Doing Local History in A Conversation with Linda Lou Rippy, Charlotte Sellers, and Joseph L. Skvarenina

n 2003, when the Indiana Magazine of History surveyed its over 8,000 Isubscribers about their historical interests and reading habits, three out of every four respondents expressed a desire to know more about local history activities around the state. The following year we published David Vanderstel’s interview with Sal Cilella and Reid Williamson about the activities of the Indiana Historical Society (IHS) and Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. In a letter to the editor published shortly thereafter, IUPUI history professor Robert Barrows pointed out that since Cilella (now chief operating officer of the Atlanta Historical Society) and Williamson (now retired) directed “the two largest and best-endowed historical organizations in Indiana, they are automatically unrepresentative of the state’s public history community writ large.”1

______Linda Lou Rippy directs the Marshall County Historical Society. Charlotte Sellers is the local history librarian at the Jackson County Public Library in Seymour. Joseph L. Skvarenina has worked in the nonprofit world for thirty years, is an author and the Hancock County historian. 1Keith A. Erekson, “Bringing Research to the General Public: Responses to the March 2003 Readers’ Survey,” Indiana Magazine of History 100 (March 2004), 56-70; “The State of Public History in Indiana: A Conversation with David Vanderstel, Reid Williamson, and Sal Cilella,” IMH 100 (June 2004), 155-72; Robert G. Barrows, “Letter to the Editor,” IMH 101 (March 2005), 101. County historians are listed by county at http://www.indianahistory.org/lhs/histori- anlist.html. Links to many Indiana local history museums, societies, and sites may be found at http://www.indiana.edu/~imaghist/online_content/indiana_history_links.html. John M. Harris,

INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY, 103 (December 2007) 2007, Trustees of Indiana University. 412 INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

This roundtable conversation seeks to follow up on readers’ interests, and to extend the conversation about public history begun at the state level, by hearing from Hoosiers practicing history on a local scale. In the fall of 2006, IMH assistant editor Keith Erekson hosted an online conversation with three local history practitioners from around the state—Linda Lou Rippy of Plymouth in Marshall County, Joseph Skvarenina of Greenfield in Hancock County, and Charlotte Sellers of Brownstown in Jackson County. An edited transcript of the conversation served as a jumping-off point for a discussion at a session held at the February 2007 meeting of the Indiana Association of Historians in Bloomington. The energy and enthusiasm proved impossible to tran- scribe, but some of the questions raised and solutions proposed in that setting were appended to the end of the transcript. The full transcript was then sent to three historians interested in local history who work in different places throughout the country: Rebecca Conard at Middle Tennessee State University, Jannelle Warren-Findley at Arizona State University, and David Glassberg at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. What follows here are the edited transcript of the conversation with local practitioners, and the subsequent reactions and reflections from those outside the region. We hope that these remarks will serve as another installment in an ongoing conversation about the varieties and significance of local history work in Indiana and the nation.

PERSONAL AND AUDIENCE INTERESTS IMH: Why don’t you begin by describing what you do and why you are interested in history? JOSEPH SKVARENINA: I am a professional fundraiser at the Center for Leadership Development in as well as the official Hancock County Historian (since 1991), a former president of the Hancock Historical Society, vice president of the Riley Old Home Society, and a current member of the board of the Shirley Historical Society. I have written a great deal on Hancock County and Indiana history, including copy for Black History Notes and Traces, and a column on local history for the local newspapers since 1978. I have just finished writing a

______former director of the IHS Local History Services, provided useful orientation and recommen- dations about local history work in the state. DOING LOCAL HISTORY 413

