Voices from the IU Bicentennial

Returning to Our Roots: The New IU Farm

Posted on May 25, 2017 by sajacobi

By: Caroline Wickes, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2017, History and Environmental and Sustainability Studies, Bloomington

Sometimes I miss seeing cornfields. The Bloomington area, unglaciated and hilly, doesn’t have the same symmetrical rows as the rest of Indiana. Of course, there is quite a lot of local food to be found—as any community gardener, farmer’s market visitor, or morel hunter will tell you.

On campus, there’s the Hilltop Garden and Nature Center, which is home to an indigo field, honey bees, and community plots. In the town of Bloomington, there are a myriad of urban gardening programs that provide fresh local foods, but unlike my hometown, there is not a single “farm” in sight.

Indiana corn fields. Courtesy of Purdue University.

That’s going to change very soon, as a grant was recently approved for an IU Campus Farm. The project, headed by Lea Woodward and James Farmer, intends to provide a space for classes, research, and sustainable food production.

The farm will simultaneously provide fresh local food as well as an impactful learning environment. Located just off campus at the historic Hinkle-Garton Farmstead on East 10^th street, the farm can be easily reached by bike or bus. The farm seems to be the next logical step for IU as we look towards a more sustainable food future, but it also recalls our campus’ past.

A lot of the land that is now the town of Bloomington, the IU campus, and the surrounding county was farmland until the early 20^th century when the introduction of new farming technology rendered farming in hilly Southern Indiana less efficient and less profitable than tractor-navigable flatlands.

Furthermore, the growth of Indiana University and Bloomington provided more diverse job opportunities. It shifted from a rural agrarian commonwealth to an intellectual community, and education and research, rather than agricultural crops, became the primary product.

A 1957 junior gardening class at Hilltop Gardening Center. Photo courtesy of IU Archives P0026832.

The prevailing mindset in the West is that nature is somehow “other.” We have mentally compartmentalized and physically managed wildness so that nature is separate from the human world. Nature has become something we visit on occasion and often with great enjoyment, like a long-distance lover who you see once every few months. We have shaped our own physical environment to give material comfort by controlling and manipulating nature.

In this process, we have left behind a vital connection with the natural world as more and more of it becomes dominated by human concerns. Gardening and farm work subvert this separation by reminding us of the depth of our reliance on soil, water, and sunshine. There is no more tangible example of reciprocity than tending a seed.

Indiana University has developed a fine balance of institutional space and natural space, though our nature is well manicured. Green spaces interlaced through campus make students and faculty happier and provide habitats for birds, rabbits, and our beloved campus squirrels. Walking to class on a crisp fall day is heavenly, there are few things more magical than watching fresh snow frost the bright red clock towers, and spring brings bursts of fresh flowers.

The campus landscape is meant to aesthetically please us and emotionally sustain us, but most of the plants are ornamental and do not produce edible fruits as they did in the past.

Originally our campus was mostly farmland because families needed to farm to support themselves. Andrew Wylie, the first president of the university, maintained a farm on his property near the old Seminary Square campus. In 1884 the University moved to its current location and purchased the Dunn family farm.

For the university to be built, the existing farms had to be transformed. In 1915 faculty, staff, and students cut down 200 apples trees to make room for a new gymnasium. There was a bonfire and festivities surrounding the event. While this might seem a little untoward, at the time there was no shortage of apple trees, but there was not a gymnasium to accommodate the students.

IU President William Lowe Bryan and his wife Charlotte participate in the removal of 200 apple trees in 1915. Photo courtesy of IU Archives P0020482.

When the United States entered World War I two short years later, every available foot of ground space on campus was used to produce food for the war effort. The university community became involved in production, and classes were held on horticulture. Courses titled “Food and the War,” “Foundations of Food and Nutrition,” and “Conservation of Foods” popped up in the catalog.

Again, during World War II, victory gardens dotted the campus landscape. Botany professor Paul Weatherwax used his victory garden for the experimental raising of castor beans and Russian dandelion rubber for the U.S. government. In 1948, the Hilltop Garden and Nature Center was founded by biology professor Barbara Schalucha.

Professor Weatherwax in his experimental garden in 1943. Photo courtesy of IU Archives P0039458.

A one acre alfalfa field that belonged to botany department was redesigned to be a community children’s garden. Hilltop has become an educational and recreational gardening hub for students and the local community.

Football coach Bo McMillin in his 1943 victory garden. Photo courtesy of IU Archives P0045186.

Indiana University’s landscape has changed drastically over the years. A lot of that change can be attributed to meeting the needs of the community. Farmland was transformed into university spaces as more and more students sought out a quality education.

Now, our campus landscape serves as a refuge and provides a reprieve from today’s fast paced world. As we move forward and assess the needs of the community, it is time to turn once more to the issue of food production.

As our global population increases and the threat of a warming planet looms, the issue of sustainable food production has become ever more pressing. As a research institution, we have the power to address these issues from a methodological perspective.

As a community, we have the responsibility to care for the health and wellbeing of each other and of the planet. This year, Indiana University decided to move forward with a proposal for a campus farm. The farm will serve the IU community by producing food and by providing a crucial space for research and teaching.

In a way, we are coming full circle by returning to farming, but we are also moving forward. Our needs have changed throughout the years and we have changed to accommodate them. Some needs, however, remain central. As human beings, we crave a connection to the past, to ourselves, and to the world around us.

By planting a seed, we satisfy this need for connectivity, by eating the fruits of our labor we satisfy our bodies, and by doing this all as sustainably as possible we satisfy the earth’s need as well. The IU Campus Farm is that seed, and I look forward to watching it grow.

Read more about the creation of IU’s natural spaces here: https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/04/13/the-creation-of-ius-natural-spaces/

https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/05/25/ius-biological-field-station-podcast/

https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/05/25/explore-the-lilly-dickey-woods/

Sources

Steinson, B. (1994). Rural life in Indiana, 1800-1950. Indiana Magazine of History. Vo 90 (3).

Schalucha, B. (1987). The garden named hilltop.

Schweir, C. (2014). New themester exhibit- food on the home front: Wartime production, preservation and deprivation on the IU campus. Indiana University Archives Blog.

Farmer, J., Woodard, L. (2017). Planting the seed: IU campus farm at the Hinkle-Garton farmstead.

Explore the Lilly-Dickey Woods

Posted on May 25, 2017 by sajacobi

By: Caroline Wickes, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2017, History and Environmental and Sustainability Studies, Bloomington

Let’s go for a drive. We’re going about twenty miles or so from IU’s campus. It’s a sunny spring day—the kind of day that feels sacrilegious to spend inside. We are headed through the hills of Brown County, just beyond Greasy Creek on Bear Wallow Road. We arrive at a place you’ve probably never even heard of, much less visited. Step outside, close the car door behind you, and breathe in the beauty of the Lilly-Dickey Woods.

