Cover of a pamphlet showing a map

Indiana History

About the Collection

Indiana history materials at the Lilly Library offer many paths for the curious Hoosier.

You can peruse printed accounts by early visitors to Indiana, publications and manuscripts concerning the Harmony society and the community established at New Harmony in the early nineteenth century by Robert Owen, as well as business, political, and family papers.

Business records include the papers of long-running firms like the Howard Ship Yards and Dock Company and the Cannelton Cotton Mill, businesses founded in the middle of the nineteenth century that continued well into the twentieth, as well as the papers of businessman Edward A. Rumely. Among the papers relating to Indiana politics are those of attorney John B. Niles, Governor Samuel M. Ralston, and WPA State Administrator John K. Jennings.

Images of early Indiana are found in the Lefevre Cranstone wash drawings executed in 1859 and 1860. The Frank Hohenberger photograph collection records daily life in southern Indiana during the first half of the twentieth century.

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Six men sitting on a park bench, viewed from behind, photograph known as "Liar's Bench."
Digitized Collection
Frank Hohenberger photographs

Photographer and newspaperman Frank Hohenberger spent forty-seven years recording the life, customs, and scenes of the hills of Brown County, Indiana. 

Map of Crawford County, overlaid by a grid, drawn by Hazen Pleasant.
Digitized Collection
Indiana History manuscripts

Letters, legal and business records, diaries, and church records. Civil War diaries and a history of brewing in Indiana. We've got lots to explore, and much of the collection has been digitized.

Wendell Willkie, standing in the back of a convertible, waving to the crowd during a campaign visit.
Finding Aid
Wendell L. Willkie papers

Hoosier attorney and businessman Wendell L. Willkie ran against Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election. He lost that race, but rose to prominence as an informal envoy of FDR and a proponent of international engagement and civil rights.

Three dollar bill issued by the Boone County Bank featuring an American eagle with wings spread.
Exhibition Catalogue
One hundred and fifty years : an exhibit commemorating the sesquicentennial of Indiana statehood.

A thematic overview of Indiana history materials in the Lilly Library, covering business, war, agriculture, transportation, politics, and literature.

Yellowed flyer announcing a talk by Powers Hapgood
General Information
Indiana Politics - related manuscript collections

An annotated list of manuscript collections related to politics in Indiana, from the early days of statehood to the twentieth century.

Great Depression era children sitting around a wooden table sharing a meal
Online Exhibition
The Works Projects Administration in Indiana

Drawing from materials donated by John K. Jennings, Indiana's WPA administrator during the late 1930's and early 1940's, this online exhibition highlights some of the many projects undertaken by the WPA in Indiana during Jennings' tenure as state administrator.

Figure in toga reading a book, surrounded by symbols of art, sculpture, geography, architecture, industry, and the like
Online Exhibition
Building Jerusalem in America: William Ashton and a Trans-Atlantic Utopia

Online exhibition focusing on the history of William Ashton and the utopian colony known as the Manchester Social Community Company.