Crown Point Community Library shares the stories of Civil War heroes with Action Grant 

Day in and day out, Indiana Humanities’ grantees and partners are bringing the humanities to life for Hoosiers across the state. From small towns like Jasper to big cities like Fort Wayne, our grantees are creating thoughtful programs, bridging divides and inspiring Hoosiers to think, read and talk. As part of our ongoing efforts to uplift the work of our partners, we’re highlighting past and present grantees and sharing their stories of impact. 

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In this grantee spotlight, we’re highlighting an organization that used Action Grant funding to share the stories of heroes from long ago. 

The Crown Point Community Library (CPCL) has worked with Indiana Humanities in the past. They’ve hosted an author through the Indiana Authors Awards Speaker Program, for example, and have participated in our One State / One Story Community Read program. 

But before this year they had never applied for one of our grants. 

“I really did not know about the Action Grant until there was a grant workshop that Indiana Humanities did in La Porte, and I went to that, and I had no idea the breadth of support that was available,” said Erika Wagner, adult programming and outreach specialist for CPCL. 

Coincidentally, around the time Wagner learned about our grants, her team was also considering putting on a brand-new program — one that would need additional funding. 

In the spring Wagner applied for and received one of our Action Grants to support CPCL’s inaugural “History Speaks: Civil War Stories” program. 

With grant funding, Wagner was able to work with external community partners such as Lake County Parks and Recreation and the Northwest Indiana Civil War Roundtable to host the one-day program, which focused on telling stories of Civil War heroes, including many that have been lost in time. 

CPCL and its partners didn’t want this to be just another war reenactment, Wagner said. Instead, they strove to teach about history in a fresh way that felt accessible and impactful. 

“We wanted to tell about the experience of some of the enslaved people and what the Civil War looked like for them. We wanted to talk about the women in the Civil War,” Wagner said. “We wanted to have [the program] not so much focused on the battles and the weaponry and things that you often see with a reenactment, but more, how did this affect just regular people?” 

The program featured a speaker, hands-on activities, an educational display, and even a traditional drumming lesson hosted by a music school from Chicago. Drummers gave demonstrations and shared how important music was for the morale of enslaved people during the Civil War. 

The organizers’ work paid off. Wagner said that ahead of the program, they kept their expectations reasonable, aiming to host more than 300 visitors. They nearly doubled their goal, with more than 500 attendees enjoying the program. 

“It was just really cool for me to see how many people saw value in this and wanted to participate, whether it was by supporting the endeavor or spending their day with us,” Wagner said. 

From the planning process to the program’s competition, Wagner said Indiana Humanities was there to help every step of the way. 

Wagner noted that she’s applied for very small grants before but never ones that offer more than a thousand dollars. She said that her first efforts with Indiana Humanities went smoothly.  

“The Indiana Humanities staff members were so wonderfully helpful . . . I felt silly asking some of the questions I was asking, but they never made me feel that way. . . . The support of Indiana Humanities through the whole process was so appreciated.”