Authors

A Fresh Perspective

Eloise Batic — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:35:00 -0500

Last week I had the honor of joining President and CEO John Herbst and Vice President of Development Andrew Halter on their annual trip to Florida to meet with our members that are lucky enough to winter in the Sunshine State. What a wonderful opportunity to not only attend some incredible events, but also to spend time talking with members about the exhibitions they have visited, upcoming projects they look forward to, and potential stories they would like to see us cover in the future. Day-to-day job responsibilities can prevent us from sometimes taking the time to get out and talk with people about the thing we all have in common ... our love of history.

We spent three nights in Florida and hosted receptions in three towns during our trip. The first night’s reception was at the home of IHS Trustee Mag Russell and her husband, Steve, in Naples, where we were welcomed as houseguests and invited to speak about the work of the Indiana Historical Society in a setting that screamed history ... between the old world mantelpiece, the Italian fresco ceiling and the objects that once spent time in Cole Porter’s Parisian apartment. The next night we traveled to the Sanibel Island home of longtime members and soon-to-be-Living Legends, former IHS Trustee Dr. George Rapp and his wife, Peggy, where I spoke about the You Are There exhibition program standing on a balcony with a backdrop of ocean waves. And lastly, we were guests in the Boca Grande home of Will and Cotton Hanley, where I had the honor of talking about our You Are There 1955: Ending Polio experience and the upcoming You Are There 1913: A City Under Water project with people who connected to the stories on a personal level in a myriad of ways.

I learned so much during my trip. About our members, about the incredibly hard but rewarding work of our Development and Membership staff, and about how proud I am of the You Are There series and the Indiana Historical Society. I also learned that one can take a vial of fake polio vaccine on an airplane, as long as it travels in checked luggage. A useful tidbit among of week filled with new perspective, appreciation and experience.

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Eloise Scroggins is the director of exhibitions research and development at the IHS. She believes that telling a good story involves not only solid research and impeccable design, but most importantly, a good sense of humor and a playful imagination.

Thinking About Our Relationship with Water

Eloise Batic — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:16:43 -0400

Next spring, the Indiana Historical Society will be one of many organizations commemorating the “Great Flood of 1913” that affected cities and towns throughout the Midwest and the Ohio River Valley. Over the Easter holiday weekend in 1913, the area received between six and 12 inches of rainfall over a five-day period that added to an already saturated ground and filled rivers to the brim. As the levees broke, flood waters gushed into Indianapolis neighborhoods and buildings, killing 11, and affecting thousands.

As we uncover the complexity of this story, we are thrilled to work with members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as historians and specialists in the field of environmental and urban history. We are guided by Dr. Phil Scarpino of IUPUI to make sure that our visitors do not leave the exhibit thinking that rain alone is what causes a flood, rather, that floods are the result of human choices and decisions to interact in particular ways with their environment. In Indianapolis, early settlers focused on making the landscape fit the needs of business and settlement, and in the process took away the ability of natural resources to do their jobs. By cutting down trees along the river and throughout towns, the settlers took away the land’s ability to absorb rainwater. People built homes, businesses and farms upon what had historically been a floodplain.

In addition, the 1913 floodwaters were filled with sewage and waste from surrounding areas. On the cusp of major breakthroughs in germ theory, and on the eve of a public health crisis that would ultimately lead to drastic improvements, those unfortunate to find themselves in the flood’s path were buried in water that would horrify those concerned with water cleanliness today.

Visitors to the Indiana Historical Society’s ninth You Are There experience will enter Wulf’s Hall Relief station on Monday, March 31, 1913, set up to help flood sufferers on the west side of downtown six days after the White River levee failed. They will hear the tales of the flood’s impact and help assemble supplies for those in need. It will be nearly impossible to go through this experience without thinking about the floods that continue to make headlines today and to wish that we could somehow find a way to prevent them. There are important lessons to be learned from the causes of 1913’s massive flood that might help shape discourse about land use and flood prevention today. We hope that you will visit us when this experience opens on March 26, 1913, and help us bring the past to life.

