Table of Contents:

Training Opportunities and Conferences
Winter Preservation Workshop Series
IHS Offers Genealogy and Conservation Workshops
Midwest Open Air Museums Coordinating Council (MOMCC) Spring Conference
AASLH Historic House Museums Issues and Operations Scheduled for Louisville, KY
Northern States Conservation Center Announces Course for late January 2008

Programs
Boxley Lecture Series Brings New Programs to Sheridan Indiana in 2008
AAM Co-Sponsors Humanities Advocacy Day

Funding Opportunities
Scholarships for AASLH Workshops

Help
Indiana High School Basketball Society Seeks Newsletter Editor

County Historians Corner
County Historians Rippy, Skvarenina and Sellers featured in Indiana Magazine of History Article

Job Opportunities
Coordinator, Student and Educator Programs, IHS, Indianapolis
Historic Interpreters, IHS, Indianapolis
Sales Associate, Basile History Market, IHS, Indianapolis
Museum Education Assistant, Lake County Forest Preserve District , Wauconda, IL
Visitor Services Assistant, Lake County Forest Preserve District , Wauconda, IL
Internship, Homestead Prairie Farm, Decatur, IL

Off the Press
Versailles, Indiana School Life 1818-1966 History & Documentary Sketches

Orphans Corner
History News (AASLH), Museum News (AAM), American Archivist  (SAA) and SAA Newsletters

New IRS Reporting Requirements for Non-Profits with Budgets under $25,000

On January 1, 2008, the requirement for small tax-exempt organizations to submit Form 990-N, the e-Postcard, will be implemented. Nonprofits with gross receipts of $25,000 or less (formerly exempt from filing) will be able to access a simple, web-based process for submitting the e-Postcard (there will not be a paper form). The form includes basic identifying information such as the organization's legal name, name under which it operates, address, employer identification number, and the name and address of its principal officer. This annual notification will be due the 15th of the fifth month after the close of the organization's tax period. For tax periods ending December 31, 2007, the e-Postcard is due May 15, 2008. See the IRS non-profit webpage for additional information about filing the 990-N at www.irs.gov/charities.

Winter Preservation Workshop Series
The General Lew Wallace Study and Museum is continuing its tradition of advocating for historic structures by hosting four workshops that will focus on researching, preserving and creating authentic interiors for historic houses.  The Winter Preservation Workshop Series, co-hosted by Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana and the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum and sponsored by Crawfordsville Main Street, is of special importance to owners of historic houses and businesses or anyone interested in architectural history.  The four workshops, which will be held on Tuesday evenings in the Carriage House Interpretive Center at the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum, focus on enriching the understanding of historic preservation in order to save these architectural jewels for generations to come.

The second year of the Museum’s Winter Preservation Workshop Series kicks off on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008 with “Researching Your Historic House” from 7:00-9:00 p.m., led by Suzanne Stanis from Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana.  “Researching Your Historic House” will guide beginners through the twists and turns of old house research.  A workbook and architectural style guide will be provided for each participant.  Suzanne Stanis, the facilitator of this workshop, is Director of Heritage Education and an experienced house sleuth from Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana.

The second workshop of the series, “Adding Modern Comforts to Your Historic Home”, will provide an overview of new materials and methods for improving the comfort and efficiency of your home without destroying its historic character.  Scott Pannicke with Ratio Architects will lead the presentation, on Tuesday, Jan. 22, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

“Historic House Interior Fixtures and Finishes” will be presented by award-winning interior designer Donna J. Barr from 7:00-9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5.  This workshop will help attendees determine the suitable finishes—paint, wallpaper, woodwork finish, hardware and window treatments—to create a historically appropriate interior in their homes.

Historic masonry experiences a variety of actions due to freezing and thawing, tuck pointing, replacement and more. The final workshop of the series, “Historic Masonry Concerns and Treatments”, will address these concerns, led by Joe Marano and Dick Bonin of Western Waterproofing on Tuesday, Feb. 19 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. 