Mushrooms seem to spring from every crevice, a thick underbrush carpets the forest floor, and proud oak trees soar like giants to the sky. As you look out on the world beyond the bounds of the trail, you might think you had stumbled into some prehistoric forest or at least some swathe of nature untrammeled by man. That is, until you catch the glimmer of a tree band or a marker from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

You see, even though we seem to be in a secret world, we are still sort of at IU, because this 550 acre plot of land belongs to the IU Research and Teaching Preserve. IU owns a lot of land, but this land is something extra special.

The trees here are some of the oldest in Brown County, with the most elderly canopy trees clocking in at around 150 years old. Because this forest was allowed to age without much logging we can see in these woods a natural history of the land. As we continue our hike we come across an old fire tower, a large white house on a hill, and cement blocks where flags used to stand. There is a deep human history here as well.

In 1942, J.K. and Lila Lilly sold 374 acres of their property to the university for $1. Eleven days later Marcus and Julia Dickey sold their adjoining 151 acres to the university at the same price. The Lillys and the Dickeys gave their land with the agreement that it was to be kept in a natural state and used for botanical research and art studies. Indiana University accepted the land with this understanding.

The spot where bears used to wallow in the mud.

That is not where our story starts, however. The Lilly-Dickey woods have been important to many people and its history is an integral part of Brown County lore. Lilly’s land was called “Hamblen Forest” after Jesse Hamblen, who settled in Brown County in 1825 and lent his name to nearby Hamblen Township.

The Dickey property was called “Bear Wallow Orchard” because it is said that bears used to ascend the highest hill where a depression at the top collected mud. The bears would wallow in the mud puddle to cool off on sticky summer days.

Local lore states that the first visitor to these woods was a Native American chief named Kind-eye, from the Kanawha river region in West Virginia, who pitched his tepee there atop Bear Wallow hill. Reportedly, Kind-eye found the area so abundant and beautiful that he stayed and was visited by the Delaware tribe from Muncie every year so that they could also hunt the verdant hills. However, this story is largely unsubstantiated and no evidence of Native American activity has been found on the property.

The Delaware tribe of Muncie has no record of continually venturing much farther south than Marion County, and the story of Kind-eye as a chief only appears in Brown County legends.

Why then does this story continue to be told? Perhaps it speaks to the significance of this land to the people of Brown County. There is a sense that it must have always been significant to someone. There is pride associated with the history of the people and the land we love. Though it is not likely that these legends are true, it is important to recognize the way they have shaped the local understanding of Bear Wallow’s importance.

We do know, however, that the first settlers arrived in Brown County around 1820, and that by 1830, the 400 people living there decided to form Hamblen Township. Settlers continue to move into the area and its population boomed to 2,364 in 1840. Leonidas S. Alders was the first person to make a home on Bear Wallow hill.

He was born in 1819 in Virginia and moved to Hamblen County in his twenties where he became a school teacher in the town. He was engaged once, but his sweetheart reportedly died the night before the wedding, and so he lived out his days there alone. Alders surrounded his cabin with spruce trees and lived there until his death in 1893.

In 1905, the Dickeys acquired the Bear Wallow property. The next year they built their own home on the top of the hill and dubbed it the “House of 30 Windows.” The house, which still stands, served as a getaway for Marcus and Isabelle Dickey.

Marcus Dickey was the personal secretary of Indiana poet James Whitcomb Riley. Dickey, born in 1859, met Riley when they were both in school at Fairmount Academy in Grant County.

He spent much of his time booking Riley for speaking engagements and traveling the country promoting his poetry. After Riley’s death in 1916, Dickey spent more of his time in Bear Wallow writing a two-part biography about the deceased poet.

The Dickeys spent a great deal of time around artists. During their time in southern Indiana, the Dickeys became close friends with famous Indiana artist T.C. Steele and his wife Selma.

T.C. Steele wrote in a May 6, 1907 diary entry that, “Mr. Dickey is over at Bear Wallow for two or three days, and learning I was here, sent over his ‘Hello! And good luck.’ I only wish he were nearer to us. We do not want many people though. We are running away from towns and people, for the hills and woods and the sky, and we can get people when we want them.”

The Dickeys identified with the Steeles as they regarded their rural lifestyles as a refuge from their busy professional lives.

Selma Steele and Isabelle Dickey both decried the cutting and hauling of timber in Brown County which was reflected in the maintenance of the Dickey property. The trees at Bear Wallow were considered virgin timber and there is no recorded cutting of any of the forest since the Civil War.

The Dickeys were exceedingly fond of the trees in the area, naming many of them. Thirteen of the Norway spruce that Leonidas Alders planted around his cabin were still living when they moved there.

The Dickeys named them after the thirteen colonies, calling the smallest “Little Rhoda” for Rhode Island. They also named the tall soaring beech trees the ‘Cathedral Beeches’ because they created a veritable outdoor church.

In 1921, the Dickeys transferred a portion of Hamblen Forest to J.K. Lilly who built a road and a fire tower on the property. The fire tower, which remains standing, provided a bird’s eye view of the property and allowed a watcher to survey the area for any potential fires.

Another 200 acres were purchased from the Brummett family. Several railings on the fire tower bear the inscription “From Mr. Lilly c/o Mr. Dickey” and it appears as if Dickey acted as a sort of caretaker of the Lilly property as well.

Unknown Photographer. Undated. A man standing on the old fire tower at Bear Wallow, which was replaced by JK Lilly in the early 1920s.

The Lillys never built a house on the land, but J.K. Lilly is noted to have enjoyed hiking in Brown County. In 1938 when hiking in southern Indiana with his associates, Lilly came across a clearing at the top of a hill with a beautiful view. He advised his associates, “Always cut a place for a lookout. Always have a vista.”

The advice to always find high ground in order to understand the whole picture is still a guiding principle of the Lilly Endowment, which is a charity foundation established by J.K. and his sons.

The land meant a lot to the Lilly’s and the Dickey’s and to the people of Brown County who visited the land for hikes, gatherings, and parties. When the Dickeys and the Lillys decided to transfer the land over to the university, it was understood that it would be kept natural. This was important to both families, who saw the beauty of the woods.

Indiana University was held to this promise in 1972 when Indiana Bell Telephone planned to construct a phone line running through the property. The line would provide Nashville, Indiana residents with better connectivity and the most expedient route cut straight through the property.

Lilly wrote Herman B Wells, saying that the line “might very well spoil the purpose of the gift of this land, which was to preserve the ecology and the wildlife of this area.” The university had already granted an easement of the land to the telephone company, however.

There was an uproar among environmentalists, the people of Brown County, and the IU community. Protesters claimed that building a power line would spoil the pristine setting of Lilly-Dickey Woods and that instillation on steep slopes would cause erosion damage.

