Every October, since 2006, archivists across the country celebrate American Archives Month.
October is our month to show that archives are not hiding treasures waiting to be discovered amid the dusty and musty papers of years gone by. Instead, October is our month to celebrate our commitment to collecting and preserving historical materials and to providing you with access to those materials.
The Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives collects primary source materials about our county’s built environment — our buildings, landscapes, planning and development projects, and our public art.
Part of what drives us is our belief that what distinguishes Bartholomew County from other counties across the country is we are a community that values design excellence, and its potential to enhance our lives.
In other words, we recognize that our community with its challenges, processes, and solutions has value not only for ourselves but other communities as well.
To celebrate archives, I want to highlight several books in the library’s collection that have made use of archival materials at CIAA.
The first four focus on architecture, and they can be enjoyed by everyone no matter their knowledge about design. They are "The Architecture of Harry Weese," by Robert Bruegmann (2010); "Alexander Girard: A Designer’s Universe," edited by Mateo Kries, Jochen Eisenbrand, and Barbara Hauss (2016); "SOS Brutalism," edited by Oliver Elser, Philip Kurz, and Peter Cachola Schmal (2017); and "The Design of Childhood," by Alexandra Lange (2018).
Each book allows for a quick read about a particular building while also offering the opportunity to do a deeper dive.
If you prefer biographies, then you are in luck. The first biography, a slim volume by Connie Zeigler, is "Xenia Simons Miller, Prairie Modernist" (2018). While locally many are familiar with Xenia Miller’s involvement in our community’s art and architecture, few outside Columbus knew little more than her husband was J. Irwin Miller. Zeigler explores how Xenia Miller used her keen design sensibilities to work closely with the country’s leading architects.
Two other biographies that involved extensive archival research at the Indiana Historical Society are both about J. Irwin Miller. They are "The Cathedral Builder," by Charles E. Mitchell Rentschler (2014) and "J. Irwin Miller: The Shaping of an American Town," by Nancy Kriplen (2019).
During American Archives Month, I encourage you to find a book or film that could not have been created without archival materials. Explore the archives that were consulted in writing that book or making that film. See how you might become involved with an archive or historical society.
Volunteer in the bicentennial celebration of Bartholomew County. Gather materials that tell your story or your family’s story. Learn how to care for those materials by consulting Denise S. May-Levernick’s books How to Archive Family Keepsakes (2012) and How to Archive Family Photos (2015).
Whatever you do this October, remember that archives are for all of us because they hold our stories for everyone to discover.
Reach Tricia Gilson, archivist of the Columbus Indiana Architectural Archives at the Bartholomew County Public Library at tgilson@mybcpl.org