history of Emmaus Lutheran Church in Fountain Square, and I am cur- rently working on the history of Mt. Lebanon United Methodist church in Greenfield.2 I participate in many local festivals, and have also done presentations at Leadership Hancock County and for the Indiana Historical Society’s speakers bureau. I like local history because it is easier to get near primary sources. I used to hunt arrowheads and collect stamps with my dad. I guess that got me on the path. I am very interested in American Indian history, and it seems that I have started to develop some specialties in social, reli- gious, and African American history. I collect history books and I own more books than anything else. I have a bachelor’s degree in secondary education (with emphases in history, government, and geography), a master’s degree in educational administration from Kent State University, and am a commissioned minister in the Lutheran Church- Synod. I currently teach adjunct courses in historical meth- ods, world history, cross-cultural studies, writing, and literature for Concordia University and Oakland University. CHARLOTTE SELLERS: I am a reference and local history librarian at the main public library in Seymour—an 1850s railroad junction that quickly grew into the county’s largest city, provoking more than 150 years of conflict over the courthouse location that has since translated into a high school athletics rivalry with the county seat of Brownstown. Not knowing that, I moved to Brownstown (after editing regional news at The Republic in Columbus) because I had always wanted to edit a small-town newspaper. Then newspapers changed, I changed, and after starting part-time at the library to support my freelancing, I found myself commuting to Bloomington to earn a master of library science degree. This is a long way of saying I should have been a history major at Franklin College, but watching my roommate struggle to memorize all those dates, I opted for English. Shortly after leaving the Brownstown paper, I started to work on the family history I’d always wanted to know, leading me to believe that history should be taught from the present backward and from micro-

______2Black Buggies and Bonnets: Memories of an Amish Life (Milroy, Ind., 2006); The Road to Emmaus: Historical Highlights of Emmaus Lutheran Church (Indianapolis, 2005); Memoirs of World War II: NBA Robin Run Retirement Village Remembers (Indianapolis, 2003); Hancock County, with Larry L. Fox (Chicago, Ill., 2001); Great: Stories of the Famous and Not-so-Famous of Hancock County (Greenfield, Ind., 2000); and History of the Riley Old Home Society (Greenfield, Ind., 1999). 414 INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

cosm to macro. I have enjoyed the history-related learning opportunities that have fueled my passion for “nearby” history as well as family research. Appointment as Jackson County Historian a few years ago let me dig into the local past. I am trying to develop a history roundtable among folks working on projects in this county which has not been very friendly to its rich history. I have been indexing local history for several years and worked as a resource person with Leadership Jackson County’s history projects last spring. I am on the newly incorporated Seymour Museum board. Through the library I arrange some history program- ming that does not draw a large crowd. For the past four years I have edited The Indiana Genealogist and am a member of the long-range plan- ning committee of the Indiana Genealogical Society. LINDA RIPPY: In 1992, after 29 years of working as a medical assistant, I was hired at the Marshall County Historical Society in Plymouth and became the executive director in 1997. I have been the Marshall County Historian since 1992 and belong to many history-related organizations, including terms as president of Kiwanis Club, Plymouth Public Library, and the Chamber of Commerce. I am married with three grown sons and five grandchildren and have lived in Plymouth since 1957. I graduated from Ancilla, a junior college in Marshall County. My whole life is now entwined in history because of my position in the county. Every September, I present a PowerPoint program to Leadership of Marshall County that incorporates local photos. Having just received a grant from the Community Foundation for a laptop and projector, I can now take my shows on the road. History was not on my priority list when I was in high school, but my work at the museum has given me a broader sense of what exists in our own backyards. That is what makes history interesting. I enjoy school tours because children quickly connect to their own surroundings which expands their minds on the bigger picture of history.

IMH: Let’s talk about your audiences. Who are they? Why are they inter- ested in the past and in history? SKVARENINA: I find that more individuals want to know about their families and their homes—their individual circumstances. I believe as society becomes more technological, people want to go back to the sim- pler times. I don’t do high-tech presentations but I do bring artifacts. People like something that they can touch and see. They also seem less interested in battles and more interested in the persons behind the scenes. More and more people are showing interest in oral history efforts. DOING LOCAL HISTORY 415