The telephone company decided not to use the easement after meeting with environmental groups and cited ecological reasons for the halt in construction. Again, the value of this land to the local people of Brown County became apparent in their willingness to fight for it.

Part of that love for the Lilly-Dickey Woods might have been spurred by its use as a boy scout retreat and hikers haven. After the land was transferred to IU, it was leased to Ken Tuxhorn from 1949 to 2013 through his company Outdoor Educational Activities Inc. The Dickey house was used as a hostel for large groups and Tuxhorn designed many unique trails including the Flags of the Nations trail which included flags from every country.

Tuxhorn encountered public controversy for including all flags and was pressured into removing flags of communist countries, which he begrudgingly did. He saw the trail system as a way to inspire unity and to expose young children to the broader world. Tuxhorn also provided small prizes for completing hikes, with some of his trails clocking in at over 20 miles in hilly terrain.

The House of 30 Windows served as a home to the Tuxhorn family of Ken, Barbara, their two children, and to countless boy scouts and hikers who populated the main level on the weekends. For many children, it was the first experience they had with hiking.

With Tuxhorn’s passing there was increased interest in the future of the Lilly-Dickey woods. In 2001 Indiana University established the Research and Teaching Preserve with the purpose of providing field-based formats for environmental research and experiential education.

In 2003 the Lilly-Dickey woods were incorporated into the preserve. The pristine land provided a unique opportunity for research, and in 2009 it became a part of the Smithsonian Institute’s Center for Tropical Forest Science database that provides models for understanding carbon storage and regeneration dynamics. Such research is made possible by one factor—the advanced age of the forest.

Throughout the years, so many different populations have fought for the preservation of the Lilly-Dickey Woods. Whether we look to Isabelle Dickey’s hatred of logging, to the environmental groups who protested any alterations, or to Ken Tuxhorn who introduced generations of youth to the beauties of nature, there are many who saw the value in leaving the trees as they were.

Their efforts have produced a scientifically significant forest ecosystem that can help us to understand the world around us. The information held in the trees allows for a glimpse into the past, and possibly into the future as well.

But, even without all the data sets, this land is a window into the past. The old telegraph lines, the inscribed fire tower, the house full of windows, and the land so lightly touched but so beloved.

The Lilly-Dickey woods serve as an example of a symbiotic relationship between the forest and us. This special piece of Indiana University’s campus may be far from the Old Crescent, but it is just as much a part of us and our Hoosier identity.

Read more about the creation of IU’s natural spaces here: https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/04/13/the-creation-of-ius-natural-spaces/

https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/05/25/ius-biological-field-station-podcast/

https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/05/25/returning-to-our-roots-the-new-iu-farm/

All images are courtesy of Frank M. Hohenberger Collection Lilly Library unless otherwise noted.

Primary Sources:

U.S., Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863-1865, Leonidas S Alders.

U.S., Find A Grave Index, Leonidas S Alders.

Lilly Endowment, Executive Message, Lilley Endowment Annual Report 2013.

Blanchard, C. (1884). Counties of Morgan, Monroe, and Brown, Indiana: Historical and biographical. Chicago, IL: F.A. Battey & Co. Publishers.

Perry, R., Steele, S., Steele, T., Peat, W. (1966). The house of the singing winds: The life and work of T.C. Steele. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana Historical Society Press.

Hudson, N. (12/18/1972). PSI woods buy hot campus issue. Indiana Daily Student.

Obituary . (10/26/1950). Marcus Dickey obit. Indianapolis News.

Temple, G. (9/7/1972). Letter from the editor. Brown County Democrat.

Lilly, JK Jr. (12/4/1972). Letter from JK Lilly Jr. to Herman B Wells.

IU Real Estate. (2/16/42). Lilly-Dickey property.

Secondary Sources:

Kibby, B. (2/22/2016). Can you picture the future? Brown County Democrat.

Glass, J. (5/24/2015). Brown county’s history beckons. IndyStar.

IU’s Biological Field Station Podcast

Posted on May 25, 2017 by sajacobi

A class being held outside. Courtesy of Wylie House Archives.

By: Caroline Wickes, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2017, History and Environmental and Sustainability Studies, Bloomington

This blog is comprised of excerpts from IU’s Biological Field Station podcast.

Imagine a scientist. He or she sits in a lab, surrounded by beakers and test tubes and machinery, processing data and scribbling notes madly into a little notebook. Whether they are studying chemistry, biology, physics, or astronomy, we imagine that the scientist and the lab are inextricably linked.

For Dr. Carl Eigenmann, this was true, but to him the “lab” was very broadly defined. Eigenmann saw the outside world as the best laboratory of all, and he wanted to be sure that his students at Indiana University had access to it.

A cartoon from the Arbutus of Carl Eigenmann being chased by an angry local. Photo courtesy of IU Archives P0022609.

Dr. Eigenmann is best known for the IU dorm named in his honor, as the first Dean of the Graduate School, and for his groundbreaking work with blindfish. But during his over 40 years as a professor in the department of zoology one of his great legacies at Indiana University was the biological field station.

Eigenmann founded the field station in 1895. He chose the location, on Turkey Lake in northern Indiana, because it had an old boathouse suitable for examining specimen. The goal of the biological station was to make serious statistical inquiry into the evolution of non-migratory vertebrates and to get students out of the classroom and into the field.

In describing the work, Eigenmann says, “Since, wherever he may go, the student must adapt himself to his environment, it is the plan to catch what we can and study what we catch rather than to follow fixed courses.”

Carl Eigenmann in the lab. Photo courtesy of IU Archives P0020962,

During its first year, 19 students spent nine weeks of their summer studying in Kosciusko County. The university allowed them to use the biology department’s zoological apparats. In subsequent years, the numbers compounded.

Enrollment skyrocketed, and by the fourth summer, 103 students attended. Due to the increases in numbers, the station was moved to a new lake on land owned by the Winona Assembly and Summer School.

On Winona Lake two buildings were erected to accommodate students among the water, woods, swamps, and meadows where Cherry Creek enters the lake. Courses offered included zoology, botany, bacteriology, mathematics, embryology, French, and German.

Dr. Eigenmann, in his write up of the station for Science, attributes the upswing to “the conditions for biological work, coupled with camp life on a fine lake, five miles from the nearest village and free from university lecture-hour appointments.”

The environment was pleasurable, but also conducive to the serious research that was undertaken at the field school. Every weekday, students attended one lecture and six hours of work in the field or the laboratory.

On Saturdays, they finished at noon, allowing for some weekend free time. In 1903, the professors were offered $375 to work for the summer, plus 33% of any profit made. Many of IU’s zoology and biology faculty spent at least one summer at the station.

The Biological Field Station Baseball Team. Courtesy of Wylie House Archives.

Professors, students, and fellows from other universities also spent the summer at the biological field station and as the first inland biological field station, it set the standard. In 1904, Eigenmann contacted other midwestern universities in regards to their budgets for field work.

