If you are a beginning or an experienced family history researcher, you will benefit from this workshop.

Join us for, LAUNCHING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY, Saturday, April 6, at 10:30, at the Vigo County History Center Auditorium.

Pre-registration is required for lunch by Petty Pit Stop lunch (choice of sandwich or salad, apple pie blondie and a drink for $12. Deadline March 29.)

Reservations can be made at the Vigo County History Center or call (812) 235-9717.

Registration deadline without lunch is April 6. Space is limited!

Four programs covering initial smart choices for family history research will be presented and discussed by seven experienced genealogists and family history researchers. Two are county genealogists for the Indiana State Historical Society. There will be a panel discussion after each session with Q & A.

Each patron receives a folder of family history research materials, a packet of useful materials from the Terre Haute Visitors Bureau and a chance for several prizes, two valued close to $100.

Registration cost for VCHC and OLLI Members, FREE! Seniors $6 and Adults $7.

Join us as we celebrate our Sister City, Tajimi Japan in this engaging event. We will also connect with our Sister City via Zoom!

This unique and free program will be filled with cultural insights, artistic elements, musical performance and meaningful connections.

The event will be hosted in the First Financial Auditorium on the 3rd Floor of the Vigo County History Center.

This event is FREE, but RSVPs are appreciated. Contact the History Center at (812) 235-9717.

The history and narratives surrounding the Interurban that traversed Vigo County and connected it to surrounding areas reveal interesting stories and facts. It was in existence of about four decades of the 20th century.

This rail system connected remote areas to more urban areas and enabled citizens to travel much more quickly and easily.

Jeff Koehler, who has a passion for history and, especially, local history concerning transportation involving canals, the Interurban and railroads is a scholar of historic modes of travel. His studies have lead him to unknown facts and stories surrounding each of these important methods of historic travel.

Jeff has been the Clay County historian for over 20 years and is Vice-President of the Clay County Historical Society and on the Board of Directors of the Canal Society of Indiana. He is a 5th generation farmer and life-long resident of Clay County.

Admission is FREE for History Center members. General admission to the History Center is $7 for adults.

Dr. Gary Ulrich, a Terre Hautean, earned his BS degree in Biology at Rose-Hulman (‘17) and his Medical Degree at IU School of Medicine (‘22). During medical training, he became an orthopedic research fellow at a program collaboratively based at the University of Oxford and University of Leeds in England. Most recently, he has been an orthopedic research fellow at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and is currently pursuing an orthopedic surgery residency position.

Dr. Ulrich's previous accomplishments include becoming an Eagle Scout, competing on the Rose-Hulman basketball team, co-founding his own local charity, "Trick Shots for Charity", and producing a documentary film on Indiana State All-American basketball player, Duane Klueh, entitled "Playing for Wooden".

This program relates to his experiences with Dr. Tom Catena, a dedicated American physician who lives and practices medicine in the war-torn Nuba Mountains of Sudan, Africa.

Just one day before his birthday, President Abe Lincoln will visit the Vigo County History Center!

Local reenactor Danny Russel with famoushoosiers.com, will feature Lincoln's legendary character strengths -- his honest nature, love of learning, mastery of language, respect for hard work, empathy for his fellow man, opposition to slavery and ability to lead.

A native of the Hoosier State, Lincoln lived his entire boyhood (age 7-21) in Spencer County where he lost his mother and sister, taught himself to read and learned the value of perseverance. From Indiana, he lived in Illinois for prairie lawyer years, life with Mary and sons, political aspirations and debates with Stephen Douglas prior to time in Washington. Hilarity, heartbreak, humanity and brilliant speeches abound from one of America's greatest presidents!

The Lost Creek Settlement was established in the early 1800’s, when a group of free Black Americans courageously traveled from Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia to settle in eastern Vigo county to escape the racial violence and systemic oppression of the pre-Civil War South. In spite of inequities and challenges they faced in Indiana, the people of Lost Creek demonstrated fortitude, grit, and resilience by creating a thriving farming community for
generations to come.

Presenter, Dee Reed, is a 25-year career veteran in higher education, recently retiring from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. During her tenure, she provided the strategic direction to advance inclusive and equitable work and learning environments. Additionally, she led the
development of the marketing and communications initiatives.