I am surprised at the distance folks will travel if something inter- ests. I once participated in a “Riley Weekend” to which folks traveled many miles in order to visit sites related to poet James Whitcomb Riley. I wanted to say more women than men come to my presentations, but I rebel against the assertions. I wish it was 50-50 but I really do not know. I also find that more and more young people seem interested in doing history. SELLERS: Defining my audiences has been hard. I have several; they are diverse; all smaller than I believe local history deserves. Library history programs (formerly one a month, now two) seldom draw more than 20 individuals and too many draw only one or two. Lunchtime reminis- cences with “seniors” draw better attendance than have well-researched profiles of gambling, cockfighting, horse racing, or talks by IU profes- sors on using maps or archaeology in local history. One year I wrote a monthly column for the “Seymour Sunday” section of The Republic. Some folks who came into the library—most well over 50 years old— mentioned reading or even enjoying the column. I received no written responses—and from my experience as a reporter, I really didn’t expect any—but both local newspapers expressed interest in having me write a local history column for them about that same time, so they must have thought an audience existed. The hard-working local genealogical society has a good research library that is busy most of the time it is open. At least four museums with different and limited hours present very different approaches to preservation, storytelling, and professionalism. The Heritage Foun- dation for preservation of buildings has fallen into inactivity (and into court over misuse of funds), but before its demise several structures in the process of being preserved fell victim to collapse, fire, or “progress.” A handful of individuals pursue their own research projects with intermittent enthusiasm. Most either are retired or have jobs that allow them freedom during hours research facilities are open. Some keep per- sonal scrapbooks about current events. One individual has researched roads, bridges, and railroads for years and has completed at least two National Register projects and plans a book. The county tourism direc- tor has a strong interest in historical research but little time to pursue it. Still others do local research at a distance: one former Seymourite has digitized and made available many pictures and directory transcriptions, another living in is preparing a sesquicentennial history of Crothersville and Vernon Township, and a third in Florida has 416 INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

developed an extensive website and is seeking a historical marker for the Medora brick plant where one of his collateral ancestors worked.3 A few years ago I started the Jackson County History Alliance to facilitate conversation among these diverse entities about how they might help each other, avoid duplication, and perhaps promote county tourism. The initiative has pretty much turned into an annual meeting and may not recover because I cannot make enough time to nurture it. Many factors influence motivation for local history interest. Sometimes I believe people want to talk about what they believe came before, because of what they then infer about themselves—but they do not want the facts to get in the way of a good story or their self-image. More than half the adults in Jackson County have “significant problems with reading”—the county maintains high dropout rates, low interest in higher education, rapidly increasing populations of non-English speak- ers, leading numbers of methamphetamine labs, and a lack of public transportation. These conditions may explain why oral history is popu- lar, why only three youngsters signed up for a beginning genealogy class, and why a Leadership Jackson County group (most of them 30-some- thing) did not want to look beyond a few secondary sources to prepare a binder of local history handouts for fourth-grade teachers to use in their classrooms. Perhaps I do not understand the motivation of those who say they are interested. Maybe the challenge lies in better informing potential audience members of the programs and their relevance. Visitors from outside the county come because they have heard about a “longest” bridge, a “scenic” mill, or a quaint chapel. They want to see where historic events occurred, even though most traces of the prehistoric mound, the Indian raid, or the old farmhouse may be gone. Perhaps they seek what photographer John Bower calls the “lingering spirit.”4 They also want “the facts” about the man hired to plant great- great-grandfather’s orchard or about the Grassy Fork boy who became a TWA founder and FDR’s pilot on the precursor of Air Force One. They come curious to explore whether their “real” father may have been the founder of a local industry, intrigued to learn that Pee Wee Reese played a summer of baseball in Seymour, and interested to know that President

______3The Medora Brick Plant Site can be accessed at http://www.medorabrickplant.org/. 4John Bower, Lingering Spirit: A Photographic Tribute to Indian’s Fading, Forlorn, and Forgotten Places (Bloomington, Ind., 2003). DOING LOCAL HISTORY 417

Eisenhower’s funeral train stopped in Brownstown so Julie Nixon Eisenhower could get something for her headache and make a phone call. (Contrary to popular legend the Secret Service agent from Brownstown did not stop to say “hello” to his parents—he was not on the train.) Visitors look for facts (or even stories) about “things of inter- est,” known only to them and the select few who have pursued them. Genealogy is also somewhat of a motivating factor for some, but I always try to help people move beyond charts toward learning about the com- munities from which they came. RIPPY: We constantly strive to draw visitors to the museum by provid- ing unique exhibits and open houses and by being involved in various community projects. We are like many other local museums that receive more visitors from outside the county than from within. Our three- story facility houses exhibits on two floors and a research library on the third. Researchers on their way to the library pass through the exhibits.5 Visitors of all ages come into the museum for many reasons. Children like the hands-on room, where they can touch items and enter- tain themselves while parents look at other exhibits. Period room set- tings depict how people lived and help children relate the past to their lives today. We also introduce children to the library by showing them maps of where they live and helping them read old newspapers on microfilm. Children often bring their parents to the museum after we have done a school tour. Of course, like many other counties, our shrinking school budgets have reduced field trips. Because of today’s rapid changing technology, the teenagers are drawn to the “ancient” Atari Games. They seem interested in Native American stories or any- thing about which they can say “I had one of those.” Genealogy produces about 70 percent of the business we do at the museum, and its popularity is growing. As a rule, the retired generation has the time and interest in researching history. More women do research but we are seeing an increase of men wanting to know more about their ancestors. Anytime a person can talk about their family or homestead to someone else, they get excited. Someone is always on hand to guide people toward their family treasures, which explains why so many researchers return. The more they find the more they become hooked on continuing the hunt. Other people are motivated by the his- tory of their home—I think they hope to find skeletons in the closet.