Also, IHS is one of the finalists in the “IPL Golden Eagle Environmental Grants” campaign on WIBC 93.1. We have already earned a $1,000 grant from IPL to help us develop You Are There 1913: A City Under Water, which addresses the environmental effects of local flooding. Please vote for us today at www.wibc.com/IPLGoldenEagle and we could win $10,000 for this important project.

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Pshew! We did it!

Eloise Batic — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 09:24:36 -0400

The exhibitions staff at the Indiana Historical Society is breathing a collective sigh of relief, having recently opened to the public its newest You Are There offering that recreates a wonderful moment in Indiana (and national) history: the discovery and distribution of the polio vaccine.

Bringing to life a scene of workers at Eli Lilly and Company packing up the newly discovered but not yet approved polio vaccine at Building 314 on the Lilly campus, we invite visitors to be a part of the action and help workers prep the vaccine for shipment to an eagerly awaiting public.

The exhibits team grew by leaps and bounds during the course of this project, welcoming graphic design interns Jamie Goldsborough, Amy Burres, Corey Venable and Tabitha Cravens; motion graphics specialist Aaron Gallimore; plus John Fish, a conveyor belt engineer enlisted for help creating the exhibit centerpiece. An adjacent content room explores the larger story of polio, including existing treatments, the science behind the vaccine, and the production process that occurred at Lilly.

With some very special objects loaned for display, this exhibition is one of the richest yet. We hope you will visit and share your stories about this momentous time in our history. This exhibition will be open through Sept. 14, 2013.

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Faces of the Exhibits Team

Eloise Batic — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:35:00 -0400

Why is it so quiet today in Exhibits Design and Prep? This week, more than half of the exhibits team is off enjoying a well-deserved spring break (as is the rest of the IUPUI campus), and boy do we miss them.

For anyone who has visited the History Center in the past two years, it should come as no shock that there is a large team of people who help bring the You Are There spaces to life (not to mention, develop the many other exhibit offerings both in the building and as a part of our traveling exhibitions program). Without out interns, none of these projects would be possible.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the amazing work of Angela Giacomelli, a third-year graduate student who will complete her master's degree in public history this summer, without whom the Prohibition Enforced and Making a Jewish Home exhibits would not have happened. Krystal Gladden, also from the IUPUI graduate public history program, is the exhibits official graduate intern this year and has already made her mark on the Toys of the 1950s and 1960s exhibit and the upcoming Spirit of Competition traveling show. Abby Wolf, a work-study student with us from the IUPUI museum studies master's program, will graduate this coming May after having spent almost a year working on the upcoming polio vaccine You Are There, and who has been a lifesaver on too many graphics-related projects to name. And lastly, our newest addition, Maggie Schmidt, comes to us from the IUPUI museum studies graduate program as well, and in her short time with us, has had a significant role on the team behind this fall’s You Are There experience recreating an African-American doctor’s office from the 1940s.

When you visit the History Center, take a moment to notice the fruits of their labor by paying attention to the details in our various exhibit offerings. We are so grateful for their hard work!

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Just a Stove

Eloise Batic — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:10:00 -0400

These days, the exhibitions staff is hard at work on the next You Are There project, recreating a photograph of Fannie Kaplan cooking in her kitchen on the south side of Indianapolis. This photograph, part of the Jewish Welfare Federation Collection in the Indiana Historical Society library, shows Mrs. Kaplan, whose family has just moved to their new home in Indianapolis after surviving the Holocaust and spending time in a displaced persons camp in Germany. Although she brings with her an amazingly complex story of survival, family and the challenges of establishing a new life in a new place, what the image actually shows is nothing more than Mrs. Kaplan dishing up the soup that she is cooking on her stove.

For those familiar with the You Are There projects, our challenge is to literally re-create historical photographs into a three-dimensional space. For what at first glance would be a relatively simple task – this particular photograph contains fewer than 10 items – the task of finding the stove itself has proved an almost insurmountable challenge. Although we have had multiple staff members and a host of outside advisers offering suggestions on what the stove might be, we have yet to determine with certainty the make and model of the stove in the photograph. Every identifiable component (timer, salt-and-pepper shakers, etc.) seems to rule out any possible option for the stove’s identity, which seems to defy categorization into any typical or commercially available model.