In retirement, Dee continues her commitment to community engagement as a way to make a lasting, positive impact in the
world. She applies her experience to the boards of several local organizations. These include Art Spaces, Lost Creek Restoration and Preservation Foundation, Second Missionary Baptist Church, Wabash Valley Community Foundation and the Vigo County History Center.

Admission is FREE for History Center members. General admission to the History Center is $7 for adults.

“Pillars of the Community: Volume I,” is the new book by photographer Fran Lattanzio and historical writer Susan Tingley.

The book highlights architectural elements of Terre Haute homes that once belonged to both notable figures and residents.

Join us for a book signing and presentation by Lattanzio and Tingley. Books will be available for purchase.

Join the Vigo County History Center for the first speaker series of 2024!

The program, "Native American Code Talkers of WW I and WW II", is presented by Dr. William Meadows, professor of cultural and linguistic anthropology, archaeology, world cultures, ethnohistory and more.

Dr. Meadows has conducted research with many Native American Nations, as well as in Japan, and has carried out archaeological fieldwork in the Midwestern US. He currently teaches and is head of the Missouri State Native American Studies Committee.

He has written seven books and has testified before a Congressional Senate Hearing on the role of the role of Native American Code Talkers in the US armed forces. His testimony and research were seminal in the passage of the 2008 Code Talkers Recognition Act, which brought federal recognition and Congressional Gold and Silver Medals for all Native American Code Talkers.

Some of his other speaking venues include the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Museum of the Marine Corps, the National WW I Museum, and the Army Historical Center.

Admission is FREE for History Center members. General admission to the History Center is $7 for adults.

Think you know Frank Capra’s classic film? Go behind the scenes on an illustrated journey through the film’s beginning – as a Christmas card! – to mixed reviews at the box office and then to its place as a beloved holiday classic. We’ll explore the cast, sets, technical challenges, and more including the film’s connection to a Disney Princess and how Lionel Barrymore (Mr. Potter) lost a bet with Donna Reed (Mary Hatch Bailey). Experience this classic like never before with behind-the-scenes photos and deleted scenes.

Presented by Jamie Poorman from the Marshall (IL) Public Library.

Admission is FREE for History Center members. General admission to the History Center is $7 for adults.

Join us for lunch and history! The lunch and your event begins at the Terminal Public House Restaurant with a short Terminal Building History program. The room is reserved for 21 participants who may enjoy lunch on their own.

Following lunch there will be a tour of the Veterans Memorial Museum of Terre Haute on 1129 Wabash Avenue.

The Veterans Memorial Museum is a labor of love created by Brian Mundell who started collecting military items after his first trip to Normandy in 2004. He became interested in military history at Meadows Elementary School doing book reports on Pearl Harbor and making B-17 and other WW ll airplane models.

His appreciation and respect for the sacrifices veterans made for our freedoms were a motivation for the creation of his museum. He hopes that others, especially the younger generation, will come to appreciate and better understand what the museum represents and
what sacrifices were made by all.

We're living our Party Era!

Join the Vigo County History Center for the second annual, A Night at the Museum: The Eras. Enter your Halloween Era, dressing to represent your favorite era - or your best Halloween costume. Think Halloween Chic!

Tickets include appetizers and entertainment throughout the museum. Cash bar by the Copper Bar. All proceeds from the event allows the History Center to continue to preserve and highlight Vigo County's rich history. For tickets call the Vigo County History Center!

Tickets:

$45 individual and $75/couple

10% Discount for History Center Members

Purchase tickets here!

Terre Haute has a rich arts community. We are fortunate to have so many diverse arts programs right here in our own backyard. Now, the Vigo County History Center is bringing a new and exciting art form to our Arts and Cultural District.

This month, the Center will preview the first in a series of storytelling events. “Spooktacular Stories” will delight an audience of all ages with spooky, but not overly scary stories.

This program will be the first in a series of storytelling events throughout the year. The History Center is also planning workshops on storytelling, directed at various audiences.

Storytelling has a rich history, beginning with cave drawings as far back as 14,000 years ago. Over time, this form of recording stories shifted to oral tradition. For many generations, stories were passed from parent to child by word of mouth. Many of these stories are still an important part of our storytelling today. Later, storytelling shifted again to written words. There are volumes and volumes of wonderful tales in print.

“Spooktacular Stories” will be presented at the Vigo County History Center on October 27 at 7:00 p.m.

