Monroe County History at the Hinkle-Garton Farmstead in Bloomington
Saturday, Sept. 26, 1 to 4 p.m.
Hinkle-Garton Farmstead, 2920 E. 10th St., Bloomington

If you have an interest in local history or are involved in history education, you may want to visit the Hinkle-Garton Farmstead during Open Day. The Hinkle-Garton Farmstead is the headquarters of Bloomington Restorations, Inc. and has also been home to a group of young writers over the past year, the Sisters of the Flying Fountain Pen, organized by Writing Unlimited, Inc., a local non-profit.

Some of what was written and created at the writing circles, workshops and camps of BRI and Writing Unlimited, Inc. will be shared at the Hinkle-Garton Farmstead Open Day. There will be booklets of poetry created by the Sisters of the Flying Fountain Pen over the past year and student-created displays about Monroe County leaders, limestone history and family farms. There will also be lesson plans and timelines for educators to use with Monroe County students. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact Michelle Henderson at (812) 391-3233 or mhenders@writingunlimited.org.

Programs at the Indiana State Library
These programs are free to the public and will be offered at the Indiana State Library, 140 N. Senate Ave., Indianapolis.

• Unconventional Federal Documents
  Wednesday, Sept. 30, noon to 1 p.m.
  
  Federal documents are more than just legislation and declarations.  This programs looks at some unique documents published by the Government Printing Office like how to grow tomatoes, feed an army and why not all books are kept out on display. 
  
  
• Crown Hill Cemetery  
  Thursday, Oct. 1, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
  
  Crown Hill Cemetery is the country's third largest cemetery and the final resting place for a diverse group of Hoosiers.  Visit the Indiana State Library to learn about the founding of the cemetery, history, architecture and notable persons buried.
  
  
• Military Records
  Saturday, Oct. 3, 10 to 11 a.m.
  
  Get an overview of military records in the Indiana State Archives from the Territorial Period to the Present.

Additional programs in October will include:

• Using City Directories to Locate Family Members Oct. 5
• Family History Tour Oct. 6
• Genealogy for Beginners Oct. 6
• A Century of Wedded Bliss: Indiana Marriage Laws 1791-1891 Oct. 8
• Researching Manuscript Collections Oct. 13
• History/Reference Room: What’s In It For You? Oct. 14
• Dating Photographs Oct. 15
• The Porter-Griffin Papers Oct. 16
• Keeping History: Preservation Basics Oct. 17
• Early Census Questionnaires – 1790 to 1860 Oct. 19
• Researching Your African-American Ancestry Oct. 20
• Non-Population Census Records Oct. 21
• Family History Tour Oct. 22
• Using Maps in Your Research Oct. 22
• Indiana Vital Records Resources Oct. 27
• What is WorldCat and How Do I Use It? Oct. 28
• Federal Publications of Interest to Genealogists Oct. 29
• Family History Tour Oct. 29
• Indiana State Library: A Brief History Oct. 30

These programs require no registration. For more details, call (317) 232-3675 or visit http://www.in.gov/library/3632.htm.

An Evening with Brian Lamb from the President Benjamin Harrison Home
Thursday, Oct. 1, 6 p.m.
The Columbia Club, Monument Circle, Indianapolis
$100 and $125 for individuals, $800 for patron tables and $1,000 for corporate tables

Brian Lamb, founder/CEO of C-SPAN Networks, will provide a sneak preview of C-SPAN’s newest special feature series, Supreme Court Week, which will debut on Oct. 4 with an 80-minute original feature documentary on the Supreme Court, during his presentation at the President Benjamin Harrison Home’s special fundraising dinner at the Columbia Club.

Brian Lamb is a Hoosier, born and raised in Lafayette. He is being recognized by the Harrison Home for his founding of C-SPAN Networks 30 years ago and his regular on-air presence all that time. Over the years, he has interviewed Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton and George W. Bush plus many world leaders, including Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev.

An Evening with Brian Lamb is the fourth annual Mary Tucker Jasper Speaker Series program and will benefit the educational programs of the Harrison Home.

Reservations are required and can be made by calling (317) 631-1888. For more information about the event or the President Benjamin Harrison Home, please visit http://www.pbhh.org/.