______5Visit the museum online at http://www.mchistoricalsociety.org. 418 INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

Attendees at PowerPoint presentations range in age from 25 to 90. A volunteer and I dress in 1915-era costumes while presenting programs about the county’s history and mixing present names into past gossip. The presentation about the 1940s goes over most successfully with the 60- to 90-year-old groups, although the younger people are making con- nections to this time period. Anytime we offer free refreshments we can count on a good turnout.

DEFINING LOCAL HISTORY IMH: Charlotte mentions a “passion” for nearby history, Linda enjoys helping children “connect” to their “own backyards,” and Joe likes being “near the primary sources,” yet you all also note that people will travel great distances to participate. So, how would you define “local history”? SKVARENINA: Is this a trick question? I do not know if I can define local history. When I am in Hancock County, its history is local history. When I am back in my hometown of Canton, Stark County, Ohio, its history is local history. If I feel interested in some site or event, then its history becomes local history. Geography, social attachments, home- town, childhood, and religion determine one’s individual viewpoint, historical vantage point, and standard of significance. If you live in the middle of a major Civil War battlefield, that is local history. If you are the child of the president of the United States, the White House might be local history to you. I am sometimes amazed, however, at what will interest people—some folks want to visit a doll museum, so I guess nothing is too small. SELLERS: For me, local history explores how individuals and commu- nities within a limited geographical area came to be where and as they are, how they created or responded to events at any given time, how much influence outside events had on them, and possibly how the local actions or reactions differed from those of other localities that appear similar. Local history necessarily is somewhat geographically designated for the “local” historian, although “local” does not necessarily stop at politically or socially drawn boundaries as the historian pursues knowl- edge of particular individuals, communities and events. Whether some- thing is too big or too small only comes into play, I think, when the historian begins to select facts to illustrate the history being pursued. RIPPY: My take on local history is anything that gives me a connection to my past and present surroundings. My husband—who inhales every piece of history he can get his hands on—said that local history means DOING LOCAL HISTORY 419

Native Americans, architecture, folklore, ghost stories, and photographs. He is less interested in the individual and more interested in what sur- rounds people and what they pass on to one another. My 16-year-old grandson said history is what happened in his town and state, while a volunteer at the museum described it as a background of what we are today. The head of our research library views local history as a record of how and why some areas grew and progressed, while others simply faded.

IMH: We often read in the news about “history wars” concerning muse- um exhibits or school curricula. Have you experienced similar public reactions to local history? Are some topics off limits? SELLERS: When I do local history programs, I don’t bring up Chem- Scam from the 1980s (when local government official were indicted— and some convicted—of taking bribes from chemical salesmen), recent meth labs, or 20-year-old unsolved homicides—although now that I think about it, why not! Something on a controversial mayor (now deceased) who defied law and reason a few times and eventually went to prison because he would not say he was sorry? Probably depends on whether he has relatives who would object. We’re getting ready to do a program on Seymour Recycling, one of the first two Superfund sites to draw national attention in the 1980s. How much will we say about its being spun off from one of the oldest industries in town? Some locals dislike any mention of the Reno Gang from the 1860s, while others say they are a part of the history and cannot be ignored. A program on the Reno Gang drew a “good” crowd but covered only the basic narrative—they robbed trains and courthouses, terrorized the countryside, fled to Canada, were pursued by Allen Pinkerton, and eventually were lynched by local vigilantes. True research into the out- law gang has not been done. I would like to see at least as much work go into finding out who the vigilantes were (a list has never surfaced) and how the Renos managed to take over the towns of Rockford and Seymour as has been squandered in trying to find the $46,000 to $160,000 the gang supposedly left buried. The Reno controversy does not affect locals nearly as much as fam- ily history (except when it is family history). Those researching families who came from North Carolina nearly 200 years ago somewhat resent the local cultural emphasis on the heritage of Germans, who did not arrive until the mid-1850s. Most of the German culture exists in Seymour and most of the North Carolinians live in the western part of 420 INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