Homeowners, business owners and those interested in historic preservation and architecture are invited to attend these important workshops at the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum.  Members of the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society or Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana can attend for $15 a session or $55 for the series.  Non-members can attend for $25 a workshop or $90 for the entire series.  Inquiries about memberships to the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society can be made at (765) 362-5769.  To register for the Winter Preservation Workshop Series or for individual workshops, contact the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum at 765-362-5769 or email info@ben-hur.com . Information/registration brochures will be mailed upon request.  Registration is limited to 15 participants per session.

IHS Offers Genealogy and Conservation Workshops
The Indiana Historical Society will offer those resolving to research and/or protect their family history several different opportunities to learn more with upcoming genealogy and conservation workshops, including the first two months of the year. These workshops take place at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, located at 450 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis.

Using Maps to Discover Your Family History, Jan. 19
Maps can be a detailed guide to finding out more about family history, and Using Maps to Discover Your Family History on Saturday, Jan. 19, from 10 a.m. – noon will help reveal this wealth of hidden information. Registrants will learn how to utilize maps, including examples of Sanborn maps, survey sketches, plat books and topographical maps. This workshop will be conducted by Betty L. Warren, the immediate past-president of the Indiana Genealogical Society who earned professional certification as a genealogist from Brigham Young University. She presently works in the Genealogy Division at the Indiana State Library and is a member of the IHS Genealogy Program Advisory Board. Cost of this workshop is $10 for the general public and $8 for IHS members. Registrations must be received by Jan. 11.

How to Preserve Original Family Documents, Feb. 8
Many people start their genealogy with the discovery of one intriguing family letter or document. Learn how to preserve your family treasure by attending a workshop on How to Preserve Original Family Documents on Friday, Feb. 8, from 9 a.m. – Noon or 1 – 4 p.m. Attendees can bring a treasured certificate, letter or other document in order to receive specialized advice from the IHS Conservation staff and see a demonstration of how to humidify and flatten items that have been rolled for many years and store them with care. This hands-on workshop will also teach registrants how to evaluate, surface clean and create an archival enclosure for paper. Only single sheet-paper items (may be double-sided), no photographs or pamphlets, will be encapsulated during the workshop.  Ramona Duncan-Huse, senior director of Conservation at the Indiana Historical Society, has been managing the preservation and treatment of the Society’s collections of rare manuscripts, prints and photographs for more than 25 years. She holds a certificate of conservation from a conservation graduate program sponsored by the University of London. Cost of this workshop is $25 for the general public and $20 for IHS members. Registrations must be received by Feb. 1.

To register for a workshop, or for more information on other upcoming workshops or IHS programs and events, call (317) 232-1882 or (800) 447-1830. Information is also available at www.indianahistory.org.

Midwest Open Air Museums Coordinating Council (MOMCC) Spring Conference
The Spring Conference of the Midwest Open Air Museums Coordinating Council (MOMCC) will be held March 6-8, 2008, at the Radisson Hotel in Merrillville, IN.  Conference sessions will be at the hotel, but workshop locations will vary.  The conference will be hosted by Lake County Parks Buckley Homestead and sponsored by Lake Heritage Parks Foundation.  The conference theme is early industry.  Lake County Indiana is known for industry - early dairy operations, truck farms, railroads, steel mills and oil refineries. 

March 6 workshops will include oxen training, pewter spoon making, tours of area attractions, and more.  March 7-8 conference will cover history topics, such as beekeeping, circuses, and fly fishing, as well as how-to sessions from working with youth volunteers and addressing academic standards to marbling paper and Spenserian writing.  Nationally-known musicians and folklorists Chris Vallillo and Buck Halker will present the keynote Using Music in a Historical Context. They will discuss several projects they are involved with and discuss ways similar projects can be used in a museum context.  Both have recently been involved with the Smithsonian Institutions traveling exhibition on roots music, New Harmonies, and the Heritage Music CD series from the Illinois Humanities Council.  Social activities will include a live auction and a 1940s WWII/USO dinner and dance.

For more information, please visit www.momcc.org.  Full conference registration ranges from $75 to $115, with workshops ranging from $10 to $60.  Single day registration is also available.  Early registration deadline is February 15.  Hotel reservations must be made by Feb. 6 in order to receive the conference discount.