The University of Wisconsin wrote back that their budget was so small that they would rather not have it embodied in a statistical table. In this way, Indiana University was a head of its time.

The significance of field stations for universities was rising across the world and Indiana was keeping pace by expanding and refining methods of field research and teaching.

Morton Bradley attended the summer session at the station as a student in 1897 and 1898. Bradley was the beau and future husband of Marie Boisen, granddaughter of Theophilus Wiley, and he wrote her numerous letters while away at the field station. In his letter, Bradley describes the ups and downs of life at the station.

He describes terrible meals, long days of rowing, and lectures. But, there were many happy days spent at the station. Bradley describes days spent playing baseball, a steamer ride around Eagle Lake and an evening spent singing.

On July 13, 1898 he writes, “This morning we—three boys of my class—went out into the woods to hunt flowers. We found some and classified them. Then we concluded that, since it was cool and shady there, we had worked enough for one morning.

Consequently, we went to sleep and slept about an hour and a half, nearly missing our dinners. Botany work is fine!!!”

Like Morton Bradley, many students returned in subsequent years, either as students or research assistants. Scholarships were available for students with specified interest. In a 1920 announcement for the summer session, students are provided a variety of housing options, ranging from free tent camping to $10 a week hotel rooms.

Tent camping at the station. Courtesy of IU Archives Blog,

Students at the field station were both male and female. Effa Funk Muhse was a fellow at the station during the summer of 1902, and later went on to become the first woman to receive a Ph.D. from Indiana University.

The field station hosted famous botanist and geneticist Hugo DeVries in 1906. Dr. DeVries introduced the experimental study of organic evolution, which was particularly apt for the field station which focused on evolution of freshwater vertebrates.

Of course things weren’t always perfect. In 1901 Eignemann’s fishing nets which were used to collect specimens were disrupted and confiscated by a Warsaw County deputy for the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

This started a three year long back and forth and a long drawn out trial prep as Warsaw County tried to charge Eigenmann with poaching. Eigenmenn protested, saying that he was doing research for the state university and therefore was acting on the will of the state.

The commissioner of the Department of Fish and Wildlife told Eignemann that many prominent townspeople in Warsaw wanted him prosecuted.

Summer attendees at the boathouse. Courtesy of Wylie House Archives.

Attorney L. Stookey wrote that the professor should “Stand just before the law as the poorest man we have in this place, and no discrimination must exist.” The deliberations over going to trial continued for three years.

Ultimately Eigenmann was not prosecuted and the biological field station continued, but this incident highlights the complex interactions of the public university and the people of Indiana especially in regards to natural resources and public spaces.

The university serves the people of Indiana, and the people of Indiana make the university better, but they don’t always see eye to eye. The same fecundity of life that made the lake so productive for research purposes also made it an important source of fish for the local people.

The university was able to make peace with Warsaw and the station went on the have many more sunny summers on the beautiful lake.

Two dormitories. Courtesy of IU Archives blog.

Eventually the station was forced close in 1938, a victim of low enrollment due to the Great Depression. Indiana University did retain the land though, using it primarily for graduate level research.

In 1961 the Indiana University zoology department decided to sell the land at Winona Lake to the Winona Lake Bible Conference.

In 1965 they purchased land on Crooked Lake, an hour and a half northeast of the original location. The Crooked Lake station started out as a research outpost for studying fish and limnology, but eventually became, much like the original field station, a place for instruction through the IPFW campus.

In 1895 when the station was first used, it started Indiana University’s proud tradition of scientific enquiry in natural spaces. The biological field station was a precursor to the geological field station in Montana and the research and teaching preserve in southern Indiana.

Students hard at work in the lab. Courtesy of Wylie House Archives.

One hundred and twenty-two years later place based research and hands on teaching methods continue to be used by scientists at Indiana University.

Just as Eigenmann saw, the natural world is sometimes the best classroom and laboratory of all.

Read more about the creation of IU’s natural spaces here: https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/04/13/the-creation-of-ius-natural-spaces/

https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/05/25/returning-to-our-roots-the-new-iu-farm/

https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/05/25/explore-the-lilly-dickey-woods/

Primary Sources

Course Catalogue, 1898-1904, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Correspondence re. funds for fieldwork at other universities and institutions, Carl H. Eigenmann papers 1884-1925, Collection C63, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Moenkhaus, William J. 1903, Carl H. Eigenmann papers 1884-1925, Collection C63, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Morton C. Bradley to Marie Louisa Boisen June 28, 1897, Theophilus Adam Wylie Family Correspondence, Collection 2005.003.2849, Wylie House Museum, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Morton C. Bradley to Marie Louisa Boisen Jul 14, 1898, Theophilus Adam Wylie Family Correspondence, Collection 2005.003.2849, Wylie House Museum, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Morton C. Bradley to Marie Louisa Boisen August 10, 1897, Theophilus Adam Wylie Family Correspondence, Collection 2005.003.2849, Wylie House Museum, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Morton C. Bradley to Marie Louisa Boisen Jul 14, 1898, Theophilus Adam Wylie Family Correspondence, Collection 2005.003.2849, Wylie House Museum, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Notes, fragments of reports, etc., Carl H. Eigenmann papers 1884-1925, Collection C63, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Sweeney, Z. T. 1901-1902, 1907, Carl H. Eigenmann papers 1884-1925, Collection C63, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Payne, Fred 1903, Carl H. Eigenmann papers 1884-1925, Collection C63, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Secondary Sources

Biographical Note, Effa Funk Muhse papers, 1895-1915, collection C593, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Kellams, D. (2011 May 31). Summer fun at the biological field station. Indiana University Archives: Blogging Hoosier History. https://blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/2011/05/31/summer-fun-at-the-biological-field-station/

Nei, M & Nozawa, M. (2011 September 6). Roles of mutation and specialization in speciation: From Hugo DeVries to the modern genomic era. Genome Biology and Evolution. Vol. 3. 812-829.

Wylie Staff. (2009 March 11). I.U.’s Turkey Lake biology station. Wiley House Museum. https://wyliehouse.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/iu%E2%80%99s-turkey-lake-biology-station/

IU South Bend Oral History Project Part 2

Posted on May 16, 2017 by sajacobi

By: Tyler Clements, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2017, Biological Sciences, South Bend

Hello, my name is Tyler Clements and I am a spring 2017 intern for the IU Bicentennial Oral History Project for Indiana University South Bend. I’ve learned a lot about the history of IUSB through the eyes and perspectives of faculty, staff, and alumni.

It would be remiss of me however to not address those that have provided guidance and assistance throughout my internship.

Firstly, Alison Stankrauff who is the IUSB Archivist and doubles as my on-campus supervisor and is someone who provides thoughtful guidance and support. She has been an invaluable resource throughout my internship.