After extensive searching, we have found as close a match as possible and are currently in the process of retrieving it out of a basement in a Kentucky home – no easy task itself. Once it is here, we'll have to retrofit the stove with all of those individual pieces that make the item so unique. Just like the story behind the photograph, what on first glance appeared to be a simple image of an ordinary stove, has proven to be a complex research task of finding this incredibly unique object. Visit the History Center to see the fruits of this labor when You Are There 1950: Making a Jewish Home opens to the public on Oct. 11.

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It Takes a Village

Eloise Batic — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:41:25 -0500

: Landmark for Peace memorial at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Indianapolis

When the next You Are There experience opens to the public on Feb. 22, 2011, visitors will have the opportunity to step back in time through an Indiana Historical Society photograph and into the night Robert Kennedy announced the death of Martin Luther King Jr. to a stunned crowd. This entire project could not have happened without the help of key partner institutions throughout Indianapolis and beyond, and we hope that the result will leave a lasting impression on our guests.

In the King/Kennedy Legacy Room, a space visitors will enter following the conclusion of the speech, visitors will encounter text and graphics, video and both a physical and computer interactive that will put the speech in its historical context. The video clips that help reconstruct the stories of the 1960s in general and April 4, 1968 in specific, come to us via the generosity of Don Boggs at Covenant Productions, who amassed a treasure trove of resources during the production of his award-winning documentary, A Ripple of Hope. Jim Walker at Big Car Gallery is helping to develop a visitor-created conversation/art-piece where we invite those just leaving the speech to record their gut reactions and to build off the comments left by others. Prior to leaving the experience, guests will engage with a touchscreen computer interactive that illustrates the power of words using both historical images and modern-day examples created with the help of the Indianapolis Star. At the conclusion of this interactive, guests are invited to take a pledge to use their words in positive ways and are then connected to the ongoing work of the Peace Learning Center and the International Faith Initiative to put what they have learned into action.

This list does not include the many other individuals and institutions who have supported this project, including financial contributors, scholars, community members, the staff at the Landmark for Peace Memorial and the technical experts involved in what visitors will soon see, but this list of partners is a testament to the ways that the words of both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy can continue to bring groups together who have a shared desire to do good work. Whether through the documentation, collection or interpretation of our history, or through encouragements to express ideas, challenge the ills that still plague our society, or join the effort to enact positive change, this exhibit project is a shining examples of how history can teach and inspire us in very real ways.

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Setting the Stage for Robert F. Kennedy

Eloise Batic — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 11:58:53 -0500

In order to recreate the speech that Robert Kennedy gave in Indianapolis on April 4, 1968 for the upcoming You Are There experience at the History Center, the exhibits team not only brings to life the stories of that night through the interpreters, films, graphic panels and computer interactives, but they also must recreate the physical space in which the speech occurred. To do this, Jeff Mills, director of exhibits design and production, began by developing schematics that combine all the elements required for this particular You Are There. This includes not only a King/Kennedy Legacy Room where visitors will learn the context of that night, but a literal recreation of the park itself.

In order to put our Robert Kennedy speech in its physical context (look for future updates on that exciting technology!), Exhibits Fabricator Roger Fish set to work locating a truck that could be used to replicate the one on which Kennedy stood that night. After an extensive search, he found an appropriate truck through an equipment dealer based in Bloomington. He then had the truck delivered to a place suitable for the prep work required to fit the truck into the gallery layout, namely, the truck had to be cut in half.

IHS member Sarah Rector generously allowed us to use her pole barn to dismantle the truck into several pieces, and then reassemble it as a half of a flatbed truck. It might sound like an easy thing, to saw a truck in half, but it is hardly that simple. The truck had to be dismantled piece by piece in order to prevent it from falling in on itself. Roger and Exhibits Graphics Coordinator Martin Douglas stripped the truck down to its bare frame, cut the center out of the frame, then reattached the frame pieces to a 50-percent dimension of the original truck. As Roger says about this project, “It was a lot of fun!”