The storytelling is free to History Center members.

Non-members can attend with regular admission to the History Center: Senior - $6.00; Adults - $7:00; Youth - $4.00

Long before the electric bulb, gas lights were the source for lighting, and their use continued into the 1950’s in street lights. They are still used today for camping and during power outages.

There is an interesting story of how Charles Daniels of the Daniels Gasoline Lighting Company of Paris, Illinois, patented a lamp burner in 1909. He became affiliated with the Little Wonder Light Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, a company that also had an experimental lantern of the same date. Strange, indeed.

Terry Marsh of Chicago, Illinois, a retired ecology and botany professor at North Central College, began collecting and researching old gas pressure lighting and heating appliances, such as Coleman lanterns and stoves. His interest in the history resulted in creating the website terry-marsh.com to include collections of others, as well as his own. He has written a number of articles for collector magazines and given presentations to the International Coleman Collectors Club at their annual conventions, the Aladdin Knights annual gatherings, and historical societies where these appliances were located.

VCHC and OLLI members Free Adults $7 and Seniors $6

In 1963 and 1964, two groups of Cuban refugees were brought to Terre Haute, Indiana to be trained as Spanish language teachers in Indiana schools. These refugees were doctors, lawyers, professors and politicians, who were escaping the Cuban Revolution and Fidel Castro.

To aid these refugees locally, Indiana State University initiated a special program with several partners, to educate and support these groups to become Spanish teachers.

With the educational backing, the groups began to branch out throughout Indiana and other Midwestern states and taught Spanish. There was an increased need due to the state mandate that by 1965 all high school students in Indiana were required to have taken two years of foreign language. With so few foreign language teachers, the refugees provided a tremendous service to the state and to the nation.

This presentation by Dr. Crystal Reynolds, is a celebration of the 60th anniversary of their accomplishments and ISU’s partnership.

Children's Book Launch, Reading and Signing Featuring Terre Haute native Rumu Sarkar

Join us for this unique event featuring Terre Haute native Rumu Sarkar as she launches her children’s book, "BUNDHARAM KUNDHARAM"… a book of Short Stories Introducing a New Voice in Children’s Literature.

Wednesday, September 20, 4pm to 6pm

Vigo County History Center

929 Wabash Avenue.

FREE for History Center Members

History Center Admission $7

Seniors $6 and Youth $4

Light refreshments to be served.

USING MAPS IN YOUR RESEARCH

September 9, 1:30 PM

Vigo County History Center - 929 Wabash Avenue, Terre Haute, IN 47807

Today we use Google maps to get from point A to point B using artificial intelligence to guide us along a route. Seeing points of a large area on a map gives one a total reference of relationships of towns, rivers, railroads, roads, etc. Using digital references, such as Google Earth, allows one to observe a broad or a specific area.

Maps are fun, especially old maps. With technology availability today, one is able to overlay new maps on old maps using latitudes and longitudes in order to see changes and differences that have occurred over a period of time. Seeing the changes aids in research.

Monique Howell of the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis will present a program discussing the many different kinds of maps that aid in research. Digital, microfilm, Sanborn, topographic, transportation and many other kinds of maps will be discussed. Most of these maps are available at the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis.

Monique is a Research Librarian who has been with the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis since 2007. She currently supervises the Indiana Collection, which includes, newspapers, maps, pamphlets, biographies, local histories and legislative material.

Free to VCHC and OLLI Members $7 for adults and $6 for seniors

Dublin Indiana – clear across the state – was the site of a gathering of people for woman suffrage in 1851, only three years after the official ‘start’ of the woman suffrage movement in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. Women from Terre Haute made significant contributions to the woman suffrage movement, both statewide and nationally. Which Terre Haute woman was president of the state Franchise League when the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920? Who met Susan B. Anthony when Eugene V. Debs brought her to town and what relationship developed? Were Indiana State Normal students and faculty active in the suffrage movement? These are just some of the people and historical moments you will learn about in this presentation. You might also get to sing some songs of the suffragists! Who is the one – or possibly two – local suffragist/s who deserve an official Historical Marker in Terre Haute? This presentation is an updated version of one given for the Osher Institute for Lifelong Learning in March 2023

Probing in Probates for Ancestral Clues
Saturday, August 12 at 10:30am
Vigo County History Center Auditorium
929 Wabash Avenue, Terre Haute, IN 47807

Some probate records for various states are now online; however, a trip to a county court house to research family probate records might reveal more clues than one might expect. Probate records include wills, estate inventories, sales, petitions, bonds, receipts and guardianships among other items.

