Digital Collections

500 Festival

The 500 Festival archival collection is held by the organization in Indianapolis. This digitized collection was created to share the 500 Festival events and traditions with the community.

The online collection includes photos and documents from past and present 500 Festival events and programs.

Allison Transmission

Founded in 1915 by James A. Allison, Allison Transmission is headquartered in Indianapolis with additional manufacturing facilities in Hungary and India. The Allison Transmission archival collection is held by the company at its global headquarters in Indianapolis. This digitized collection was created to share Allison heritage with the community in celebration of the company’s centennial in 2015.

Athenaeum Damenverein & Women's Auxiliary Records, 1876-2007 (Digital)

In 1893 members of the Indianapolis German-American community living on the south side of Indianapolis broke away from the Indianapolis Socialer Turnverein to form the Indianapolis South Side Turners. This organization stressed physical fitness and the preservation of German culture and was a social and cultural center for German-Americans in the southern part of the city. In 1900 the South Side Turners built their hall, equipped with a gymnasium and meeting rooms, at 306 Prospect Street. The group sold the building in 1977 and today is based in German Park on South Meridian Street.

Athenaeum Turners Records, 1880-2002 (Digital)

The Athenaeum Turners is a German-American organization founded in 1851 as the Indianapolis Turngemeinde. Its original emphasis was on promoting physical fitness and intellectual development, advancing the political interests of German-Americans, and preserving German culture. The Athenaeum, the Turners' home since its opening in 1893, served as a gathering place for the Indianapolis German-American community, and members of the Athenaeum Turners were prominent leaders in the political, business, educational, and cultural life of the city.

Civil War: Governor Morton Telegraph Books and Slips

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), Indiana Governor Oliver P.Morton's staff recorded thousands of the governor's incoming andoutgoing telegrams in small, bound books. The governor and his staffcommunicated by telegraph with the highest and most prominentgovernment and military leaders in the North, including PresidentAbraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Researchers willfind many uses of these messages. Historians studying politics andmilitary planning at the highest levels of federal and state governmentduring the Civil War will find many important communications. Personsstudying the organization and actions of Indiana volunteer regimentsand batteries will gain useful insights. Biographers, local historians,and genealogists will all learn much from consulting these records.

Climate Data: Indianapolis, IN 1940-present

In collaboration with the Indianapolis Public Library, University Library digitized a collection of Local Climate Data dating from 1940 to present. The data is recorded from the Indianapolis International Airport (NOAA) and is now available via the web. Also available are several weather related newspaper articles ranging from 1936-1971. Additionally, you can view a dynamic weather calendar to view precipitation and temperature dating back to the late 1800s.

Crispus Attucks Museum

Crispus Attucks was Indianapolis' first segregated high school built for African-Americans in 1927. It was named after Crispus Attucks, a black man who was the first American to die in the Boston Massacre in 1770, a precursor to the American Revolutionary War. In 1986, the school converted from a high school to junior high school. This digital collection captures the history of the high school through its yearbooks (1928-1986), newspapers, and graduation programs. Special thanks to the Crispus Attucks Museum and its Board of Advisors for permission to digitize their valuable collection of historical documents. Special thanks to the Crispus Attucks Museum and its Board of Advisors for permission to digitize their valuable collection of historical documents.

WANTED: Missing Crispus Attucks High School Yearbooks
YEARS: 1930, 1980
Please help IU Indianapolis University Library complete the Digital Crispus Attucks Yearbooks collection.
Contact Information : digsvcs@iu.edu

Flanner House (Indianapolis, Ind.) Records, 1936-1992 (Digital)

The Indiana Historical Society (IHS) and Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) collaborated to establish this digital project pertaining to Flanner House. The approximately 5,000 digitized objects consist of photographic, manuscript, artifact, and printed images from the IHS and IUPUI Flanner House collections and several items related to Flanner House from various collections at the two repositories.

Hackelmeier Memorial Library, Marian University

Marian University is a small academic institution in Indianapolis, Indiana. Though its status as University is still in its infancy, it has much history as a college when it was officially founded in 1937. The archives at Hackelmeier Memorial Library contain within its collection a wealth of information representing the growth of the institution, so it has been a priority of the library to find a way to both preserve and promote that content. One source of such content is a faculty-supervised, student run publication called The Phoenix (spanning the years 1937-1981).

Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory

Every year since 1978 Indiana Landmarks has surveyed from two to four counties, looking for architecturally and historically significant structures and districts. Field surveyors drive every road in the county, identifying, documenting, and photographing historic sites and structures. IU Indianapolis University Library has partnered with the Indiana Landmarks to make out-of-print reports available to the public via the web.

Indiana Landmarks Historic Architecture Collection

A Library Services Technology Grant allowed IU Indianapolis to begin digitization of Indiana Landmarks' slide collection, now making it available to the public. The collection contains images from the early 1960s through present day and captures historic architecture throughout the state. Educators will find the collection useful in documenting architectural styles and Indiana history. Old house enthusiasts will find ideas for paint colors, restoration techniques, and inspiration.

Indiana Repertory Theatre

Collection of photos, playbills, and other items published by and taken for the Indiana Repertory Theatre. The collection includes documents published from 1973 to 2006.

Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center Collection

The Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center annually hosts more than 400 meetings, shows, sports and agricultural events, including its signature event, the Indiana State Fair. Laid out over 250 acres, the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center is home to more than 1,000,000 square feet of event space and offers the most flexible event venues in the state of Indiana

Indianapolis City Directory Collection

City directories contain a wealth of information for genealogists, researchers, and everyday history enthusiasts. These books tell a great deal about our past by including the names and information about residents as well as businesses in Indianapolis through the years. Inside you'll find addresses and occupations of householders, complete business directories, and much more. This collection consists of 14 Indianapolis city directories ranging from 1858-1980.

Indianapolis History

This collection includes a variety of Indianapolis related primary (with limited secondary) resources (photographs and text) dating from late 19th to mid 20th centuries.Example resources include:Indianapolis Power & Light Co. Distribution System Photograph collection, monographs on the history of Indiana such as, The Hoosiers published in 1916, several issue of the Free Soil Banner, and various published and unpublished city of Indianapolis scrapbooks.

Indianapolis Maennerchor Records, 1866-1990 (Digital)

The Indianapolis Maennerchor (men's choir), established in 1854 by German immigrants, is one of the oldest continuously active singing societies in the United States. The Maennerchor was an important organization in the early cultural life of Indianapolis, sponsoring musical events of national importance and bringing prominent singers and musicians to the city.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway boasts an enormous photographic collection with over 4 million negatives in its collection.  Together, IU Indianapolis University Library and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will digitize and create metadata for 6,000 negatives for the collection.  By providing online access to this collection, users will have the opportunity to view and search the collection that would otherwise have to be viewed by coming to the Speedway.

Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center

The Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center (INRC) is a private nonprofit organization that offers training, technical assistance, and coaching to help grassroots neighborhood-based organizations throughout Marion County address issues that impact the quality of life in their neighborhoods. The resources provided by INRC helps to strengthen, develop, and empower neighborhoods.

Indianapolis News

The Indianapolis News began publication on December 7th 1869. For 130 years it was the oldest Indianapolis newspaper and held the largest circulation in the State of Indiana.  IU Indianapolis University Library received funding from the Library Fund, a fund of the Indianapolis Foundation, to digitize the Indianapolis News from 1869-1922. 

Indianapolis Recorder

What began as a two-page church bulletin by co-founders George Pheldon Stewart and William H. Porter, the Indianapolis Recorder is now one of the top African-American publications in the nation. Established in 1897, the Indianapolis Recorder focused on local people and events in Indianapolis but also reported national events. IU Indianapolis University is pleased to present the Indianapolis Recorder Digital Collection. Providing access to the 1899-2005 run of the Indianapolis Recorder will have an impact on researchers from all walks of life. Whether you are a family historian, an academic researcher or part of the media, this collection will help you search for and access historically important stories of African-Americans individuals, organizations, and events in Indianapolis, Indiana in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Indianapolis Sanborn Map and Baist Atlas Collection

This collection consists of several large-scale color maps from the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries, depicting the commercial, industrial, and residential sections of Indianapolis, Indiana. These maps were originally produced for insurance underwriters, who used them to determine risks and establish premiums. Today they are used by scholars and researchers in such fields as history, urban geography, architectural history and preservation, ethnic studies, and urban archaeology.