the county, which helps provoke the cross-county rivalry mentioned earlier. Apathy is also a challenge. Programs on sports, trees and forest industries, African Americans, the Underground Railroad, and commu- nity firefighting have been poorly attended. No interest was expressed in talking with a representative of the Indiana Historical Society about good practices for the conservation of historical objects and documents. Most topics, I believe, can be handled in a manner to avoid polarity if participants are willing to look at the material objectively. Recent pro- grams on local railroad history and on what can be found from an hour of research drew the largest groups the library has had in years. They were marketed as roundtables, so perhaps the emphasis on group partic- ipation sparked the sudden interest. SKVARENINA: The is certainly a controversial issue. In the early 1920s local preachers held massive Klan rallies in which they encouraged their congregations to participate in the Klan. According to local sources, one such rally at the fairgrounds drew 10,000, but today no one in Hancock County has grandparents or family members who were part of the Klan. You know you hit a nerve when someone gets quiet. Old timers don’t talk about the Klan, but new people in the community seem to bring up the issue. Old timers are similarly silent about the character of revered Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley, pre- ferring to ignore his drinking and womanizing. You want to make Old Greenfield mad, just bring up those stories. The history wars in Hancock County have included major battles over building preservation and restoration. A few years ago a local bank was going to sell its prime downtown courthouse corner to the county to be torn down for the location of a new courthouse annex. I wrote an editorial about the architectural significance of the structure and the rest of the historical community got on the bandwagon and got the project stopped. I could tell one story after another like this one, but to the county’s credit the courthouse was recently restored. I had a difficult time convincing Historic Landmarks of Indiana to help on the Courthouse Square problem, but they eventually got on board and took over the issue. I will never forget speaking with their representative, who asked me, “What do you want me to do about it?” Sometimes I feel like I am in a war but I don’t know who the enemy is. RIPPY: When patrons researching our museum’s library find a “skeleton in the closet,” some are embarrassed by what they find. We tell them skeletons are good: If we were all perfect people, who would want to DOING LOCAL HISTORY 421

write about us for our next generation? We all made mistakes: Native Americans were driven from their land in the 1830s and in the 1960s African American travelers were turned away at motels and restaurants. I have no problem in passing on our attitudes about others, and I con- tinue to pass those stories on to the youth who visit the museum. That being said, there are ways to discuss our previous attitudes without being offensive to the audience. It is very interesting that senior citizens will not talk about the Klan in Marshall County—the Klan paraded through the park and heav- en forbid that anyone knows anything! My observation on this is that they are too close to the friends and relatives who participated, and they were trained to keep this quiet. The younger generation is curious about the Klan, Native Americans, and African Americans, and they are open to discussion. Last year, in a 60-minute presentation to 30- to 40- year-old adults, I spoke for two minutes about Indian displacement and one person wrote on the evaluation form: “I’m tired of hearing about that.” That is the only negative comment I have heard in fifteen years of work with the museum. We still have to educate a few people out there. Right now the county has a large influx of Hispanics and we have formed organizations to work with them. The school has worked hard to help blend them into the society without sacrificing their heritage. This is an example of how we are working together and learning from our past mistakes. Finally, some recent topics are off-limits because they may open a wound or because relatives still live in town. An example is our upcom- ing cemetery tour, in which a group of people portray the lives of people who have died over 50 years ago and have an interesting story to tell. We try to avoid recent politics, but the earlier politics are great, especial- ly when our two newspapers, The Republican and The Democrat, compet- ed with each other. Perhaps we mellow with age?

