Welcome! This page includes a collection of projects from graduating seniors from Indiana State University’s History Department. We pride ourselves on public service and providing opportunities for our students to do impactful work that contributes to understandings of local history here in Vigo County.

The projects linked below relate to the Environmental History of Vigo County. Environmental history is the study of how aspects of our environments like natural resources, waterways, climate, and infrastructure, participate in human history. It also appreciates the many ways that we reshape our environments to meet our political, economic, and cultural needs. In other words, environments are like a context for human history, but a context that we are constantly remaking. Incorporating environments into the way we write history also allows for a broader and more inclusive picture that extends beyond the human realm and shows how our history is part of a much larger story connected to nature.

Please explore the seven individual projects below. Each connects to a major theme in local environmental history and is based in extensive archival research around Vigo County over the Spring of 2025. Please also take some time to explore the wide variety of case studies and documents that students have curated as part of this project.

A special thank you to the Vigo County Historical Society and Vigo County History Center for your longstanding partnership with the Indiana State University Department of History and for supporting initiatives to tell inclusive stories about our local history!

Dr. James M. Gustafson

Indiana State University