Collections Management 101 Online Course
This six-week online course from the Upstate History Alliance will begin on Monday, Aug. 3.

This course is designed for staff and volunteers at small and mid-size organizations. Course materials are designed to help you focus on your own organization, with assignments relating to real-life issues and problems.

The cost for this course is $150 for UHA members and $250 for nonmembers.

For more information or to register, please visit http://www.upstatehistory.org/services/OnlineLearningCommunities.html.

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Please confim event specifics with sponsoring organization, especially if traveling any distance.

Walking Tour in Downtown Scottsburg
This walking tour will be held on July 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. in downtown Scottsburg.

In December of 1898, Scott County resident Marion Tyler was hanged from a tree on the courthouse lawn. Find out why as local historian Ed Cozart explains the story as he leads this walking tour through downtown Scottsburg.

Cozart is a former mayor of the City of Scottsburg, and enjoys uncovering new information about local history events.  He has been involved with the Scott County Historical Society, the Scottsburg Historic Review Board and the Sons of the American Revolution.  Currently, he sponsors the Scottsburg Elementary School History Club and is expanding his historical storytelling abilities.

Ed Cozart’s Walk and Talk is sponsored by the Scott County Heritage Center and Museum and the cost is $8 per person.  Tickets for the tour are available at the museum.

The tour will begin at Heritage Station, the former railroad depot in Scottsburg. 

For additional information, please call (812) 752-1050.

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NEH Interpreting America's Historic Places: Implementation Grants
Interpreting America’s Historic Places grants support public humanities projects that exploit the evocative power of historic places to explore stories, ideas and beliefs that deepen our understanding of our lives and our world.

Interpreting America’s Historic Places projects may interpret a single historic site or house, a series of sites, an entire neighborhood, a town or community, or a larger geographical region. Grants for Interpreting America’s Historic Places should encourage dialogue, discussion and civic engagement, and they should foster learning among people of all ages.

Implementation grants support the final preparation of a project for presentation to the public. Applicants must submit a full walkthrough for an exhibition, or a prototype or storyboard for a digital project that demonstrates a solid command of the humanities ideas and scholarship that relate to the subject.

Applicants for implementation grants should have already done most of the planning for their projects, including the identification of the key humanities themes, relevant scholarship, and program formats. For exhibitions, implementation grants can support the final stages of design development, but these grants are primarily intended for installation. Applicants are not required to obtain a planning grant before applying for an implementation grant. Applicants may not, however, submit multiple applications for the same project at the same deadline. If an application for a project is already under review, another application for the same project cannot be accepted.

For more information, please visit http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=48061.

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Advanced Cemetery Preservation Workshop
This workshop from the Indiana Historical Society and Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology will be held on Aug. 22 or 23 at Spring Valley Cemetery in Lawrence.

Join us on either Saturday or Sunday for a one-day, hands-on workshop to learn advanced cemetery restoration techniques.

Only those who have attended a basic cemetery preservation workshop or have prior experience cleaning and straightening stones can enroll in the advanced workshop (as experience in cleaning and resetting stones is essential to understanding more complicated repairs).

Speakers will address the essential components of cemetery restoration. John Walters, professional cemetery restorer, will explain the techniques of cemetery restoration, including the kinds of mortar mixes and adhesives to use when reassembling broken stones and fallen obelisks.

Participants will be restoring stones in the cemetery for the majority of the workshop. They will work with broken, leaning and misplaced stones and disassembled obelisks under the supervision of instructors.

Participants will learn the following skills:

• Stone Repair – repairing stones using several kinds of adhesives.
• Stone Relocation – how to determine the original locations of gravestones that have been moved and how to replace them to maintain the cemetery’s integrity.
• Resetting Obelisks – using tripods to reset large obelisk stones that have been knocked over.
• Filling the Cracks – mixing stone dust to fill cracks for a finished look.

Participants will be able to ask for advice regarding specific preservation and restoration tasks throughout the day. The workshop will be held regardless of weather, and all participants will be involved in the hands-on session.

The cost is $25 IHS members, $22.50 Local History Partners and $30 for nonmembers and includes lunch.

This project has been funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Interior or the Department of Natural Resources.

This program receives federal financial assistance for the identification and protection of historic properties. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, the U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, or age in its federally assisted programs. If you believe that you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240.

For more information or to register, please visit http://www.indianahistory.org/lhs/workshops.html. If you have questions, contact Local History Services at (317) 233-8913. Register by Aug. 10.

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The National Museum of American Jewish History Invites Input for Exhibit
This new initiative from the National Museum of American Jewish History invites the public to help select the Jewish Americans whose achievements will be recognized in the Museum's Only in America gallery.

The Only in America gallery will be a signature component of the core exhibition when the new Museum opens in November, 2010. Situated on the first floor of the iconic new building, Only in America will examine the choices, challenges and opportunities faced by a remarkable group of a token 18 American Jews on their paths to accomplishment.

At the interactive Only in America polling Web site, http://onlyinamerica.nmajh.org/, you will have the opportunity to review a list of 218 candidates organized by categories such as "arts and entertainment," "sports," and "religion and thought." You can cast your vote for 3 people in each of the 8 categories, and you will also be able to write-in candidates you do not see included. Online voting ends on Aug. 6.

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YOU.report Student Video Winners Announced
Winners of the 2009 YOU.report competition, a nationwide competition that seeks to use technology to engage students in social studies, language arts and civic affairs were announced and are available at www.pbs.org/newshour/thenews/youreport/.

A project of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, the.News asked students to create a short video that answers the question: "How do decisions made in Washington affect your community?"

