Drawings + Documents Archive receives grant to digitize the Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings

The Drawings + Documents Archive was recently awarded an Institute of Museum and Library Services Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant in the amount of $14,980 to digitize the Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation Landscape Architectural Drawings Collection held at the Drawings + Documents Archive in the College of Architecture and Planning. The collection chronicles the development of the extensive park and boulevard system in Indiana’s largest metropolitan area from the 19th century to the mid-20th century, and provides an unparalleled look into the creation of both major destination parks and small neighborhood parks, as well as the tree-lined boulevards that transverse the city thoroughfares. 

The LSTA grant will provide funds to hire a project assistant, purchase supplies, and digitize 3 damage assessment rolls, 1, 400 landscape, engineering, and architectural drawings and presentation boards, and 2,345 aperture cards for over 200 Indianapolis parks, parkways, golf courses, bridges, boulevards, playgrounds, amphitheaters, stadiums, greenhouses, and other public facilities managed by the Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation from 1898 to 1988. The majority of the collection dates from 1900-1920. After over 100 years in storage, expect the collection to debut online in 2017.

Images: Fall Creek proposed grade, bed stream drawing, 1914; Tarkington Park tennis courts site plan, 1959. Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation Drawings, Drawings + Documents Archive, Ball State University.

Indiana State Library receives NEH grant to digitize historic Indiana newspapers

This will be a boon to architecture historians who currently have to squint through viewing reels of microfilms, or worse, turn the crumbling pages of 100 year-old newspapers, to find information on the structures reported on in the papers. Representatives from Ball State University Libraries will be on the project's advisory group.

From the Indiana State Library's press release:

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded a $293,157 grant to the Indiana State Library to digitize Indiana’s historically significant newspapers. Indiana joins 25 states participating in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the NEH, the Library of Congress and participating states to provide enhanced access to American newspapers published between 1836 and 1922. Newspapers digitized as part of this two-year project will be included in the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America Database (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/).

“This grant is crucial to the State’s efforts to provide optimal public access to Indiana’s historical documents and cultural heritage,” said Jim Corridan, State Archivist and Associate Director of the Indiana State Library. “The State Library houses millions of copies of historic Hoosier newspapers and this initiative will enable Hoosiers instant access to these collections via the internet.”

The Indiana State Library will be assisted on the project by an advisory group of representatives from the Indiana Commission on Public Library, the Indiana Historical Bureau, Ball State University, the Hoosier Press Foundation, the Indiana Historical Society, the Indiana University School of Journalism and Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. The advisory group will develop criteria for inclusion of historic papers and ultimately select the newspapers to be digitized.

In addition to the Indiana papers presence in the Chronicling America Database, the digitized papers will also be available through Indiana Memory (http://www.indianamemory.org/) – a collaborative effort to provide access to the wealth of primary sources in Indiana libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions. Indiana Memory's mission is to create and maintain a digital library that enables free public access to Indiana's unique cultural and historical heritage. Through information and pictures found in digitized books, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, maps, and other digital materials available on the Indiana Memory website, the program seeks to enhance education and scholarship of Indiana's past. As a portal to the collections, Indiana Memory assists individuals to locate materials relevant to their interests and to better appreciate the connections between those materials.

Indiana Humanities and Indiana Landmarks award nearly $20,000 to 11 organizations for architectural guides, cultural experiences and more

INDIANAPOLIS (June 7, 2011)-Indiana Humanities and Indiana Landmarks have awarded grants of up to $2,000 to 11 nonprofit organizations. Grants were awarded to organizations across Indiana, from South Bend to Evansville. The grants will enable a variety of projects including a guide to sites of importance in South Bend's African American Civil Rights history, walking tour brochures for historic districts in Greencastle, New Albany and South Bend, and a four-day Native American Miami language and culture experience for children.

Indiana Humanities and Indiana Landmarks have each provided at least $10,000 annually to the program for more than 15 years.

2011 Historic Preservation Education Grantees are:

* Indianapolis Fire Station 32 Brochure; Broad Ripple Alliance for Progress, Indianapolis
* The Monon Depot: We're Still Here; Carmel Clay Historical Society, Carmel
* Washington Avenue Educational Brochure; Department of Metropolitan Development, City of Evansville, Evansville
* East Spring Street Historic District - Midtown Walking Tour Brochure; Develop New Albany, Inc., New Albany
* Then and Now: A Downtown South Bend Architecture Walking Tour; Downtown South Bend, Inc., South Bend
* Farmland Historic District Preservation Design Guidelines; Farmland Historic Preservation Commission, Farmland
* Greencastle Historic Districts Walking Tour Brochures; Heritage Preservation Society of Putnam County, Greencastle
* Indiana Lincoln Highway Interpretive Driving Guide; Indiana Lincoln Highway Association, South Bend
* South Bend African American Civil Rights Landmarks Tour; Indiana University, South Bend
* Architectural Tour of Historic Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College; Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
* Kiikiionka Eewansaapita - Fort Wayne Language and Culture Experience; Whitley County Historical Society, Columbia City

Indiana Humanities provides two annual grant programs: Historic Preservation Education Grants, in partnership with Indiana Landmarks, which supports educational projects related to historic structures; and Humanities Initiative Grants, given to nonprofit organizations to conduct public programs emphasizing the humanities. Humanities Initiative Grants are awarded twice a year-the next deadline is Aug. 1.

Congratulations to all of this year's grant recipients!