Indiana Historical Society Kicks Off New Initiative

The Indiana Historical Society has launched an initiative to document the history of sexual minorities in the Hoosier state.  

This week, the organization announced a three phase project to collect, preserve and share the stories of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.  

Suzanne Hahn, VP of Archives and Library, says an advisory committee will be overseeing the process but that the community is also invited to share. 

"We would love to have photographs, documents, diaries," says Hahn. "Then researchers can use it today, and then also use it 50-100 years from now, that’s part of our process."

The first phase of the initiative involves interviewing at least 40 people in Indianapolis and Central Indiana.  A second phase will collect LGBT materials like books, personal papers or public service records and a third phase will reach out to other parts of the state. 

When completed, the project will be available to the public at the Indiana Historical Society’s William Henry Smith Memorial Library, and part of it will be digitized as well.