Indiana Experience Field Trip Descriptions

Visit the Indiana Experience at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center in Indianapolis and show your students a new way to live history.

Indiana Experience Field Trip Options

Students will engage in a variety of hands-on activities that can be customized to meet your curriculum needs. Choose as many options as the group's schedule will allow. Estimate that each group of 10 students will spend 15 to 20 minutes in each area. Visit the Plan a Field Trip page to make a reservation today!

You Are There

• You Are There 1939: Healing Bodies, Changing Minds (open Nov. 13 through January 2014) – Make a depression-era visit to Dr. Harvey Middleton's office on Boulevard Place in Indianapolis to see firsthand how this African-American family practitioner and cardiologist cared for his patients. Examine the equipment he used, such as the Sanborn Cardiette Electrocardiograph Machine, and interact wtih the doctor and his visitors as you explore race relations of the day and disparities in access to healthcare.
  Presented by Advantage Health Solutions Inc. and Franciscan St. Francis Health with support from the Marion County Public Health Department and the Indiana State Medical Association
• You Are There 1913: A City Under Water (through February 2014) – Step inside the past and be a part of the activity taking place at Wulf’s Hall Relief Station on the west side of downtown Indianapolis in the days following the Great Flood of 1913. Communities across the Midwest were affected by a variety of weather patterns culminating in a tragic series of events that left many under water. Interact with costumed actors to navigate the choppy waters of local relief efforts while STEM-focused student activities encourage problem-solving and math skills. In advance of your visit, learn about the weather systems that contributed to the Great Flood in this imagined but fact-inspired newscast by WISH-TV. 
  Presented by Citizens Energy Group and the Efroymson Family Fund with support from IPL, the Silver Jackets, American Structurepoint Inc., Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers, Omni Severin Hotel and WISH-TV

More Indiana Experience Field Trip Options

Destination Indiana
Send students on a time-travel journey through IHS’s vast collections with a Destination Indiana visit. Depending on the group’s size, students may guide their own investigations at individual computer stations or journey through Indiana’s past with a facilitated big-screen presentation. Big-screen options include Welcome to Monument Circle, Explore the Monument, The Statehouse, Circle Theater, Traction Terminal, Glimpses of the African-American Experience in Indiana, Mapping Indiana, Civil War and Eli Lilly and Co.
Presented by Verizon Foundation

W. Brooks Fortune History Lab
Take on the role of a conservator and participate in a hands-on paper mending activity in our History Lab, where students will learn how science and history work together in the field of conservation.

INvestigation Stations
Do some detective work with primary sources at our INvestigation Stations. Facilitators will help students discover clues in photographs and documents to solve mysteries of the past.

Other Field Trip Options

Hands-On History Youth Programs
Delve into the Indiana Historical Society collection to find historic items such as explorers' maps, French fur trade journals, Civil War letters, andWorld War II photographs and diaries. This program includes a presentation by William H. Smith Memorial Library staff and a tutorial on using our collection databases to search for items. The 90-minute program is designed for students in grades eight through 12 and includes guided research time in the library. The program fee is $2 per student; no charge for adult chaperones. When combined with an Indiana Experience field trip, the fees are $5 per student; one chaperone is admitted free for every 10 students, and additional adults are $6 per person or $5.50 for seniors. Advance reservations are required.

For elementary student groups a brief presentation in the library is available at no additional charge when combined with admission to the Indiana Experience and a group reservation is made in advance.

Academic Standards
Indiana Experience student group visits are tied to Indiana academic standards for the social studies. Download the Pre-Visit Information Packet for a complete list of standards matches.