Past probate records are mirrors of place, and time, of ancestors’ lives. One can find family members, relationships, friends and exclusions. The land, the possessions and sales of such provide a clue to the status of an ancestor’s monetary worth.

These are basic clues, but there are so many more pieces of information that give the family researcher a perspective of an ancestor’s life and personality.

Donna Adams, an avid probate and court record researcher, will guide you through the exploration and steps in probate research.

Donna is the Sullivan County Historian and Genealogist and Head of the Genealogy and History Department at Sullivan County Library. She is the Southwest Director for the Indiana State Genealogical Society, a member of The Daughters of American Revolution and Wabash Valley Genealogical Society. She heads up the Sullivan County courthouse records digitization project with the assistance of Family Search of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Admission is free to VCHC and OLLI members. Adults $7 and Seniors $6

Children and adults will enjoy a guided tour, craft, plus one FREE kids ice cream from the Apgar Soda Shop! Each Thursday - June 15 - July 20, 10 - 11:30am

Kids admission, FREE

Adults, $10

Children and adults will enjoy a guided tour, craft, plus one FREE kids ice cream from the Apgar Soda Shop! Each Thursday - June 15 - July 20, 10 - 11:30am

Kids admission, FREE

Adults, $10

Come and meet the fascinating neighbors and varied businesses that occupied the buildings around Eugene and Kate Debs’ home at 451 N 8th St. See photos of the attractive houses that used to sit in the ISU parking lots at 8th and Chestnut and learn about their interesting occupants who interacted daily with the Debs. Discover the businesses that made up the 9th street corridor to the Union Depot.

The tour will begin and end at the Debs Home and will last just over one hour. We will walk on sidewalks at a leisurely pace, pausing often leaving plenty of time for questions and discussion.  Refreshments will follow at the Debs House.

July 11, 2023

Time 6-7pm

Parking available in Lot R  located South of the Eugene V. Debs Museum at 451 N 8th St, Terre Haute, IN 47807.

All attendees must RSVP with the History Center.

Time Travelers is FREE for members of Indiana Landmarks and the Vigo County History Center. Additional attendees are asked to pay $7, which goes to future Time Travelers events and programming.

Admission for non-members can be purchased at the History Center or online. 

BOUND AWAY: ONE WOMAN’S JOURNEY AS AN IRISH INDENTURED SERVANT. MAGGIE DELANEY “…exceptin’ that now we didn’t” belong to ourselves any longer, but to another man.”

SUNDAY, JULY 9 TH , 2:00 PM --SPECIAL OPENING

This is one program you will not want to miss! It is a part of history that few know. Carol Jarboe and her husband, Frank, will present a reenactment of an Irish indentured servant, Maggie Delaney, and her journey from Ireland to the new continent. Pastor John, portrayed by Frank Jarboe, is a supporting part of the story.

For years, Carol has researched and mastered her live performances of the fictional character Maggie Delaney, an Irish indentured servant who gains passage to the new world, only to lose her family in the process. Maggie’s tale will bring to light the difficult and heroic journey that many of our ancestors took to secure themselves in a new land.

Both Carol and Frank Jarboe have portrayed unknown history that shaped lives, social and historical culture and events throughout the U.S. Avid Living Historians, they have studied and portrayed time periods of US history from 1750-1835.

Both Carol and Frank are retired teachers and are passionate about showing the interesting sides of history that are passed over in the usual history books. They travel continually, covering 15 states, appearing at 18th and early 19th century Living History events as multiple characters from all walks of life. Both are featured on Townsend’s Living History YouTube channel and have well over a million views.

Admission is free to History Center and OLLI members.
Adults $7 and Seniors $6.

Children and adults will enjoy a guided tour, craft, plus one FREE kids ice cream from the Apgar Soda Shop! Each Thursday - June 15 - July 20, 10 - 11:30am

Kids admission, FREE

Adults, $10

Children and adults will enjoy a guided tour, craft, plus one FREE kids ice cream from the Apgar Soda Shop! Each Thursday - June 15 - July 20, 10 - 11:30am

Kids admission, FREE

Adults, $10