IMH: What makes the difference in community support of local history? Why do some communities value their history—even flaunt it and exploit it—while others neglect and destroy it? SKVARENINA: The answer is politics and what the politician perceives as the amount of destruction the community will accept. Some com- munities do fine while others seem to demolish the past swiftly. It is the job of the historian to join the fray and fight the good fight on this one. Retreat, and it will be hard to rebuild. Sole gratia. 422 INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

SELLERS: Persuasive leadership no doubt is the key to creating demand for the conservation of history and its artifacts—but from where can such leadership originate? Funding also plays a major role. But at the purely local level (and maybe to a lesser degree at the academic or pro- fessional level), projects often seem to end in acrimonious polarization that leaves the intended conservation at best less than it could have been and at worst thoroughly undone. Woe to communities without the per- suasive leadership and/or the political clout to champion the importance of finding, conserving, interpreting, and teaching our history. Before I became the Jackson County historian, I always wondered why previous county historians had not done more or at least had not done things differently. Now I understand how much work and how lit- tle help exists. And while I understand why those at more professional levels of “historicity” may not want to “interfere in” local history situa- tions (I tend to think of it more as “counsel”), sometimes it might be good for the community to have the perspective of those who, at least in my eyes, have not only greater knowledge but greater credibility.

CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS IMH: Let’s talk about the logistical challenges you face. RIPPY: As with any not-for-profit agency, money is always an issue. The Marshall County Historical Society currently seeks to expand its museum, raising money from grants, society members, businesses, organizations, and the general public. The key is to fit the need to the donor and do a lot of PR work. For example, when I go to the Kiwanis Club for money, I emphasize how it will help the youth, an important concern for them. Most of our local history activities are not major projects and are paid for by the society or by smaller donations. Our publications are paid for by membership dues. SELLERS: As county historian, most materials—including photocopies, equipment, mileage, business cards, and refreshments—are provided by me. Occasionally scholarships are available for conferences. The organi- zations with which I am involved fund their activities by a variety of taxes, grants, dues, donations of time and money, and fundraisers including sale of history-related publications and items. Concerns over mortgage payments, maintenance, and utilities make budgeting a neces- sity, and when ignored they lead to stagnation and lack of initiative. Accountability also proves challenging. Some laws require accountability for both tax and not-for-profit funds, and grants and DOING LOCAL HISTORY 423

organizational charters impose other requirements. However, grant makers often seem to ask for little acknowledgment, much less account- ability. Some organizations file annual reports and perform internal audits, while others do not. Accountability for artifacts and documents should be covered by law but only seems to be investigated or prosecut- ed in extreme cases. Hundreds of items disappear over the years. SKVARENINA: The most common legal issue we face seems to center around the private material “on loan” to the museums. I have seen rela- tives want to come back as much as 30 years later seeking to reclaim the items. RIPPY: We face the legal issue of split-ownership and operation—the county owns our building and the society owns the artifacts and oper- ates the museum and library. Thus, we have to make sure that the muse- um and historical society operate separately, and keep that in mind when applying for grants so that we can maintain the 501(c)3 status with the government. As with any historical society, it is legally impor- tant to have a board of trustees, statement of purpose, and bylaws. Having an attorney and a CPA on the board is to our advantage. Paper trails follow everything that is donated to the museum. SELLERS: Physical space is always a problem. What to collect, what to send to another home, and what to decline—these questions must be decided continually or space fills up rapidly. I have yet to see a local organization other than a public library have a written collection policy. (I personally have a sort of unwritten collection policy as county histori- an, but it has not stopped my rooms from being stuffed with papers, fil- ing cabinets, and projects.) SKVARENINA: After much work, the Hancock County Historical Society now has an acquisition/disquisition policy, and I am starting the same effort with the Shirley organization. It is a chronic problem in both settings since each owns a building. RIPPY: I think we are like many small county museums whose collec- tion has grown over the years but has not been properly preserved, due partly to lack of help and to lack of awareness of newer conservation materials. Fourteen years ago, everything resided in either a plastic dry cleaning bag or in high acid cardboard boxes. Over the years, we have been fortunate to replace all the damaging storage materials with conser- vation supplies. Expensive, yes, but worth every penny! We seem never to have enough staffing. We rely on over 30 volun- teers—they are great and we could not operate without them. That being said, they are volunteers—usually retired, part-time workers who want 424 INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

