Donald F. Carmony
The formal opening of the new Indiana State Museum in the former Indianapolis City Hall in January, 1967, was a significant and promising milestone in Indiana museum history. This event concluded a long delayed and much overdue effort to develop a museum which could become important in reminding Hoosiers of their heritage from and obligations to past genera- tions. In 1869 the Indiana General Assembly enacted a law which provided “for the collection and preservation of a Geological and Mineralogical Cabinet of the Natural History of this State. . . .” This enactment established a Department of Geology and Natural Science under the control of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture. The department was placed in charge of a state geologist to be appointed by the governor for a two-year term at a salary of $1,800 annually. In addition to his duty “to complete a thorough geological survey of the whole State as soon as consistent with his other duties . . . ,” he was enjoined “to collect, properly label, and arrange in agricultural rooms, specimens of the ores, coals, building stones, clays, soils, and organic remains; quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, fishes, crustacea, molusca [sic], insects and all other objects of natural history peculiar to the State, and as far as practicable, of other states and countries also.’’1 Subsequent to this legislation, a museum was established in the old state capitol. It apparently remained under the direction of the state geologist until 1945 when the Division of Geology (now the Geological Survey) was moved from Indianapolis to quarters on the campus of Indiana University at Bloomington. At this time the museum was transferred to the Division of State Parks which, like the office of the state geologist, had been a unit within the Indiana Department of Conservation since 1919. The museum has re- mained in the Division of State Parks since 1945. Between the 1870’s and the 1940’s the museum experienced many vicissitudes. The early material which found its way into the museum’s collec- tions was principally geological in nature, but as the decades passed an increas- ing number of Civil War souvenirs and miscellaneous items were added. The museum seems to have been located in the capitol during these years, first in the building erected in the 1830’s and then in the present capitol which was completed in the 1880’s. For many years it was situated on the third floor; but about 1919, when the Indiana Department of Conservation was established, it was moved to the basement. As the decades passed, inadequate attention was given to the protection and preservation of items with the result that numerous specimens disappeared or became unusable. The location in the basement of the capitol after 1919 was particularly unattractive, dingy, and conducive to vandalism. Despite its rather noble beginnings with
1 Indiana, Laws (1869), 22-24. 192 Indiana Magazine of History emphasis on geological specimens, the museum had become a neglected step- child of state government.* The geological emphasis remained basic as regards content of the museum’s collections. In 1880 an official report indicated that there was then a total of 20,551 “specimens of every description in the State Museum . . . ,” in- cluding thousands of “fossils, shells, corals and crinoids. . . .” Of these items, 2,040 were classified as Lower Silurian; 1,550 as Devonian; 1,460 as Lower Carboniferous; 1,395 as Upper Silurian; and 919 as Carboniferous. There were 505 “Arrow points, spears, etc.”; 504 land and fresh water shells; 300 “Minerals, including lithological specimens” ; and 186 “Natural history speci- mens in alcohol- Jars, etc.” Miscellaneous items included relics from mound- builders, perforated shell and slate ornaments, pipes, hand axes or fleshers, copper beads and fragments of copper, hammer and anvil stones, fishing sinkers, Peruvian water jugs, and an elephant’s tooth. Roughly 2,000 items were unclassified, having come from four individuals or from surveys in Monroe and Putnam c~unties.~ After decades of neglect, important steps were taken toward establishment of a new and modern state museum during the administration of Governor Ralph F. Gates, 1945-1949. Governor Gates and Milton Matter, director of the Indiana Department of Conservation, added staff members to the Division of State Parks who were knowledgeable regarding the establishment and operation of museum^.^ Under the direction of Governor Gates and Director Matter information was assembled about museums, studies were made of possible sites for a museum building, and drawings were made for a proposed building to be erected on the north side of Ohio Street across from the Indiana State Library and Historical Building. Despite these significant steps and related efforts, the museum remained in its dingy, dirty, and undesirable quarters in the basement of the capitol. Nevertheless, though unable to overcome decades of neglect, the Gates administration pointed the way toward augmented support and improved housing for the state museum. As the functions and personnel of state government rapidly expanded during the 1940’s and 1950’s, space for offices became increasingly acute. As a consequence a new State Office Building was constructed and occupied during 1960 and early 1961. While this construction was in progress, the museum’s collections-by then largely a hodgepodge of this and that-were temporarily placed in storage along with other material which had not been displayed, in part for lack of space.