Annual Mystery Tours at the Oliver Mansion in South Bend
Oct. 2 and 9, leaving every five minutes beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The Center for History’s Oliver Mansion, 808 W. Washington St., South Bend
$10 for adults, $8 for seniors, $6 for youth ages six to 17 and $5 for members

This year’s thriller is based on the true story of John Dillinger’s robbery of a South Bend bank in 1934. "Eliot Ness," a bank vice-president, the mechanic who unknowingly helped with the getaway car and others will take their turns telling the story of Dillinger’s Dastardly Deeds at the Center for History’s third annual Mystery at the Mansion.

As visitors tour the 38-room historic house, they can use their investigative skills to track down a "secret accomplice" in the infamous Dillinger heist. Performers dressed in period costume share their own suspicions about the person who helped "Public Enemy Number One." Participants cast their vote for "whodunnit" and those who solve the case win a chance at the grand prize.

Tickets are limited. Advance tickets are available and strongly recommended to guarantee a place on a tour. For tickets, please call (574) 235-9664 x 232.

For additional information, please call (574) 235-9664 or visit http://www.centerforhistory.org/.

Indiana Political Heroes with Geoff Paddock at the History Center in Fort Wayne
Sunday, Oct. 4, 2 to 3 p.m.
The History Center, 302 E. Berry St., Fort Wayne
Free admission

Join us as Geoff Paddock presents a free lecture on his book Indiana Political Heroes followed by a book-signing. Politics have always played an important role in Indiana, and the State itself at one time furnished candidates for national office for an assortment of American political parties. Indiana Political Heroes explores the lives of eight distinguished Hoosier politicians who have helped forge Indiana's political legacy.

This free lecture is part of the George R. Mather Sunday Lecture Series and is made possible with support from the Dunsire Family Foundation. T

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

Harvest Desserts Event at the President Benjamin Harrison Home
Sunday, Oct. 11, 1 to 3 p.m.
President Benjamin Harrison Home, 1230 N. Delaware St., Indianapolis
$10 for adults and $5 for children ages 13 and under

President Benjamin Harrison will host a new event at the Presidential mansion this fall: a dessert-sampling which will feature fruits and nuts harvested in autumn, the culinary talents of Catered by Chef Mike of the Indianapollis Propylaeum Club and a tour of the first floor of the mansion. President Harrison will greet the guests.

The special event will highlight the following desserts for sampling:

• Cranberry bread pudding
• Pumpkin squares
• Persimmon bread
• Apple cupcake with cream cheese icing
• Mini pecan pies
• Lemon tarts
• Chocolate éclairs

Reservations are required for the dessert-sampling event and can be made by calling (317) 631-1888. For more information, please visit http://www.pbhh.org/.

Looking for Lincoln Lecture at the South Bend Center for History
Sunday, Oct. 11, 2 p.m.
Center for History, 808 W. Washington St., South Bend
Free program with the purchase of museum admission

Looking for Lincoln: Things Learned Along the Way will be presented by Bryon Andreasen, Ph.D. It is one of a series of lectures, theatrical events and films related to the exhibit, Lincoln: The Man You Didn’t Know, for which Dr. Andreasen served as guest curator. As part of the program, attendees may tour the exhibit before and after the lecture. Doors open at noon.

In Looking for Lincoln, Dr. Andreasen, takes the audience on a journey of cultural discovery where the unexpected becomes the expected. Using research based on his work for the Looking for Lincoln heritage project, he discusses several instances in Abraham Lincoln’s 19th-century experience to suggest that when it comes to American political culture, the more things change the more they stay the same.

Additional presentations in the Lincoln Lecture, Theatre and Film Series are:

• Abraham Lincoln: A Life, a gallery talk on Oct. 31
• Colfax: The Radical Republican, a lecture on Nov. 8
• The Valley of the Shadow, a gallery talk on Nov. 14
• Christmas in the Confederacy, a lecture on Dec. 13
• An Afternoon with Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, a theatrical performance on Feb. 14

The cost for museum admission is $8 for adults, $6.50 for seniors, $5 for youth ages six to 17 and free for members.

For more information, please call (574) 235-9664 or visit http://www.centerforhistory.org/.

Annual Chicken Dinner and Military Vehicle Show at the Museum of the Soldier
Saturday, Oct. 17, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Museum of the Soldier, 510 E. Arch St., Portland
Free admission to the event and $8 per person for dinner

This one-day event includes a military vehicle show, living history encampment, BBQ chicken dinner and a kid’s carnival. The military vehicle show is open to any and all military vehicles and will run until 4 p.m. The BBQ chicken dinner will include a quarter chicken, sides and a drink. All the money raised will go to helping the MOS put a new roof on its building.

