Last month the library launched a new website at columbusarchives.org/301, about 301 Washington St., a building that has played a cornerstone role in the history of Columbus’ prominent families, businesses and mid-century modern design.
The website brings together 400 photographs, drawings and documents from the collections of the library, the Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives and the Bartholomew County Historical Society, and makes them accessible online for the first time.
You can explore these materials through the online exhibit “301 Washington Street: Cornerstone of Columbus, Indiana.” To make navigating the 400 records easier, materials are organized into five subject areas: 301 Today, Irwin-Sweeney-Miller Family, Businesses at 301, A Century of Design and Documenting 301.
Wonder what’s behind the brass doors of “Irwin’s Bank”? In the 301 Today section, you can tour late, wealthy industrialist and former Cummins Engine Co. leader J. Irwin Miller’s office suite through color photographs.
Uncertain how the Irwin, Sweeney and Miller families are related? In the Irwin-Sweeney-Miller Family section, you can study the family tree, see individual portraits and read biographical sketches.
Curious about the businesses the family ran at 301? In the Businesses at 301 section, you’ll find artifacts, including a safe owned by J.I. Irwin, photographs, postcards and letters related not only to Irwin’s Bank and Irwin Management Company, but also to Irwin’s Dry Goods, Driftwood Valley Turnpike, I.C.&S. Traction Company and Union Starch & Refining Company.
Interested in how the building has changed since its construction in 1881? In A Century of Design, you can examine postcards and photographs spanning 100 years, study architectural drawings and swoon over vivid textile samples selected by world famous designer and textile artist Alexander Girard.
Can’t get enough of designer Girard? In Documenting 301, learn what it took to publish his 1972 redesign of 301 in Interiors magazine and read articles about Girard’s life and work. Need help using the site? Just stop by BCPL’s reference desk and ask.
As the CIAA archivist, I am often asked if there are plans to digitize CIAA’s collection, and when everything will be available online. Making archival materials available online allows anyone with curiosity and an internet connection to explore the world.
Although Google often makes us feel that the world is just a click away, digitization projects are complex and costly. Scanning a letter and putting the picture online are easy.
What’s complex is making that letter “discoverable” through a search engine like Google. We help you find the letter online by providing a complete transcript so you can search by author, subject or keyword. For a photograph, we describe it using keywords we think you might use.
All the while, we must be able to connect the digital image you see online with the physical object we have in our collection. To digitize and put online materials related to 301 Washington St., the Library received a grant award of $11,000. This project is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Indiana State Library.
Tricia Gilson is the archivist of the Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives at the Bartholomew County Public Library. She can be reached at [email protected]