The previous bicentennial intern, Kevin Schascheck also has given me support and helped smooth my transition into the position this spring. During the fall semester, Kevin along with Assistant Director of Alumni Affairs, Mallory Jagodzinski compiled an IUSB alumni survey using Qualtrics.

It took some time before I was granted access to the survey, but I gained access in mid-February. Since my access to the survey, I’ve completed 16 interviews with just alumni and hope to complete more.

Initially getting into the swing of the internship, I was slightly confused on how to go about contacting potential interviewees. I spent my first week reading A Campus Becoming: Lester M. Wolfson and Indiana University South Bend 1964-1987 by Patrick J. Furlong and Tom R. Vander Ven. which proved to be an excellent resource to understanding the many strides that IUSB has made throughout the years. This book is also a comprehensive history of IUSB.

Dr. Lester M. Wolfson Dean and Acting Chancellor circa 1960s. IUSB Archives Collections.

My research also taught me how instrumental Chancellor Wolfson truly was in shaping the campus into what it is today. I’ve encountered several alumni who had truly great things to say about him and those comments will now be included in our archives.

Chancellor Wolfson passed away in February 2017 at the age of 93, and my predecessor Kevin Schascheck along with Alison Stankrauff were able to obtain an interview with him in December 2016.

At the time of writing this blog, I completed my 30^th interview for the semester, and I am actively seeking out more participants. One of the issues that I faced initially was scheduling a time for an interview. Alumni are out in the workforce, some with professional obligations that are hard to pull away from. For example, an alum I interviewed is now the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Butler University.

Also, I haven’t only focused on completing interviews with alumni. I’ve targeted faculty and staff as well. To date, I’ve completed 11 faculty interviews, 3 staff interviews, and 16 interview with alumni. I have a few more interviews that I particularly want to schedule with retiring faculty with an end goal of 40 completed interviews. The majority of my interviews have been conducted in the Schurz Library, in the One Button Studio. This area allowed me to have a quiet space to conduct my interviews.

A number of alumni interviews have been conducted over the phone due to living out of state or travel issues. I prefer the interviews to be face-to-face because it provides a more personal aspect to the interview and I get to actually meet the wonderful people who agreed to be interviewed!

Each interview has provided me with a wealth of information about the campus and student life throughout the history of IU South Bend. It truly has been an amazing experience getting to meet so many people that have had their lives changed by attending IUSB, working at IUSB or both.

One of the most recurring themes that appears in my interviews with alumni is their drive, dedication, and passion that aided them in obtaining their degrees. Many of them worked full-time, a whopping 40 hours a week and were also full-time students. That in itself is very impressive. I’ve encountered alumni who worked full-time and raised a family. I think that shows the strength of IUSB students.

Franklin D. Schurz Library, circa 2003, IUSB Archives Collections.

In my research, the regional campuses once deemed “extension centers” started out as feeder campuses to Bloomington for a number of years, but then something amazing occurred. Under strong leadership demonstrated by people such as Chancellor Wolfson, regional campuses began to take on an identity of their own and have since grown into wonderful institutions of higher learning while maintaining their connections to Bloomington.

Indiana is a great place to be for higher education. There are regional campuses all across the state that provide students everywhere a chance to pursue their education at a prestigious university. I’m proud to have played a part in the IU Bicentennial Oral History Project.

To read part one of this blog, please visit: https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2016/11/14/165/

IPFW Oral History Project Part 2

Posted on May 15, 2017 by sajacobi

By: Garett Chrisman, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2019, History, Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne

Thus far my time with the Indiana University Bicentennial Oral History Project has been highly productive. I have had the privilege of recording the experiences of a unique collection of IU alumni from several campuses. As a history major eagerly striving to connect my work to a tangible outlet, this internship has been an eye opening experience.

It has given me a window into the ways in which I can implement the skills I’ve acquired from my classes into real world situations.

IPFW sign situated at the entrance to student housing, which is a relatively recent addition to the university. Courtesy of Google Images.

Initially getting my footing in this project was a struggle as this is my first experience working with an oral history project. I was simultaneously overwhelmed and fascinated by my newfound opportunity. To overcome this problem, I stayed in contact with my on-campus mentor Dr. Gail Hickey and used resources that were left at my disposal. I acclimated relatively quickly to the project and its daily tasks thanks to the work of the previous intern.

This was the first time I had used dedicated recording equipment for interviewing alumni. Working with the new recording equipment was a bit foreign at first, but it was simple enough to figure out within the span of several practice runs. Becoming familiar with the equipment is a skill that I think will be useful when I pursue future opportunities in recording oral history.

Primarily, the people I have had the pleasure of interviewing have been IPFW alumni with IU degrees and through their experiences I have gotten a firsthand look of how the Fort Wayne Campus has grown since the 1960’s. Initially what I knew about IPFW was limited to what I experienced on campus and what I learned during orientation. The interviews I’ve conducted have expanded my view of what IPFW means to the Fort Wayne community.

On one occasion, I conducted an interview where the subject reflected on the growth that both the city and the university had made and lamented IU and Purdue’s joint decision to split the campus in accordance with USAP (University Strategic Alignment Process).

Students cheering on IPFW athletics with the school mascot “Don” the Mastodon. Courtesy of Google Images.

The city of Fort Wayne has matured alongside IPFW and the alignment process has had a profound effect on the student community who will continue to interact with the university long after graduation.

On another occasion an alumni told me about the growth of Helmke Library and how they had worked in the facility for nearly its entire history. Without these recorded experiences with former students and staff both the larger community of Fort Wayne, and myself, would be ignorant of their unique stories.

Nervous interview subjects are a problem that I have encountered while working this semester and with my on-campus mentor’s assistance I have taken steps to resolve these problems. Steps such as being able to achieve rapport with a relative stranger and comfortably guide them back through their time as an IU student.

In the meantime, there is still a lot left to learn about the student and faculty communities that form the pillar of IU campuses including IPFW and how we can look back at their experiences to improve our future. I think this project has given me several challenges to overcome and I am doing everything I can to do my part.

Looking back, I can see clearly that these challenges have helped me grow as an interviewer, but what I am most concerned with is how I can use these hurdles to look forward and relate these memories to the bicentennial community.

IPFW campus architecture greets locals as they head towards Colosseum Boulevard. Courtesy of Google Images.

What I am most proud of when I think about my time on this project is the role I play as a mediator in collecting history. The pride that I feel that I am here and able to help bridge the gap between an abstract concept such as memories and turn it into a tangible piece of reality like an oral history which can allow future generations to look back and remember where they came from.

I have for a long time been personally invested in the subject of history and it makes me sincerely happy to be able to use the skills I have learned during this experience, but it is this role as an intermediary that truly gives me something to fondly look back upon.