AASLH Historic House Museums Issues and Operations Scheduled for Louisville, KY

The registration for AASLH’s Historic House Museums Issues and Operations workshop scheduled for April 16 - 17 in Louisville is now open at www.aaslh.org/workshop.htm.  Register by March 16 to guarantee a seat and save on your registration fee.

April 16 - 17 - Historic House Museums Issues and Operations at Locust Grove in Louisville, KY.  This two-day workshop offers an intensive look at the management and interpretation of historic houses taught by George McDaniel, director of Drayton Hall and Max van Balgooy, Director of Education and Interpretation for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  Topics to be covered include:

• Provocative Thinking: History, Historic Houses, Mission & Planning
• Governance and Management
• Marketing, Promotion, Fundraising, Membership & Earned Income
• Historical Research & Content Development
• Site and Collections Care
• Interpretation, Education and Learning

Visit http://www.aaslh.org/hhissues.htm for a complete agenda.  Cost to attend is $250 for members and $300 for nonmember.  The cost will be discounted by $20 if the fee is received by March 16. Please contact Bethany Hawkins, Program Associate at hawkins@aaslh.org or 615-320-3203 if you have any questions about these or other upcoming workshops.

Northern States Conservation Center Announces Course for late January 2008

MS103: The Basics of Museum Registration
The Northern States Conservation Center is pleased to announce the return of one of its building-block courses: The Basics of Museum Registration at www.museumclasses.org. This course covers the basics of museum record keeping. This online course begins Jan. 28 and ends Feb. 23, 2008, and cost for the course is $425. 
Peggy Schaller, President of Collections Research for Museums in Denver, Colorado, will be the instructor for the course. She has a BA in Anthropology with minors in Art History and Geology from the University of Arizona in Tucson, a MA in Anthropology with a minor in Museum Studies from the University of Colorado in Boulder.  During the last 13 years, she has worked with numerous museums and institutions and many different types of collections.

MS202: Museum Storage Facilities and Furniture
Museum Storage Facilities and Furniture concentrates on building systems and furniture for storing and protecting collections. Topics include environmental controls, insulation, floor coatings and predicting space requirements. Museum Storage also compares commercial and homemade furniture and provides a blueprint for planning the redesign of your facility, as well as examining storage philosophy, construction requirements, safety and security and planning. A new unit details how commercial museum-quality cabinetry is constructed. Blueprints are provided for high-quality, homemade cabinets. 
Helen Alten, objects conservator and owner of Northern States Conservation Center, St. Paul, Minnesota, will be the instructor. She has been an educator, conservator and trainer since 1986. Ms. Alten received her master’s degree in archaeological conservation and materials science at the Institute of Archaeology, University of London in 1986. She began working with small, rural, and tribal museums as conservator in Montana and Alaska.

For more information about registration for both courses, please contact Helen Alten at helen@collectioncare.org.

Please confirm events specifics with sponsoring organization, especially if traveling any distance. 

Boxley Lecture Series Brings New Programs to Sheridan Indiana in 2008
Three organizations have built an alliance to create and produce an admission-free cultural and heritage program that will have both formal and informal educational opportunities for the Sheridan community.  Sheridan Community Schools and the Sheridan Public Library have joined the Sheridan Historical Society to guide and develop the new lecture forum designed to produce at least one program during the winter months each year.

The Boxley Lecture Series, a tribute to the town’s first settler in 1828, George Boxley, an Virginia-born abolitionist, will offer its first lecture featuring Father Boniface Hardin, O.S.B, founder and president emeritus, Martin University, Indianapolis.  Father Hardin will portray the great abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, on Thurs., Feb. 21, at the Sheridan Middle School Auditorium.  Father Hardin will address grades 4-6 at Sheridan Middle School from 1:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m., then will return to the podium for a free public program at 6:00 p.m. 

According to Brenda Bush, Sheridan Historical Society, the program provides a setting to contribute to life-long learning and produce a school-based initiative that impacts education.  “Speakers who bring their talent and ability in such roles give us the opportunity to explore subjects and gain new understanding—be it the animation of history or a more direct experience with cultural topics,” she explained. 

