Peoples of Indiana
- Purchases may be made via a visit to our office, by telephone (317-232-2535), fax (317-232-3728), or e-mail (ihb @ history.in.gov). More info on purchasing here.
19 Stars of Indiana: Exceptional Hoosier Men
Michael S. Maurer
The nineteen outstanding contemporary Hoosier men--one for each star in the Indiana state flag--profiled by Michael S. Maurer in his new book 19 Stars of Indiana: Exceptional Hoosier Men, are leaders and pioneers who have excelled in a variety of pursuits, including law, business, philanthropy, government, medicine, music, art, athletics, religion, and education. The book, pubished in association with IBJ Media, Indianapolis, and the Indiana Historical Society, features the inspiring stories of Hoosiers shot out of a fighter jet, liberating a concentration camp, subject to court martial, knocked cold in front of twenty thousand fans, facing bigotry, and caught in the middle of ethnic slaughter--lives full of excitement, adventure, and achievement.
cloth 232 pp. / 2010 / ISBN 978-0-87195-291-2 / $24.95
Order No. 2790
Maria's Journey
Ramón Arredondo and Trisha (Hull) Arredondo
Born into the Mexican Revolution, Maria Perez entered an arranged marriage at age fourteen to Miguel Arredondo. The couple and their tiny daughter immigrated to the United States in the 1920s, living in a boxcar while Miguel worked for a Texas railroad and eventually settling in East Chicago, Indiana, where Miguel worked for Inland Steel. Their true story includes much of early-twentieth-century America: the rise of unions, the plunge into the Great Depression, the patriotism of World War II, and the starkness of McCarthyism. It is flavored by delivery men hawking fruit and ice, street sports, and Saturday matinees that began with newsreels. Immigration status colors every scene, adding to their story deportation and citizenship, generational problems unique to new immigrants, and a miraculous message of hope.
paper 260 pp. / 2010 / ISBN 978-0-87195-286-8 / $19.95
Order No. 967
Indianapolis Italians
James J. Divita
In 1910, Indianapolis had the smallest foreign stock population of any city north of the Ohio River, and city historians merely ignored the presence of the ethnic communities. In the 1920s, the Hoosier capital supposedly lacked a cosmopolitan character, and the Ku Klux Klan gloried in the slogan "100% American." However, the size of a community does not indicate its significance in municipal life. Rather, immigrants and their descendants make a difference because of their talents and available local opportunities.
Residents of Italian origin have contributed mightily to Indianapolis's economy, culture, and professional and religious life. The first to arrive were the Sicilians who developed the city's fruit and vegetable trade and the Friulani who engaged in terrazzo-mosaic tile work. Early immigrants became grocers, shoemakers, tailors, and barbers. Later, primarily after World War II, many American-born of Italian descent moved into Indianapolis, excelling in business and professional fields, including law, medicine, and education. The community has continued to grow, adding to its numbers the Italian-born but married to American military or engaged in skilled labor in carpentry, tailoring, salesmanship, and food preparation.
paper 127 pp. ISBN 0-7385-4095-1 / $19.99
Order No. 2628
The Irish
William W. Giffin
The history of the Irish in Indiana is intricately woven into the fabric of the state’s history. The Irish first arrived in Indiana along with the fur traders in the 1700s. In the 1800s many Irish immigrants struggled to create new lives as the built Indiana’s early canals, roads, and railroads. As Indiana progressed, so did the Irish. Today, Hoosiers of Irish origin can be found in all facets of Indiana society from business and medicine to law and politics. From humble beginnings, Indiana’s Irish have become an integral part of the state’s tapestry while continuing to celebrate their Celtic past.
paper 137 pp. ISBN 0-87195-193-2/$13.95
Order No. 2593
Hoosiers All: What does it mean to be a Hoosier?
Indiana Historical Society
Video program focusing on the ethnic groups, past and present, that settled Indiana. Kit contains a 27-minute videocassette and an 11-page teacher's guide.
VHS 1998/ISBN 0-87195-126-6/$19.95
Order No. 2282
Shipshewana: An Indiana Amish Community
Dorothy O. Pratt
While most books about the Amish focus on the Pennsylvania settlements or on the religious history of the sect, this book is a cultural history of one Indiana Amish community and its success in resisting assimilation into the larger culture. Founded in 1841, Shipshewana benefited from LaGrange County's relative isolation. As Pratt shows, this isolation was key to the community's success. The Amish were able to develop a stable farming economy and a social structure based on their own terms. Crisis and abuse from the outer world have tended only to confirm the desire of the Amish to remain a people apart, and lends a special poignancy to this engrossing tale of resistance to the modern world.
cloth 209 pp. 2004/ISBN 0-253-34518-9/$29.95
Order No. 2485
German Settlers of South Bend
Gabrielle Robinson
The predominant immigrant group from the 1840s to the 1870s, the Germans helped build South Bend from an isolated trading post into a thriving industrial city. They also played a key role in transforming the surrounding wilderness into rich and fertile farmland.
Voices of America series from Arcadia Press.
paper 128 pp. 2003/ISBN 0-7385-2340-2 /$19.99
Order No. 2445
Middletown Jews: The Tenuous Survival of an American Jewish Community
Dan Rottenberg and Dwight W. Hoover, eds.
Oral narratives of the Jewish experience in Muncie, Indiana, accompanied by 23 black and white photographs.
paper 142 pp. 1997/ISBN 0-253-33243-5/$12.95
Order No. 2317
New Faces at the Crossroads: The World in Central Indiana
John Sherman, text
Jeffrey A. Wolin, photographs & interviews
Until recently, central Indiana has not truly reflected the sheer diversity of races, religions, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds of the rest of the world. In recent decades and especially in the first years of the 21st century, however, cities, towns, and rural areas of the central portion of the Hoosier state have welcomed an increasing number of new residents who constitute a surprisingly broad and diverse cross section of world citizens.
To capture and celebrate these changes, New Faces at the Crossroads features portraits of 30 recent newcomers from around the world by award-winning photographer Jeffrey A. Wolin, accompanied by stories of why they came to the area and their perspectives on living there. Together with John Sherman's text describing changes and additions to the region's population, these striking photographs show that central Indiana is no longer just the Crossroads of America: It is the crossroads of the world.
cloth 96 pp. 2007/ISBN 978-0-253-35068-8/$29.95
Order No. 2670
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