There are a lot of bells and whistles that will no doubt leave an impression for visitors to the You Are There 1968: Robert F. Kennedy Speaks experience, opening in February 2011, but the exhibits department encourages visitors to look closely at the details. Everything that goes into a You Are There experience is its own unique project, and sometimes we make it look easy when it was anything but!

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The Mysteries of History

Eloise Batic — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 14:00:00 -0400

Sometimes the work of a history researcher can be a wonderful journey of finding clues and solving mysteries. However, sometimes it can be just the opposite. There are times when the clues just don’t add up and the pieces do not fall into place with ease. Such has been the case with a recent project that the exhibits staff has been invested in for some time now, involving the incredibly rich history of the Lakeview Home near Monticello.

For an upcoming You Are There experience, the exhibits team was planning to recreate an image of a woman baking bread in what we believed to be the kitchen of the Lakeview Home (the county poor farm) in White County. The image was rich and deep, and the story behind it even more so. The team made several trips up to the home, investigating details of the kitchen space, the living quarters, the basements, attic and grounds, as well as records held by the White County Historical Society that shed light on the lives of those who had lived and worked in the home. We felt connected to this story and loved the opportunities for interaction, conversation and historical interpretation that this photograph provided.

However, in the end, key elements of the photograph (windows, doors, etc.) just did not match up to the building itself. We could not confirm with certainty that the image had been taken in that very kitchen, nor could we identify the woman baking bread. After running ads in the local paper and historical society newspaper and following every lead that came our way, we had to finally accept that we could not confirm enough details to make this project happen. We encourage people to look into the history of the Lakeview Home ... it is rich with the stories we love so much about Indiana history and those who bring it to life!

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	Eloise Scroggins is the director of exhibitions research and development at the IHS. She believes that telling a good story involves not only solid research and impeccable design, but most importantly, a good sense of humor and a playful imagination.

Summertime Past

Eloise Batic — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 11:39:51 -0400

: Carolyn East enjoys cotton candy at the 1933 Indiana State Fair in an image from our J.C. Allen Collection.

So many things go on at the History Center during the summer months, including Concerts on the Canal, beautiful outdoor dining at the Stardust Terrace Café, a menu of programs and events, and all the hustle and bustle along the canal and downtown streets.

In addition to all the wonderful activities taking place, one little thing visitors should seek out is a changing panel on the Mezzanine Level of Lilly Hall. For those who have not yet been downtown to see the new Indiana Experience, Lilly Hall – the centerpiece of the IHS’s incredible

: This photo from our O. James Fox Collection is dated 1945 to 1960.

headquarters building – has been transformed into a dynamic exhibition space complete with the stories of the Northwest Territory, Indiana’s immigrant past, various explanations for the term ‘Hoosier,’ and a rotating series of panels exploring the various seasons and how Hoosiers experience them.

Come to the History Center and see wonderful images of summertime-past from our collection, little-seen gems of families at the Indiana State Fair, the first swimming pool in Indianapolis, Fourth of July celebrations from as early as 1905, and much, much more. From our collection of more than 1.5 million photographs, we are excited for yet another way to highlight even more treasures in our collection.

Come back in September to see what stories we uncover as we explore autumn in Indiana.

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Faces in the Crowd

Eloise Batic — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:55:45 -0400

The exhibits staff at the Indiana Historical Society is hard at work on a number of projects. Come visit the Emison Room at the History Center to see the Emison family powder horn we recently put on display. One of the many objects from our amazing collection of pioneer and Old Northwest Territory history!

Coming up fast on the calendar is this year’s Indiana Black Expo event. The Indiana Historical Society is a regular participant in the Cultural Arts Pavilion alongside friends such as the Indiana State Museum, Crispus Attucks Museum, and Herron School of Art and Design. This year, we're developing a new exhibition that will emphasize the role of the everyday citizen in the electoral process and by extension, the ability of each person to make a difference in shaping our political landscape.