Indianapolis South Side Turners Records, 1893-1956 (Digital)

In 1893 members of the Indianapolis German-American community living on the south side of Indianapolis broke away from the Indianapolis Socialer Turnverein to form the Indianapolis South Side Turners. This organization stressed physical fitness and the preservation of German culture and was a social and cultural center for German-Americans in the southern part of the city. In 1900 the South Side Turners built their hall, equipped with a gymnasium and meeting rooms, at 306 Prospect Street. The group sold the building in 1977 and today is based in German Park on South Meridian Street. These photographs are part of the Indianapolis South Side Turners Records held by the IUPUI University Library Ruth Lilly Special Collections and Archives.

Inland Steel Company Image Collection

Inland Steel Company, founded in 1893 in Chicago, arrived first in northwest Indiana, establishing its Indiana Harbor Works in 1901 in East Chicago, Indiana. A very large and important source of historical information about the local steel industry is the Inland Steel Company Photograph Collection housed in the Calumet Regional Archives at Indiana University Northwest. Inland Steel created a visual materials collection comprising over one million images, including prints, negatives, slides and transparencies. Select images from this huge collection are presented here for use by students, scholars, and the general public.

IU Indianapolis Image Collection

This collection of digital images visually represents IUPUI's and IU Indianapolis' history and development as a teaching facility, an academic institution, a continually transforming campus, and a group of ever growing students, faculty, and staff.

IUPUI Community: Documenting Life During the Pandemic

This digital collection aims to document the impact that the Coronavirus pandemic has made to the daily lives of people affiliated with IUPUI (students, staff, faculty). With this collection, we are capturing the challenges faced by the IUPUI community during this time.

Neighborhood of Saturdays

“The Neighborhood of Saturdays” is a collaborative research project undertaken by the Department of Anthropology at IU Indianapolis along with a number of community-based organizations, including the Concord Neighborhood Center, Etz Chaim Sephardic Congregation, the Southside Picnic Committee and the Babe Denny Neighborhood Organization.  Through oral history interviews and archival research, students are reconstructing a portrait of this unique Indianapolis neighborhood, located on the near Southside, that was once home to a range of immigrant groups as well as to significant populations of African-Americans and Appalachians.

Phoenix Theatre

Collection of photos, playbills, and other items published by and taken for the Indiana Phoenix Theatre. The collection includes documents published from 1983 to 2001.

Ransom Place

This collection consists of various pieces of material culture collected from anthropology professor Paul Mullins and his archaeology field school participants. The items have been recovered from various locations in and around the IU Indianapolis campus, and depict an active and vibrant African-American community that once inhabited the area.

Road to Indiana Statehood

The Indiana Supreme Court and the Indiana Historical Bureau are collaborating on a major project to gather in one place copies of original documents and research materials relating to Indiana's constitutional history. The IU Indianapolis University Library has digitized and organized the material to make it user-friendly and fully searchable, and serves as the host for this Web-based material.

Service through Sponge Cake

The digital collection of cookbooks is a collaborative effort between the University Library and the Indianapolis Public Library and will focus on Indiana cookbooks dating from the turn-of-the-century, with a special emphasis on fundraising cookbooks published by churches, synagogues and other community organizations. The University Library has created the community cookbook collection using unique materials from the Indianapolis Public Library's collection of historic Indiana cookbooks.

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis Digital Archives

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis Digital Archives contributes to the Museum’s Mission statement “to create extraordinary learning experiences” by providing care and access to a diverse range of digital historical records. These assets include but are not limited to: history of The Children’s Museum Guild, annual reports, exhibit development documents, newsletters and bulletins, historical reference books, photographs of exhibits, staff and events.

Womankind

Running from 1977 to 1983, WOMANKIND was a local feminist newspaper, conceived by, and published for women. Many of the writers have IU Indianapolis roots including founding, regular author and IU Indianapolis English professor, Rebecca Pitts. The newspaper includes editorials, research, poetry, stories, ads, and reviews of local exhibitions.