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Images of Native Americans: The Wanamaker Collection at the Fort Wayne History Center
This exhibit opened on July 15, and will be on display through Aug. 10 at the History Center located at 302 E. Berry St. in Fort Wayne.

The History Center proudly hosts Images of Native Americans: The Wanamaker Collection from the Mathers Museum of World Cultures at Indiana University. This nationally traveling exhibition features stunning photographs of early 20th century Native Americans, drawn from an 8,000 piece photograph inventory featuring over 150 individual tribes. One of the world’s largest and most important collections of its type, The Wanamaker Collection is a one of a kind record and singular reflection of Native American lifeways shortly after the turn of the century. This display will be supplemented with local artifacts, images, and documents from the History Center’s historical collections to highlight the history and heritage of local Native American entities. The exhibit is sponsored by WFWA PBS 39, WGBH, American Experience, and We Shall Remain.

The hours for the museum are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. and the first Sunday of each month from noon to 5 p.m.

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and students, and free for History Center members and children ages five and under.

For more information, please call (260) 426-2882 or visit http://www.fwhistorycenter.com/.

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Veraestau Historic Site Goes Geothermal
To prepare for its bicentennial in 2010, the Veraestau Historic Site charged into the future. Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, owner of the 116-acre estate, has installed a state-of-the-art geothermal system in the home on the Ohio River.

The earliest section of Veraestau was built in 1810, with major additions in 1838, 1913 and 1937. The Holman family, who built and owned Veraestau for more than a century, gave the estate its unusual name, a comibination of the Latin words for spring, summer and fall.

The environmentally friendly new Climate Master system operates with a 95% efficiency rating. It replaces two aging 50% efficient oil-fired furnaces.

Contributions from regional geothermal industry leaders helped the preservation organization install the $48,000 new heating and cooling system in June before Veraestau hosted GeoFarm. The day-long educational forum attracted 150 contractors and vendors to learn about different aspects of geothermal technology. 

Corken Steel Products of Florence, KY, and Gehring Inc. of Batesville, Ind., spent two weeks removing the old units and installing the new system. Bucher Services of Aurora drilled the ten vertical wells that provide the earth’s natural contribution to heating and cooling the house. The three companies combined donations of time, material and discounted products in the demonstration project.

“We chose Veraestau for the installation out of a long relationship with the property and a willingness to help sustain it with state-of-the-art technology. And it also perfectly demonstrates the marriage of old to new that geothermal industry leaders are promoting,” notes Corken Steel Products sales manager Andy Bucher.

“Progressive conservation is nothing new to Veraestau,” says site administrator Kent Abraham.  Cornelius O’Brien, an early leader in conservation, purchased Veraestau in the 1930s. He used the acreage to demonstrate conservation practices, including planting trees to prevent soil erosion and preserving all of the important historic buildings.

Historic Landmarks covered about a quarter of the cost. “The geothermal system will give us more efficient, comfortable heating and cooling while reducing our expenses by half. It also allows us to return the house to its pre-air conditioning appearance,” says Abraham. The contractors removed two large compressors parked alongside the house. “We’ll still be able to open Veraestau’s windows to catch fresh summer breezes, like occupants in the previous centuries, while being a pragmatic leader in historic preservation.” 

For more information about Veraestau, please call (812) 926-0983 or visit the historic properties section at http://www.historiclandmarks.org/.

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Thomas E. Castaldi Receives Award of Merit from the AASLH Leadership in History Awards
The American Association for State and Local History proudly announced that Thomas E. Castaldi is the recipient of an Award of Merit from the AASLH Leadership in History Awards for a lifetime of contributions to the history of the Wabash and Erie Canal, Inc. 

Tom Castaldi serves as Archives Committee Chairman of Wabash and Erie Canal, Inc.  A native of Logansport, Ind., he received a BS degree at Indiana University’s School of Business in 1961.  He retired as Communications VP for Essex in 1998. He currently serves as Allen County Historian.

The AASLH Leadership in History Awards, now in its 64th year, is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.  Awards for 2009 represent 59 organizations and individuals from across the United States.  Award winners will be honored at a special banquet during the 2009 AASLH Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday, August 29. A generous contribution from The History Channel will once again help underwrite the cost of the awards banquet.

The AASLH awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history throughout the United States. For more information about the Leadership in History Awards, contact AASLH at (615) 320-3203, or visit http://www.aaslh.org/.

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Indiana Museum People Online Network from AIM
Are you a staff member, trustee, or volunteer at one of Indiana's 500+ museums? Do you want to know your peers better – and vice versa? Do you have questions you'd like to ask, or expertise you're willing to share?

You now have a free resource at your fingertips. The Association of Indiana Museums has launched Indiana Museum People at http://indianamuseumpeople.ning.com/. You need not be an AIM member to join this network and begin learning and contributing.

Discussion forums allow you to ask your museum-related questions and get answers from your statewide colleagues. Here is the latest discussion question, and your input is welcome: "We're wondering if museums have a "policy" regarding photographs taken by museum visitors and then posted on the Internet? We just had a situation where someone video taped a portion of our tour and then posted it." What does your institution do to protect its collections in regards to video, film and internet postings? Your answer will make the difference at http://indianamuseumpeople.ning.com/!

For more information, please contact Tiffany Hatfield, AIM Coordinator, at coordinator@indianamuseums.org.

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Do you know someone who might want to receive Communique Online? Anyone may join the mailing list by e-mailing col@indianahistory.org.

If your historical organization, genealogical society or museum has changed its address or phone number in the past six months, please send the updated information to Coordinator, Local History Services, at the above e-mail, or Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, 450 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis, IN 46202.