Processed by
Stephen J. Fletcher
16 April 1996
Revised by Dorothy Nicholson
30 June 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
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VOLUME OF |
1 box of 8 x 10 glass plate negatives, one folder of copy prints |
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COLLECTION |
Ca. 1913–1916 |
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PROVENANCE: |
Leslie Hedman, Shelbyville, Indiana |
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RESTRICTIONS: |
Glass plates may be viewed only with the assistance of library staff. |
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COPYRIGHT: |
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REPRODUCTION |
Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. |
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ALTERNATE |
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RELATED |
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ACCESSION |
1986.0794 |
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NOTES: |
Previously processed and cataloged as Shelbyville Glass Plate Negatives, ca. 1913–c. 1916 |
At the beginning of the twentieth century Muncie, Indiana, was a successful manufacturing center located in Delaware County. It was a county rich in agricultural resources and was in the midst of an era of prosperity brought on by the 1886 discovery of a large natural gas deposit, at that time the largest in the world.
The county seat for Delaware County, Muncie is located northeast of Indianapolis on the banks of White River. First laid out in 1827, its population exceeded 22,000 by 1895. Muncie was a trade center for agriculture and manufacturing, with railroad connections throughout the Midwest. The city had twelve schools, a public library, an “Electric Lighting Plant” owned by the city; a water works for fire protection with a paid fire department, a complete system of electric street railroads, three daily papers, numerous churches, and benevolent and social organizations. With cheap natural gas fueling its iron and glass industries, local wages were good and the majority of residents owned their homes.
Sources:
Haimbaugh, Frank D. History of Delaware County, Indiana. Historical Publishing Com. 1924. General Collection: F532.D3 H3 1924.
Kemper, G. W. H. History of Delaware County, Indiana. Indianapolis: Historical Publishing Com., 1924. General Collection: F532.D3 H3 1924.
Muncie of Today : Its Commerce, Trade, and Industries : Descriptive and Historical. Muncie, Ind.: Muncie Times, 1895. General Collection: F534.M94 M8 1895.
Muncie City Directory. [Muncie, Ind?]: Emerson Directory Co., 1923–1924. General Collection: F534.M94 A18.
The 26 images in this collection are contained in one box of 8 x 10 glass plate negatives and one folder of copy prints made from those negatives. The photographs were taken around the beginning of the twentieth century. They are mostly unidentified images of groups, portraits, street scenes, post mortems, store interiors, and office workers. There was no accompanying documentation with this donation of glass plates and the photographer is not identified.
Because the donor is from Shelbyville, Indiana, it was originally thought that the images are views of Shelbyville. With close examination of the glass plates during the reprocessing there were clues that some of the images are from Muncie, Indiana. Glass plate 3029 is a cutaway of a tool with the word “Muncie” inscribed on it; image 3718 is the office of “Dr. F. E. Hill”; image 3918 is identified on its verso as the “Muncie Foundry”; and image 3917 is identified as “Inter State.” Sources on Muncie history confirm that there was a “Muncie Foundry and Machine Works” and a “Dr. Frank E. Hill” at 215 W. Jackson Street in Muncie at that time. The city directory notes an “Inter State Doctors” listed at 5-7 Neely Blk in Muncie. Other images of streets and buildings do not contain signs that would help identify their locations.
The dates for the collection were approximated by the subjects in two of the images. In negative number 3728, a man and woman are shown in an office. A Sears, Roebuck, and Company Catalog Number 132 is on the shelf below the adding machine being used by the woman. This catalog was issued in the spring of 1916. Given this date from the catalog, the flood scene is likely to be a view of the 1913 Flood. These two dates serve as the approximate dates for the collection.
Most of the images are numbered and their order was maintained by the processor. The numbers are very faint and can be found written in pencil on the verso of the negatives.
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CONTENTS |
CONTAINER |
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26 copy photographs of glass plates |
Photographs, Folder 1 |
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[crowd gathered along flooded streets along interurban lines] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[post mortem—“Papa”] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[cow at barn No. 1 with crowd of people taking notes] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[gears displayed along a wall] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[winter street scene] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[building destroyed by fire] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[cutaway of tool, “Muncie” is inscribed on tool] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[portrait of a woman sitting by piano] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[portrait of a woman by window, same woman as above] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[flowers and portrait in home, appear to be for a funeral] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[office and house of Dr. F. E. Hill with automobile in driveway, 215 W. Jackson, Muncie, Indiana] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[appliances in department store] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[man at adding machine in office] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[three men standing] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[department store interior] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[man and woman in office] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[side and rear exterior of house] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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“Parker” [family portrait] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[man operating phonograph] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[view of closed phonograph] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[view of phonograph open and ready to play] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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“Inter State” Doctors [5-7 Neely Blk, Muncie, Indiana, interior of industrial building] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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“Muncie Foundry” and Machine Co. [interior view showing shelves] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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“Glascasks” (?) [interior view] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[interior view related to 3919?] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
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[group of women in front of church] |
Glass Plate Negatives, |
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://opac.indianahistory.org/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, P 0220).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.