Tickets for the dinner should be purchased in advance at the museum, from any museum director or at Fisher’s Meats located at 300 W. Walnut St. in Portland.

Anyone interested in setting up at the vehicle show either as a living historian or vehicle owner is asked to contact Matt Simmons at (260) 726-6485 or Jim Waechter at (260) 729-7017 or mos@jayco.net.

For more information about the event, please call (260) 726-2967 or visit http://www.museumofthesoldier.com/.

Genealogy and Local History Fair at the Indiana State Library
Saturday, Oct. 24, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Indiana State Library, entrance at 315 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis
Free admission

Visit the tables in the “midway” to collect information from genealogical and local history organizations and Indiana libraries and shop the commercial vendors.

Presentations will be held in the Indiana Author’s Room and will include:

• A Grave Matter in Indiana by Jeannie R. Regan-Dinius
  9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
  
  You search for years and years to find the location of your great-grandmother's grave.  When you finally decide to take a visit, you find a cemetery which has not been mowed all season - if you can even access it at all.  Who is supposed to take care of these places?  Can they keep me from visiting my ancestors' graves?  What can I do to help out?
  
  
• Women in Nineteenth-Century Indiana by Nicole Etcheson
  11:00 a.m. to noon
  
  This presentation explores the changing experience of white, Native American and African American women in Indiana from the pioneer period through the woman suffrage movement.
  
  
• Pioneer Migration into Indiana by James H. Madison
  1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
  
  This program will discuss the various streams of migration that settled Indiana and show how their origins, timing, and cultural features shaped the state and helped to make Hoosiers a distinctive part of the nation.

The speakers will be on hand for book signings after each program. As a part of this event, the Indiana Historical Bureau will have a book signing from noon to 1:30 p.m. at its book shop in the Indiana State Library building.  Fair attendees will receive a 20 percent discount on purchases from the Indiana Historical Bureau book shop. Book signings will be held by the following authors/illustrator:

• Dr. James Madison
• Dr. Nicole Etcheson
• Jeannie Regan-Dinius
• Teresa Baer
• Brian Hasler and Angela Gouge
• Lucy Jane King
• Connie Rendfeld
• Ashley Ransburg

For more information, please visit http://www.in.gov/library/3505.htm or call (317) 232-3675.

Events at the Honeywell Center
The following events will be held at the Honeywell Center in Wabash

• Ernie Haase and Signature Sound present their Christmas Tour
  Sunday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m. 
  $12, $18 and $25
  
  The group combines modern style with old school Southern gospel for an uplifting experience that appeals to all ages.
  
  
• JoDee Messina on the Music Room Series Tour
  Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010, 7:30 p.m.
  $19, $29, $39 and $75 
  
  The tour is a rare, exclusive glimpse inside the world of one of country music's most popular female artists as the stage is transformed into a room right out of her own home. 
  
  
• The Augustana College Band Free Concert
  Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010, 3 p.m. 
  Tickets are not required for entry
  
  The Augustana College Band performs in the finest concert halls, appears before national, regional and state music educator gatherings, and hosts the annual Augustana Band Festival.
  
  
• Manchester Symphony Orchestra Free Concert
  Sunday, March 14, 2010, 3 p.m.
  Tickets are not required for entry
  
  The 50-member Manchester Symphony Orchestra features the amazing musical talent of Manchester College students, faculty, staff and area residents, and will feature  Mozart's 40th Symphony, A Little Nightmare Music by Schickele, and more. 

Tickets for Ernie Haase and Signature Sound and JoDee Messina are available at the box office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, by calling (260) 563-1102, by visiting http://www.honeywellcenter.org/ or by dialing *tix from your Centennial Wireless phone.

Ric Burns Lecture
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 7 p.m., reception following
Frank and Katrina Basile Theater, Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, Indianapolis
Free admission

Famed documentary filmmaker and writer Ric Burns will give a presentation based on his latest work, Tecumseh, Native America and the other American Dream. Burns, whose credits include co-producing PBS’s celebrated The Civil War series with his brother Ken as well as Coney Island, New York: A Documentary Film, The Way West and Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film will discuss his latest film about famed warrior and politician Tecumseh – part of the five-part PBS series on the history of Native America, We Shall Remain.

The event is sponsored by the Hanover College Capstone Speaker Series. Burns also will appear on the Hanover College campus Monday, Oct. 5.

Reservations are required by Sept. 28 and are limited to two per person. For reservations, please call (317) 233-5659.

For more information, please visit www.hanover.edu/capstone.