The new speaker series will be supported by the alliance as well as by program patrons:  Noblesville Daily Times, Sheridan Public Library, Dr. Derek Arrowood, Phillip and Connie Pearson, Vicki Remsen, R. Bradley Little, Bill Stone, Ron Stone, Craig Wallace and David Kendall.  The Series is still accepting patron participation.  The snow date for the Boxley Lecture Series is Thurs., Feb. 28.      
For more information on the Boxley Lecture Series, please contact Brenda Bush, Sheridan Historical Society, (317) 758-5845.

AAM Co-Sponsors Humanities Advocacy Day
Springtime may feel far away for those of us braving ice, snow and infamous "wintery-mixes," but preparation for the annual events Humanities Advocacy Day and Arts Advocacy Day is in full swing. AAM is again participating as a national co-sponsor of both events, helping to ensure that messages about federal support for museums and museum advocates are included in these advocacy activities.
Humanities Advocacy Day will be held March 3-4 in Washington DC. The two-day event is a unique meeting ground for National Humanities Alliance members and humanities advocates, including higher education leaders, college and university faculty, teachers, students, museum professionals, librarians, archivists, curators and independent scholars.  Visit www.nhalliance.org/conference/2008 for more information.

Scholarships for AASLH Workshops
The 2008 AASLH Workshop Series addresses challenges facing today's history professional like museum operations, collections management, digitizing archives, and more! AASLH offers the two types of scholarships for paid employees of history organizations:  Scholarships for New Professionals and Scholarships for Minority Professionals. The application deadline is January 15.

Two scholarships are available for new professionals. Applicants must have been working in the field for three years or less. Two recipients will receive workshop registration fee reimbursement and a one year individual AASLH membership.

Two scholarships are available to applicants who represent a minority group in the U.S. Two recipients will receive workshop registration fee reimbursement and a one year individual AASLH membership.

Visit www.aaslh.org/workshop.htm and scroll down to the bottom of the page to download the scholarship application and to see if you qualify for this unique opportunity.  Contact Bethany Hawkins at 615-320-3203 or hawkins@aaslh.org for more information.

Shelby County Historical Society Donates Rare Theatre Organ
On December 21, the Central Indiana Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society (CIC-ATOS) received a very generous donation from the Shelby County Historical Society of a Louisville Uniphone theatre pipe organ and the funds necessary to restore, install, and maintain the instrument in the historic Strand Theatre in Shelbyville. 

As part of a multi-million dollar restoration of the Strand Theatre, the Louisville Uniphone theatre organ will be installed in the Strand Theatre after rebuilding is completed by the members of CIC-ATOS. This installation will be the only Louisville theatre organ in a theatre anywhere. CIC-ATOS will maintain ownership of the instrument to provide for its continued existence and will maintain the organ for the future benefit of the community.

CIC-ATOS is one of the most successful and active chapters of the now international organization, the American Theatre Organ Society www.atos.org. CIC-ATOS currently owns or maintains three theatre pipe organs in Indianapolis area:  the Warren Performing Arts Center, the Hedback Community Theatre, and Manual High School (which was given to IPS and maintained by CIC-ATOS at no cost to the school system). For more information about CIC-ATOS and its purpose visit www.cicatos.org.

The Great Lakes Museum of Military History Receives Grant for Revolutionary War Exhibit
The Michigan City Enrichment Corporation granted $11,000 to The Great Lakes Museum of Military History.  The grant will fund the only comprehensive Revolutionary War exhibit in the region and is slated to open in April of 2008.  The purpose of The Great Lakes Museum of Military History is to educate people about the military heritage of this and other nations as well as to preserve, restore and display military memorabilia from the Revolutionary War to the present.  The museum is open year-round on Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. and will be open extended hours after Memorial Day.

Elkhart County Historical Society Receives $1,000 IHC Grant
The Indiana Humanities Council gave $1,000 to the Elkhart County Historical Society to develop new educational programs for K-12 students and further expand offerings during special events.  Educational programs available to teachers will include “discovery boxes” of reproduction artifacts, classroom visits and improved museum tours.  New programs “World War II in Elkhart County” and “Comparative Ethnic Studies” will be created and offerings about community development and American Indians will be changed to be more hands-on and focused on learning objectives.

Note from the Editor

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 col@indianahistory.org or 450 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis, IN 46202.