To read part one of this blog, please visit: https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2016/11/07/ipfws-oral-history-project/

The Time Capsule Project

Posted on May 2, 2017 by sajacobi

By: Regine Vincent, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2019, Chemistry, Bloomington

William Lowe Bryan with shovel and John William Cravens is looking toward the camera and is standing behind the model of the Seminary Building at exercises to celebrate the 100th anniversary of IU’s Old Campus in 1922. Photo courtesy of IU Archives, P0049679.

The purpose of this project is to generate a time capsule to celebrate IU’s bicentennial. The aim of the project is for the capsule to be buried in 2020 as part of the bicentennial celebration and to mirror the capsule that was buried somewhere on the IU Bloomington campus in the 1920’s to celebrate IU’s centennial.

The main goals that we wished to accomplish were to hopefully find more information on, as well as possibly the location of, the centennial time capsule. Also, most importantly, we hoped to begin developing a plan with steps on how to begin to constructing the capsule.

Research so far has mostly included searching for the location of the centennial capsule and gaining more knowledge about the seminary square campus as well as more about the centennial celebration of the university.

We have also focused our research on looking at national and state time capsules, as well as the presence of time capsules buried by other IU campuses. This research was conducted in order to gain more knowledge that will serve as helpful examples to aid in the construction of the bicentennial capsule.

My role in the project thus far has been to assist in the search for the centennial time capsule as well as to helping with the planning of the bicentennial capsule. In an attempt to develop a process for beginning to construct the capsule, my responsibilities included researching national time capsules.

In this research I found interesting information on famous time capsules such as the Crypt of Civilization[1] located on the Oglethorpe University campus in Atlanta, as well as the two Westinghouse[2] time capsules buried in New York State.

“The interior of the [Crypt of Civilization]…[filled with] contents intended to represent an encyclopedic record of life and customs up until 1940, when the crypt was sealed. The crypt’s interior resembles a pyramid chamber, and pictographs decorate the walls.”

A replica of the inside of the 1938 Westinghouse Time Capsule.

The Westinghouse Time Capsules were buried in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, New York in 1938 and 1965. Both of the capsules will not be unearthed until 5000 years after their burials.

The research I conducted was able to provide the time capsule team with an ample amount of examples on the processes and procedures that go into building and burying a time capsule. Most of my research was conducted online, most especially through the use of online databases such as JSTOR and OneSearch@IU.

Indiana State Board of Health Building Cornerstone Installation, 1948, Order Number UA24-004364, Digital Collections of IUPUI University Library, IUPUI Library Special Collections and Archives.

In an attempt to discover more about the time capsule construction process, I was given the task of contacting the campus historians for the IUPUI and IUPUC campuses and inquiring about the possibility of time capsules on such campuses. There was nothing found at IUPUC. However at IUPUI, the campus historian, Dr. Stephen E. Towne, was able to give a plethora of interesting information. Several time capsules have been buried at there.

Cornerstone ceremony for Riley Hospital addition, October 1949, Order Number UA24-001794, Digital Collections of IUPUI University Library, IUPUI Library Special Collections and Archives.

My search for the centennial time capsule has lead me deeper into research about the history of IU Bloomington. In this part of the project I had to utilize the IU Archives to search for any documentation about the location of the centennial capsule.

In doing so, I was able to find about John W. Cravens, a man who served the university for years and wrote a great deal about the founding and creation of IU’s original seminary square campus.

Thus far a lot of information has been gained and progress made. However, there is yet more work to be done. Researching and planning is ongoing on how exactly to construct a time capsule. Currently a specific focus is on developing an intake plan in order to decide what type of items would go into the time capsule.

The intake process would include the participation of all IU students, faculty, alumni, and staff.

Also, part of the intake plan would incorporate an advisory board who will review the suggestions made and advise the bicentennial team on the best course of action.

Future project goals include working with the Glenn A. Black Laboratory, to discover the location of the centennial time capsule and to get approval for an excavation at seminary square which we believe is the most likely location for the centennial time capsule.

The most difficult part of the project was the research, especially deciding what to do and where to look when I came to dead ends. Also, learning to utilize new sources of research besides the internet, such as the IU Libraries and IU Archives was strange and new to me. However, learning to utilize such resources have greatly advanced my research ability.

I have learned a lot about IU and Indiana state history through this project and all of my research. In particular I have learned a lot about how IU began and a lot about what IU was like in the 1920s. From this research I learned how to use new equipment and programs such as the microfilms and Timeline JS.

What I am most proud of is that not only have I learned how to conduct better research, which will without a doubt help me in my college career, but I have also helped contribute to IU by being a part in planning the celebration of the university’s 200th year.

Works Cited

[1] Hudson, Paul S. “Crypt of Civilization.” New Georgia Encyclopedia. 16 January 2014. Web. 13 April 2017.

[2] Sterbenz, Christina. “An Incredibly Ambitious Time Capsule Was Sealed 75 Years Ago Today – Here’s What’s Inside.” Business Insider. April 30, 2014. Accessed April 17, 2017.http://www.businessinsider.com/westinghouse-time-capsule-2014-4.

Time Capsule Discoveries Part 2

Posted on May 2, 2017 by sajacobi

By: Gabrielle Cantor, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2020, Intelligent Systems Engineering, Bloomington

The Centennial Time Capsule

The other portion of my research this semester focused on the centennial time capsule which was buried in 1922 at IUB to commemorate the construction of the first building at the Seminary Square (location of the original campus), which began in 1822.

Despite the campus moving in 1883 to its current location, the time capsule was buried at the spot which once served as the entrance to the Seminary building, the first IU building.

This, combined with a lack of records as to the exact location of the building has created an issue – we currently don’t know where the time capsule is. That’s right – we know very little about the time capsule buried at IU ninety-four years ago.

William Lowe Bryan turns the first spade of earth for the tablet which marked the location of the first building in Seminary Square. Photo Courtesy IU Archives, P0049679

One of the challenges we have faced this semester was finding information about the centennial time capsule, and where it may be. The prevailing theory is that the time capsule is located underneath Kroger, potentially beneath the donut display.

However, before we can go digging around under the sprinkles, we needed to try to pinpoint exactly where the time capsule could be.

The best way to do that was to scour the IU Archives for maps, photographs, letters, and any other information which may help us to recreate the original IU campus and determine where each building, and more importantly its entrances, were located.

One of the many maps found of the original IU campus layout. Due to changes in the streets of Bloomington, the modern map looks different. Courtesy of IU Archives P0022542.

We are still working to create an accurate map of the former campus on a modern street grid, and are currently working with several other campus organizations to create the most accurate map. Our hope is to find the centennial time capsule in order to reveal its contents to the world as part of the bicentennial celebration in 2020.

From the search for the missing centennial time capsule to the beginnings of the creation of the bicentennial time capsule, this past semester as a Bicentennial Intern has been filled with trips to the Archives, being amazed by the past, and excited by the future.

