Primary Source: "Marker Season" begins in earnest!

Welcome, Spring!

It's finally May, which means it's "Marker Season."  This is the time of year that people venture forth, sans worry about snow or icy temperatures, and begin documenting, repairing, dedicating, and applying for State Historical Markers. 

We're busy evaluating Intent to Apply forms, attending marker dedications, offering special extended hours in the IHB Book Shop for State Library events, and recruiting volunteers to participate in the Marker Hunt and marker repair projects.  And we couldn't do any of it without you!

Historical Marker Dedications

Marker Season's getting off to a great start!  Casey attended the rededication of The Birthplace of Wilbur Wright marker in late April and two new Indiana State Historical Markers, "Froebel School," and "Carl Fisher" are slated to go up this month.

"Froebel School" will be dedicated May 9 at 11 AM (CDT) in Gary.  Learn More.

At 5 PM (EDT) on May 16, "Carl Fisher" will be dedicated in Greensburg.  Learn More.

Volunteers Needed Move over "Find a Marker!"  We're beta-testing a new tool over at Marking Hoosier History.  Search Marked History will allow you to find markers based on a variety of criteria, including location, condition, and topic keyword.  We're still putting the finishing touches on database entries, but we'd love for you to try it out and let us know what you think of the functionality of the program, which is the result of a service learning project at Ball State University.  Contact Aimee to volunteer as a beta tester this month.

Shop @ IHB

Mother's Day is right around the corner, and we have fresh-picked (that is, freshly-chosen) blown glass flowers in an array of Spring hues and other great Indiana-made gifts for Mom available in the shop this month. 

On pins and needles Our most requested item lately has been lapel pins featuring the Indiana State House.  We've been surprised at the number of people who collect them. We're happy to announce that we will soon have an Indiana-made pewter pin (see Jill's design above) depicting the State House.  It's a custom item from Indiana Metalcraft in Bloomington, IN.   Pre-order your pins by sending an email to Nicole.

Markers Refreshed for 2016

Volunteers are working to refresh markers in Boone, Carroll, and Morgan counties. A huge thanks to our repair volunteers past, present, and future for helping Indiana look her best for the Bicentennial!

If you're interested in helping spruce up markers in your county in time for 2016, contact Casey via email or at 317-233-8940.

What We're Reading

Get a peek behind the scenes, and maybe discover a new resource with this list of the things open on our desks and desktops right now.  Click the links to find the books in a library.

James B. Lane's City of the Century: A History of Gary, Indiana.

Pure Food: Securing the Federal Food and Drugs Act of 1906 by James Harvey Young.

L. C. Rudolph's Hoosier Faiths: A History of Indiana’s Churches and Religious Groups.

The Governors of Indiana edited by Linda C. Gugin and James E. St. Clair.