to give something back to the community when it is convenient for them. Their talents are often limited, by health or by preference. Since the museum is a county building, a paid staff member remains on duty at all times that the facility is open. SELLERS: The small organizations in Jackson County have no paid staff, which means that they open on a limited basis when particular vol- unteers can be present—admittance to one of the best in the county comes only by asking at the nearby post office for the curator to be called; I encountered a couple who had been dropping by on vacations for ten years without success. Another concern lies in finding people willing to take the time to learn and practice adequate standards for local history. Advertising available workshops or programs—even offering transportation—seldom generates a strong response. Exhibits and newsletters often are weak, boring, and out of date; programming is avoided and seldom given adequate publicity. Knowledgeable visitors are alarmed to see a cup hook screwed into the back of an artifact on dis- play, a document continually exposed to light that will destroy it over time, or an unwillingness to welcome and use the talents of new mem- bers and to provide programs that entice them to return.

IMH: Do you collaborate with other historians or institutions outside of your own county? SKVARENINA: Not wanting to paint with too broad a brush, I believe that academic historians do at times look down on the local practitioner, whether out of simple “degree snobbery” or out of distain for the inter- ests of the masses. I write history because I am interested in a topic, because I want to gain knowledge or to discover something, and not because I want to prove anything. My dad never finished high school, but he was a serious historian, and his walking me through the fields looking for arrowheads began the passion of my lifetime. Every time I think I will stop writing, new projects come up until I have a list a mile long. I meet so many interesting people in the study of history and they bring so much to the table. Let the public historian take note! As for working with other organizations, the Riley Old Home Society did receive a grant with the IUPUI libraries to digitize the collec- tions, but the collections are still a mess. The Hancock County society has been attempting to create an inventory for years, but the manual sys- tem progresses slowly. SELLERS: A few years ago a “partnership” of five organizations was con- cocted to digitize local photographs and other material in Jackson DOING LOCAL HISTORY 425

County. In theory, temporary employees would solicit photographs and scan them into a collection for the county, but in practice the employees proved inexperienced in scanning, recording information, following up, and spelling. As a result, much of the material that was shared did not get recorded properly. My experience with “outsiders” has been that the more competent and learned a person—no matter the field—the more willing he or she is to share and encourage the efforts of others. Of course exceptions exist—among both academic and local historians—but I have learned what little I know about “doing” history by attending a variety of histo- ry-related conferences where university professors and others take time to teach what they know. Such exchanges succeed where both parties share interests, standards, respect, and knowledge. RIPPY: Because of staff and funding shortages, digitization is not an option in Marshall County. We would love to offer more programs but have had to prioritize to concentrate on exhibits, conservation, membership, expansion, collection management (long-term project), and convincing the public that this is not just an “attic full of old stuff” but an exciting and vibrant museum.

THE VALUE OF LOCAL HISTORY IMH: Let’s end with the big questions: What purposes can local history serve? What role can local history play in the community? What is the value of local history? SELLERS: A purpose beyond serving as an excuse for falling behind on home chores? What a neat idea! While lofty reasons can be given for pursuing local history, I see it mainly as an attempt to satisfy personal curiosity about specific individuals, events, and localities and their rela- tionships, interactions, and peculiarities. As we learn more about the histories of our community’s government, agriculture, business, educa- tion, entertainment, crime, public welfare, religion, architecture, and environment, our personal perspectives may broaden or even change. To an extent we “interpret” what we learn but probably not in the objective sense of interpretation for a larger purpose that a professional historian pursues. Seldom in my experience has local history moved beyond the superficial to explore how the community of business or family relates to similar (or dissimilar) nearby or national events. Perhaps the best for which we can hope is that some of the artifacts, structures, records, and stories—both written and oral—will endure to be pursued and 426 INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

appreciated on an individual basis. If local history is accessible, exam- ined, understood, and integrated into a more coherent mosaic, it might show the character of those who came before, what they might or might not have known, how they did things, how their actions influenced oth- ers, and how those actions and reactions might provide knowledge use- ful for current and future situations. How many communities have or want such a mosaic? SKVARENINA: To me, local history is the great equalizer. Being closer to the soil, it constitutes the best place to locate primary sources, the eas- iest place to establish a reference point to the major happenings of soci- ety, and a good place to recognize trends and the influence environment might have on that very history. Its cast of characters is more familiar and it brings all of us closer to the actual happening. And everyone has an opinion on what happened locally! Local history can confirm community lore and legends. It can tell us why a community has certain attitudes, why it developed as it did, and why it has certain physical characteristics. It can explain industrial or agricultural patterns and tell you about your grandparents. The value of local history lies in its ability to establish a set of roots. It enables some communities to learn from their past. RIPPY: I know of no other subject more interesting and exciting than local history. Understanding the place of our community in the state, the nation, and the world brings people together. Local history begins with the individual and expands outward to include all around us. Nothing fosters conversation like discussing what happened yesterday, last week, or 100 years ago. Local history defies age boundaries. Sit four genera- tions together and bring out the photographs, traditions, and stories and you will see a sparkling conversation about mistakes made, lessons learned, and perspectives gained—and the children will be captivated. Local history unites friend and neighbor, past and present. It provides a fuzzy, warm feeling when shared and leaves us “thirsty” for more infor- mation. We all learn from one another.