: Sen. Robert F. Kennedy addresses a crowd at 21st and Harding streets in Indianapolis during a campaign stop on May 4, 1968.

Using amazing photographs from – not only our collection but from partners like the Indianapolis Star and the Calumet Regional Archives – we'll look back at images of campaign events surrounding the candidacies of politicians such as Abraham Lincoln, Wendell Willkie, Robert Kennedy and Barack Obama. However, instead of focusing on the candidates themselves, we will draw your attention to the people in the crowd. Their campaign signs, their clothing, their surroundings and, most importantly, their expressions. Candidates wouldn't get elected without voters, and it's our responsibility to take an active role in the process to shape our government. Come see this exciting exhibit (and much more) at Indiana Black Expo from July 16 through July 18.

In the meantime, stop in for a visit at the History Center. If you haven't yet seen the Indiana Experience, be sure to take advantage of the gorgeous spring weather on the canal and pop in to say hello!

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Now that the Indiana Experience is up and running ...

Eloise Batic — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:00:00 -0400

What a joy it is to walk out into the Lilly Hall and see the History Center buzzing with activity. Visitors to the now-open Indiana Experience can be seen enjoying the interactive stations in Destination Indiana, listening to music in the Cole Porter Room, using the telescopes to explore the graphics in Lilly Hall, learning to mend paper in the History Lab, and stepping back in time in any of our three You Are There experiences. It is so nice to see all our hard work paying off giving visitors a new way to experience our rich state history.

No time to rest on our laurels, however. The exhibitions staff came to work following the opening and faced a long list of upcoming projects, and is now busy at work strategizing our approach. Up next? A brand new exhibit to be debuted in the Cultural Arts Pavilion at the Indiana Black Expo! In addition, we face the daunting task of creating three new You Are There experiences that will replace those currently on display. Look for brand new reasons to come visit as early as February of 2011.

: Capt. George Ashby at the wheel of 'Queen City' in 1910.

One project in particular required our immediate attention, and has proved to be far more interesting than I originally imagined. The Indiana Historical Society is creating a traveling exhibition celebrating the bicentennial of the first successful steamboat voyage down the Ohio River, a joint project between IHS and the Rivers Institute at Hanover College. The story of the 1811 journey of the New Orleans from Pittsburgh down the Ohio River is fraught with tales of danger, disaster and colorful characters, all set against the backdrop of one of the more dramatic years in Indiana’s history. Look for more information soon on how to bring this traveling exhibit to your own community!

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Bringing History to Life – Never the Same Day Twice!

Eloise Batic — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:20:00 -0500

Hello! There are so many wonderful things going on at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center these days, I am at a loss for where to start! I am writing from the Exhibitions department, where staff is all hard at work bringing the Indiana Experience to life. Less than two weeks until opening weekend!

: Todd Lawson is Joseph Conrath's great-nephew and has been a great help in shaping the stories for the violin shop You Are There.

Last week, I was lucky enough to spend my day doing the things that make our work so magical. A visit from local Model T expert Dick Harrold brought new parts and tools to add to our 1924 Model T repair shop, plus an assortment of new research materials to help our interpreters learn all that they can about the wonders of the Model T. Mr. Harrold has owned the same Model T for 50 years and still drives it to church each Sunday!

Then, the same afternoon brought a visit from Todd Lawson, the great-nephew of Joseph Conrath, the violin maker featured in yet another You Are There experience depicting a 1914 instrument workshop.

A visit from Mr. Lawson is always fun, as the interpreters and designers pepper him with questions about the history and lives of his family members. We are thrilled to learn new details of the space we are recreating where we will bring his ancestors to life. As he said to me this afternoon, “Out of all the photographs in your collection that you chose to feature, I still can’t believe you picked our family.”

We are excited as we approach the opening of the Indiana Experience and so eager to show off the wonderful work the staff is doing at the Indiana Historical Society. However, I am reminded daily that these are all partnerships with the families and communities whose stories we are telling. Together, we are literally bringing history to life.

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