As the project continues, it will provide opportunities for all members of the IU community to contribute to what will one day be opened by those wanting to understand what life was like at IU in 2020.

For part one of this blog, please visit: https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/05/01/discovering-time-capsules/

The Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center: A Brief History

Posted on May 1, 2017 by sajacobi

By: Macey Shambery, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2019, Public Affairs, Bloomington

The Neal Marshall Black Culture Center and Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center. Courtesy of NMBCC Flickr.

I decided to research the history of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center (NMBCC). As a freshman last year and even this year as a sophomore, I felt like I didn’t know the history of the building. In addition, I felt like others didn’t either. My goal for this project was to uncover the history of the NMBCC, and the events that led to its creation.

Initially, I was able to find general information about the center’s history and conception. When it came time to dive deeper, however, I found that more detailed information was hard to find. I utilized different services offered by IU Archives and used online resources and professional networks to try to find additional information that I needed.

What I noticed is that some essential information was not properly preserved for the use of future generations.

At the archives, I learned how to maneuver through the online database to find the collection boxes that I needed to look at, as well as other mechanisms to find information. The University Archives is a great resource for all students. The staff was very helpful and introduced me to different resources. For instance, there is a staff registry and bulletin for the university that I used to find information on some of the staff at the black culture center.

Without the help of the archives staff, I wouldn’t have known about the registry and the other sources of information that are available at the archives.

In addition, I found that it was difficult to find the student perspective on historical events and the perspectives of students on campus around the time of the creation of the Black Culture Center. The center was created during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Black students at IU wanted a place where they felt welcome, and they wanted more representation on campus.

As I explored these issues, I soon realized that the administration’s correspondence regarding black student matters was recorded better than the student experience and perspectives.

Students in the black culture center’s library on June 25, 1976. Courtesy of IU Archives P0022663.

I think that the student matters were not archived as well because the administration at the time was not welcoming to the opinions of students deemed “radical.” From the late 1930s, students have organized on campus to protest racial inequality, wars, and human rights. Unfortunately, the university is missing a profound amount of information on several student groups and leaders.

For instance, a game-changing student organization, the Interracial Commission, was started in 1935 to unite students against racism. The group sponsored studies, programs, and several conventions to spread knowledge about racial injustice. Regrettably, the university does not have documentation on this group.

To work through the lack of student perspectives, I reached out to a few individuals who were influential in the creation of the center. I ended up scheduling a video conference with Mr. Keith Parker, an IU alumni, who was a social activist on campus during the 1960s when there was a student push for racial tolerance and equality. Also, I planned meetings with other alumni who were present on campus or had a relative on campus that worked at the center.

From the interviews, I learned about the day-to-day lives of black students, the impact the Civil Rights Movement had on IU’s campus, and how IU worked to improve its race relations with all students of color. These connections helped me tremendously, and I’m grateful for the assistance of everyone who helped me with my research.

For my final project, I decided to do a timeline. I felt that a timeline would encompass the chronological events and steps it took to create the center, as well as various changes in name, location, and directorship. I wanted to make my final project as thorough as possible to capture the full picture of the center. It was very important to me to make sure that everything that I presented was accurate and portrayed the center completely and in the best light.

In addition, I decided to write some supplementary blog posts. I understood that I wouldn’t be able to go into too much detail by using just the timeline software. With my blog posts, I wanted to dig a bit deeper and provide a lot of unknown information on certain topics with the center. A few of the subjects that I wrote about were housing for black students, social activism during the time the center was created, and the center’s support for students.

My experience with researching the center has made me realize that the names behind the buildings on campus are important. We should know about Marcellus Neal, Herman Briscoe, Frances Marshall, and the countless individuals who have left an impact on our campus.

There is a lot of information about IU that everyone should know. Obviously, it wouldn’t be reasonable to expect everyone to literally know everything about IU’s history, but it is reasonable to try to research various areas of the campus, and present the information clearly so everyone has access to this important historical information.

Frances Marshall and Marcellus Neal, the first female and male African American graduates of Indiana University.

Through my research, I am so proud of the work that I have put in and all that I have accomplished. I am proud of figuring out the dates for the center’s directors. In some cases, the dates of service for directors was vague and inconsistent. I worked very hard to find all the directors of the center, and the years that they led the center.

Furthermore, I am happy with my ability to familiarize myself with the archives and efficiently use the resources that were available to me. This has been a long semester filled with research and meetings.

I feel like I have accomplished so much.

Time Capsule Discoveries Part 1

Posted on May 1, 2017 by sajacobi

By: Gabrielle Cantor, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2020, Intelligent Systems Engineering, Bloomington

The first time I created a time capsule was in 2^nd grade. We included things that showed who we were at that point – a string showing how tall we were, a self-portrait drawn in art class, a list of our friends and favorite school lunches. We sealed all of our items in plastic bags and placed them into a shoebox, which our teacher placed into her closet.

Three years later, after we had all but forgotten about them, our teacher brought them down a few days prior to 5^th grade graduation.

While it was funny to open them and see how short we were or how our friends had changed, our mini time capsules provided little insight into our 2^nd grade lives. They allowed us to remember the mundane aspects, but nothing that we could look back on and reflect upon.

This past semester I have had the incredible opportunity to serve alongside three other interns on the time capsule intern team. Our work on this signature project is two-fold – we have been conducting research on other time capsules around the country and at IU, and we have taken the initial steps to create a bicentennial time capsule.

This time capsule will include submissions from students, faculty, staff, and alumni from all eight IU campuses, and will capture what IU was like in 2020 for those who open the capsule during the tricentennial celebration in 2120.

As a team, we have split up a lot of our research in order to accomplish as much as possible. Personally, I have spent the majority of the semester researching time capsules at IU. My research can be divided into two main categories – recent time capsules on each campus and the centennial time capsule.

Recent Time Capsules

Several of the IU campuses have time capsules, each of which commemorates various important moments in the history of that campus. In addition, several campuses have recently opened time capsules including IU Northwest, which in 2012 opened a time capsule which had been sealed during the opening of Tamarack Hall in 1958. The time capsule contained artifacts from the opening of the campus, including the 1958 class schedule, the city ordinance transferring the land to IU, and signatures of those who helped to make the campus possible.[1]

IUN time capsule contents—some of the items found in the Tamarack Hall time capsule including the 1958 class schedule and documents from the creation of the campus.

IUPUI opened a time capsule in November 2015 that they found in the cornerstone of Wishard Hospital, one of the hospitals on the campus. The capsule contained items from the hospitals 1925 dedication ceremony, including a copy of the speech delivered at the ceremony and the birth certificate of an infant delivered at the hospital.[2]

The time capsule at IUPUI was found enclosed in the etched historical marker that served as a cornerstone of Wishard Hospital.