PUBLIC RESPONSE: INVOLVING SCHOOLS AND SAVING RECORDS At a public session held during the February 2007 Indiana Association of Historians conference, Charlotte Sellers and Joseph Skvarenina introduced their favorite themes and questions from this conversation to an audience of over thirty interested individuals. Marion DOING LOCAL HISTORY 427

County historian David Vanderstel offered his reactions, and Indiana University history professor James H. Madison facilitated a discussion among all in attendance. No topic prompted more discussion than that of involving local schools in local history. During the conversation, two philosophies emerged for helping students (and teachers) see that “history happened here”: one to demonstrate the impact of national events and policies on local circumstances, and another to induce from the local to the national. Indiana history is taught in fourth grade, but several participants emphasized the need to connect local history to the national events dis- cussed in other grades as well. For example, students might interview community residents who participated in the civil rights movement or the Vietnam War. In Evansville, students in an elective course prepare documentaries that air on the local television station.6 Participants also recommended leveraging repeated events—such as national history day or black history month—as well as several upcoming celebrations, including the sesquicentennial of the Civil War (2011-2015), the bicen- tennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth (2009), the War of 1812 (2012- 2014), Indiana statehood (2016), and the centennial of World War I (2017-2018).7 Participants also discussed how to find teachers willing to inte- grate local history, noting that printed publicity, word-of-mouth, and emails to school administrators did not usually bring results. The most successful method has been to contact good teachers directly, whether they teach in social studies or in writing, science, art, or building trades. Additionally, several sources offer grant money that can be used in local history work: the federal Teaching American History initiative, the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s “Preserve America” award, the Indiana Humanities Council, and the Indiana Council for History Education’s Governor’s Award. Summer training institutes for teachers are offered by the History Educator’s Network of Indiana and Historic Southern Indiana. All present recognized that teachers are very busy and that the integration of local history should be presented not as “adding to the

______6For information on this project led by Jon Carl at J. Reitz High School and Helfrich Park Middle School in Evansville visit http://www.feelthehistory.com. 7In Indiana a task force and state commission are working to commemorate the Lincoln bicen- tennial, http://www.indianaslincoln.org. 428 INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

plate” but as “fitting with current responsibilities.” Suggestions ranged from providing source materials for teacher use to preparing lesson plans.8 In every case, the assistance should be keyed to the state stan- dards that dominate school planning.9 Several participants noted that members of the community fre- quently request information, quilts, and tours relative to the Underground Railroad, yet solid connections cannot always be docu- mented in local sources. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources offers some assistance.10 The logistics of record preservation generated many questions from participants at the IAH session. Every local historian seems to have a story about neglected records in a damp basement. What does one do when space runs out and no other repository demonstrates interest in the records? How can local historians champion local record preserva- tion? What to do when a hired consultant recommends jettisoning pub- lished sources available via interlibrary loan? The Indiana State Library is beginning a federally funded statewide digitization project called “Indiana Memory.” The National Endowment for the Humanities offers applicable grants under its “access and records” category. Other grants are listed in the Indiana Historical Society’s online publication, Communiqué.

______8For lesson plans incorporating Indiana history see the websites of the Indiana Historical Bureau (http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/resources/index.html), the Indiana Humanities Council (http://www.indianahumanities.org/smartdesktop/index.html), and the IMH (http://www.indiana.edu/~imaghist/for_teachers/index.html). 9School standards may be found at http://www.doe.state.in.us/standards/welcome.html. 10See http://www.in.gov/dnr/historic/ugrr.html.