2 The writer is indebted to Robert D. Starrett, director of the Indiana State Museum, for much of the information in this and the preceding paragraphs. The same is true for much of the information about museum efforts and development from the Gates administration to the present. 3 Indiana, Second Annual Report of the Department of Statistics and Geology (Indianapolis, 1880), 34-35. 4 Henry C. Prange was appointed as engineer, Zach Sanderson as museum curator. Robert D. Starrett soon succeeded Sanderson. New Indiana State Museum 193
Discussion and planning for the new State Office Building inevitably raised the questions of what would happen to the museum’s holdings. Early in the administration of Governor Harold W. Handley, 1957-1961, the legislature authorized a commission to examine the state museum, inquire into museum programs in other states, and make “recommendations regarding the future program and development of the Indiana State Museum” to the ensuing General A~sembly.~This commission held its initial meeting in the fall of 1957 and submitted its findings a year later. It recommended con- struction of a museum building on the site originally proposed by the Gates administration. The commission reported that its members had “been forced to the reluctant conclusion that Indiana has the poorest and most inadequate State Museum in the United States.”6 This report, for the moment at least, was largely ignored. In 1960 a considerable amount of museum material was returned to a new location in the basement of the capitol. Although this area was spruced up and better lighted than that previously used, it was inappropriate and inadequate. In 1958 the Indiana State Museum Study Commission had “unanimously concluded that, even if additional space should later become available in the present Capitol building, it would be impossible either to develop or maintain an effective museum program in such unsatisfactory quarters.”? The steps which resulted in the formal opening of the new Indiana State Museum in 1967 were commenced during the administration of Governor Matthew E. Welsh, 1961-1965. Donald E. Foltz, director of the Indiana Department of Conservation, was much interested in developing an appropriate museum for the Hoosier State. With the approval and support of Governor Welsh, Director Foltz and the staff of the Division of State Parks explored various possibilities. About this time, 1962, the Indianapolis City Hall became vacant as city offices were transferred to the new City- County Building. Studies were made of Indianapolis City Hall as a possible location for a museum. In November, 1963, the building was leased for a nominal sum for museum purposes. This building-of classic Greek Ionic design-was constructed of Indiana limestone and had been completed about 1911. Governor Welsh and Director Foltz expressed the hope that the new museum could be opened in 1966 as a contribution to Indiana’s sesquicentennial of statehood. The further efforts required to adapt Indianapolis City Hall to museum use were carried forward by Governor Roger D. Branigin, who took office in 1965, and John E. Mitchell, director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Both Governor Branigin and Director Mitchell exhibited much interest in matters pertaining to the new state museum, The immediate
5 Indiana, Laws (1957), 202-203. 6 “Report of Study Commission, Indiana State Museum,’’ Indiana History Bulletin, XXXV (November, 1958), 159. 7 Ibid., 157. 194 Indiana Magazine of History responsibility for these efforts-both under the Welsh and Branigin admin- istrations-however, rested with Robert D. Starrett. Although the museum was not formally opened until January, 1967, some attractive educational exhibits were displayed as a contribution to the Indiana sesquicentennial in 1966. These initial exhibits emphasized Indiana art, especially the paintings of Theodore C. Steele. Such an emphasis resulted from the efforts of Governor Branigin, who arranged for the purchase of about forty paintings by eight Indiana artists who portrayed the Indiana scene. Museum officials are hopeful that this Indiana art collection will grow to become one of out- standing significance. The new Indiana State Museum is far from finished. In a very real sense such a museum is never completed, for additional material constantly becomes available and exhibits must be changed from time to time. Director Starrett has wisely emphasized that education is the basic function of the museum but to realize this goal collections must first be assembled and “properly cared for if they are to be of any use.” To achieve its objectives the museum must collect and preserve materials, do research, exhibit items, and interpret its collections.’ Given a few more decades and continued personal interest of state officials; generous support for staff, facilities, and acquisitions; freedom from partisan interference along with freedom to plan and develop holdings and exhibits in a thoughtful manner; and the under- standing and support of Hoosiers generally, the Indiana State Museum can and should become of outstanding importance in educational programs con- cerning Indiana’s heritage. The Indiana State Museum has already developed interestingly displayed exhibits concerning Indiana art, politics, natural history, geology, and Indians. The pictures which follow illustrate the museum building and these varied exhibits. The photographs, taken by Philip Van Blaricum and Ken Williams, were provided by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Director Starrett collected the pictures and supplied the captions.
8 Robert D. Starrett, “The Indiana State Museum Moves Ahead,” Outdoor Indiana, VII (January, 1964), 19-20. INDIANASTATE MUSEUM (FORMERLY INDIANAPOLIS CITY HALL). 196 Indiana Magazine of History
COMPASSROSE (ORIGINAL MARBLE MOSAIC, FIRST FLOOR INDIANAMUSEUM BUILDING),PRIME REASONFOR CONSTRUCTIONOF FOUCAULT PENDULUM. New Indiana State Museum 197 198 Indiana Magazine of History New Indiana State Museum 199 200 Indiana Magazine of History New Indiana State Museum 201 202 Indiana Magazine of History New Indiana State Museum 203
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