IU Southeast celebrated its 70^th anniversary in 2012, and to mark the occasion created the first of many time capsules. The items inside the time capsule, which is set to be opened in 25 years, included items representing several of the student groups on campus. The campus has decided to make time capsules a part of their tradition–every five years they plan to create a new time capsule so as to allow every student to leave their mark on campus.[3]

IPFW also buried a time capsule in November of 2015 as part of their 50^th anniversary celebration. Set to be opened during the campus’s centennial celebration in 2064 and shaped like the celebration logo, the capsule includes over 100 items capturing what IPFW was like in 2015. The capsule includes everything from the student handbook to signed sports equipment and letters to future scholars.[4]

The IPFW time capsule was signed by guests at the sealing ceremony, including IPFW Chancellor Vicky L. Carwein.

On the Bloomington campus, several buildings contain time capsules that were placed in building cornerstones during their dedication ceremonies. William Lowe Bryan Hall, the Jacobs School of Music building, Wylie Hall, and the Frances Morgan Swain Student Building are just some of the buildings containing time capsules with various photographs, newspaper articles, and other relics from the early 1900s.

The most recent time capsule placed at IUB is located in the Hutton Honors College cornerstone, which was placed in one of the pillars of the building as part of a ceremony marking the start of construction on the current Hutton Honors College building in 2007. The time capsule contained a snapshot of the students and the college at the time.[5]

The 450-pound cornerstone was placed into a pillar of the Hutton Honors College building directly outside the main entrance.

For part two of this blog, please visit: https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/05/02/time-capsule-discoveries-part-2/

Works Cited

[1] http://www.iun.edu/news/2012/time-capsule.htm

[2] http://inside.iupui.edu/features/photos/2015-11-17-wishard-time-capsule.shtml

[3] http://www.iushorizon.com/8734/features/ius-preserves-in-time-capsule-for-25-years/

[4] https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/purduetoday/releases/2015/Q4/ipfw-remembers-the-past,-looks-to-the-future-with-time-capsule-ceremony.html

[5] http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news-archive/6522.html

IU East Oral History Project Part 2

Posted on April 28, 2017 by sajacobi

By: Cassidy Clouse, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2018, Psychology and Human Life Science, East

The IU East Alumni Oral History Project to celebrate IU’s Bicentennial in 2020 is beginning to wrap up for Spring 2017. Most recently we have been able to interview Denice Honaker, David Markley, Kara Bellew, Doris Phelps, Kimberly Schwartzel, Kraig Rose, and Rachel Rose.

Professor of Early Childhood Education Dr. Denice Honaker, and me in 2016. Courtesy of IUE Library.

Beginning in August 2016, I have immersed myself in the history and legacy of Indiana University East.

From IU East’s humble beginnings in the basement of neighboring Earlham College, to the big move to our own campus in 1975, to offering advanced degrees and becoming Indiana University’s main campus for online education, we have flourished and will continue to grow on this path in years to come.

While learning about the history of IU East through archived newspapers and timelines created for past celebrations is certainly interesting, nothing is more informative or immersive as speaking to the people who were present to witness the evolution of IU East.

View of Hayes Hall, Courtesy of IU East Marketing and Communications.

Through the 25 alumni interviewed so far, several themes and groups have emerged. One sentiment was overwhelmingly prevalent- many IU East alumni will always think of IU East as home and as part of their family.

“I can’t even think of another place that I would want to go, I want to be here with my people. It’s home.”—Kara Bellew

Kara Bellew is a Student Loan Advisor in the Office of Financial Aid. Through attending IU East for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees, she has enjoyed watching the campus grow physically, through online programs , and most importantly in community engagement.

Doris Phelps crosses the stage at commencement, 1997, Courtesy of Doris Phelps.

“I enjoyed the classroom atmosphere and always wanted to go to college, and this was my dream… [IU East] has become much more involved with everybody, with so many students… It’s grown from one building, Whitewater Hall, to all this. It’s really remarkable, I watched it grow.”—Doris Phelps

It was always Doris Phelps’ dream to earn a college degree, so after putting her two children through college she enrolled at IU East in 1980. Doris spent eight years as a student, worked with esteemed IU East artist Tom Thomas for six years, and remains active in the IUEAA today.

David Markley’s senior photo, 1974, Courtesy of David Markley.

“It was a very good start to my adult life and got me started on a career that has been very good to me. I lucked into a very good education.”—David Markley

David Markley began his college career at IU East but holds his B.S. in Accounting from IU Bloomington, as IU East didn’t offer four-year degrees in 1977.

However, it isn’t a stretch to say that he has been with IU East since the beginning. His time with the college began when it was still based out of Earlham College’s basement, he served as an ambassador when appealing to and thanking donors for the brand new campus building, and may have been one of the first attendees who returned to teach at Indiana University East.

He is thankful that he was able to find such an outstanding resource in his hometown that provided him with so many connections and mentors. He has worked for a variety of big name companies, but now teaches and lives in China with his wife.

“To me, first and foremost, it’s a local resource, which I think is very valuable. When I was here I developed what I would consider a secondary family here… I think it’s become an essential part of this community and I hope it continues to stay that way.”—Kraig Rose

“IU East means to me… family. I would love to continue to see our nieces and nephews and maybe someday our future children be on campus here at IU East. We have such a great family with the IU East Alumni Board here and the other IU members who we’re involved with that you can’t really separate out, it’s not enough to call it a friendship it really is a family.”—Rachel Rose

Rachel (Russell) Rose and Kraig Rose are high school sweethearts who both graduated from IU East. Kraig was a highly engaged student in his time at the college, and now serves on the IU Alumni Executive Council and is President of the Whitewater Valley chapter of the IUEAA.

Rachel graduated just last year with her MSN and remains active in the IUEAA; she feels that IUEAA has helped her realize just how widespread the IU community is, and is grateful that she has always felt included by other alumni even though she didn’t attend one of the main IU campuses.

Kimberly Schwartzel, 2017, Courtesy of IU East Library.

“For me, it’s my home away from home. I started here as a student and never left. I’m very comfortable in this environment… The opportunities I’ve had, professional development, employment opportunities, so yeah, it’s my second life.”—Kimberly Schwartzel

Kimberly Schwartzel began at IU East by taking classes sporadically, but in 1989, after IUE began offering four-year degrees, she returned part time and graduated with her B.A. in Secondary Education with a concentration in math. While a student, she was heavily involved in the Math Resource Center and after graduation has continued to teach at IU East and work in Academic Support.

This structure of this semester’s project was slightly different from last semester, as we moved from interviewing on-campus alumni to off-campus alumni. The quality of the oral histories have only continued to improve, but it was more challenging to schedule and complete the interview process with alumni this semester.

My experiences with the bicentennial internship program has been beneficial beyond words for my professional development, connection to alumni, and my understanding of the campus and its unique history; I look forward to my continuation of these experiences next semester!

For part one, please visit: https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2016/11/08/oral-history-project-at-iu-east/