.
Moving forward, ISL plans to digitize portions of the Photograph Collection, as well as some specific photograph collections, to upload into Indiana Memory. During the processing of the Photograph Collection, staff identified certain aspects of the collection to be digitized in the future. Stay tuned for updates regarding when these collections are available through Indiana Memory.
This blog post was written by Brent Abercrombie, Rare Books & Manuscripts Librarian, Indiana State Library. For more information, contact the Indiana State Library at (317)232-3678 or “Ask-A-Librarian” at http://www.in.gov/library/ask.htm.