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50 years of Indiana Humanities

A half century of thinking, reading and talking

In September 1972, Indiana Humanities was born.

Since that moment, we’ve worked to help Hoosiers tackle difficult questions, understand varied perspectives and connect across divides. We’ve served our community as a trusted neutral convener, supportive grantmaker and innovative program partner. We’ve sought to provide context to a world that continues to baffle, delight, frustrate and elude us. And we’ve made it all fun, because life is too short.

Jump to decade

1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s

1971
  • Indiana Humanities traces its roots 1971, when the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) asks a group of five Indiana citizens (Virginia Ball, Robert Burns, Marvin Hartig, Edward Howard and Robert Richey) to form a nonprofit organization to promote the humanities across Indiana. 
1972
  • The Indiana Committee for the Humanities officially forms in September and awards its first grants in November. It makes its first home in Owen Hall on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington but soon moves to a building on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
  • Martin E. Sullivan is appointed as the organization’s first executive director.
1976
  • Humanities to Go, Indiana Humanities’ video and exhibit lending library, is formed.
  • Alan J. Shusterman becomes executive director.
1979
  • The first Business/Humanities Seminar is organized by Indiana Humanities. The featured speaker is Harvard Business Review editor Kenneth Andrews.
1982
  • This Far by Faith: Black Hoosier Heritage, a traveling exhibit about African American history, begins a statewide tour. The Federation of State Humanities Councils names the exhibit the best humanities program in the nation, awarding it the Schwartz Prize (named for Muncie residents Martin and Helen Schwartz, who were instrumental in founding the Federation).
1983
  • Indiana Humanities moves from the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art to offices at 3135 N. Meridian St. in Indianapolis.
  • In November, Indiana lieutenant governor John Mutz and Indiana Humanities executive director Alan Shusterman convene representatives from more than 70 foundations and corporate-giving programs to discuss the state of Indiana’s philanthropic sector. They form a planning committee to continue fostering collaborative efforts, and the group becomes known as the Indiana Donors Alliance (IDA). Indiana Humanities provides the IDA with office space, staff support and fiscal sponsorship until 1992, when the IDA receives nonprofit status from the IRS. Today the IDA continues its work as the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance.
1984
  • George Orwell’s book 1984 inspires an annual essay contest for high school students. 
  • Kenneth L. Gladish becomes president and executive director.
1985
  • Indiana Humanities purchases as its headquarters the former home of Meredith Nicholson, a prominent early-20th-century author, and Eugenie Nicholson, a civic activist and suffragist. Indiana Humanities moves into the four-story Georgian Revival home, located in Indianapolis’s Old Northside Historic District, in January 1986.
1986
  • Indiana Humanities launches a partnership with the Indiana Historical Society to award grants to unearth and preserve important documents, images, artifacts and stories that have shaped life in Indiana. The two organizations award more than $1 million in grants in the 16 years of the program’s operation. 
1987
  • Indiana Humanities carries out two years of programming in observance of the bicentennial of the United States Constitution. Activities and events take place at dozens of libraries, courthouses, schools and universities across the state.
1988
  • The Indiana Committee for the Humanities changes its name to the Indiana Humanities Council.
1990
  • Indiana Humanities launches History Alive!, featuring theatrical portrayals of famous figures in history. Within the decade, Indiana Humanities conducts up to 80 programs per year in Indiana schools.
1991
  • Wordstruck, Indiana Humanities’ festival of books, is inaugurated. Readers meet with writers such as native Hoosier Kurt Vonnegut, historian Stephen Ambrose and novelist Tom Wolfe at this and subsequent Wordstruck festivals. 
  • With funding from Lilly Endowment Inc., Indiana Humanities convenes a statewide International Issues Task Force, spurring an ongoing series of international programs, including the establishment of the International School in Indianapolis.
  • Always a River, a museum on a barge, floats 981 miles down the Ohio River, reaching 200,000 people in six states with exhibits about the river’s history, commerce, geology and art. Indiana Humanities develops and presents the programming in partnership with five other humanities councils in states that boarder the river.
1994
  • Barbara Weaver Smith becomes president and executive director.
    1995
    • Mexico in the 20th Century, a series of displays, performances, lectures and films, tours the state.
    1996
    • Asia in US becomes the second statewide international program, eventually reaching 2.2 million people through its centerpiece exhibit and complementary programs. 
    1997
    • Indiana Humanities celebrates 25 years of building community in Indiana and ceremonially burns the mortgage of the Indiana Humanities headquarters. 
    1999
    • Indiana Humanities receives more than $2 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. to conduct a project to develop youth leadership in philanthropy. Habits of the Heart grows out of this initiative.
    • Scott T. Massey becomes president and CEO.
    2001
    • Through a collaborative effort with the Stanley K. Lacy Leadership Association, Indiana Humanities presents the Indiana Leadership Summit, which convenes more than 300 leaders from around the state to discuss issues affecting Indiana in the areas of leadership, education and culture. 
    • Indiana Humanities hosts the annual national conference of the Federation of State Humanities Councils. 
    2002
    • Indiana Humanities launches a statewide tour of the Smithsonian Institution exhibit Barn Again: Celebrating an American Icon with a reception at the Indiana statehouse; the featured speaker is Indiana’s first lady, Judy O’Bannon, who presents Indiana Humanities with the Governor’s proclamation of “The Year of the Barn.”
    2003 
    • The second Indiana Leadership Summit features 20 keynote speakers and follows on the success of the first event. A luncheon on the closing day of the three-day event features the inaugural presentation of the Governor’s Award for Tomorrow’s Leaders to 12 recipients. 
    • Lilly Endowment Inc. awards grants totaling $4 million to support the leadership and education efforts of Indiana Humanities, enabling programs in those areas to move forward. The Learning Collaborative is formed, and its board of directors oversees the activities of the Indiana Humanities smartDESKTOP initiative. 
        2004
        • Indiana Humanities hosts two summits during this year — the third Indiana Leadership Summit, now known as the Summit on the Circle, and the Aspen Summit.  Regional forums prepare leaders around the state for discussions at the Summit. In October, Indiana Humanities sponsors the Aspen Summit on Rethinking the Public Humanities, bringing national leaders together to create a new vision of the humanities in society. 
        2005
        • The Resource Connection launches in February, and the Indiana Humanities smartDESKTOP launches in March, completing the first phase of development for the education portal. 
        2007
        • Indiana Humanities transfers the smartDESKTOP to the Indiana Department of Education, where it becomes the precursor to the Learning Connection, the DOE’s collaborative portal.
        2008
        • Keira Amstutz becomes president and CEO and initiates a new process of engaging Hoosiers in the humanities — through two-year thematic initiatives.
        2011
        • The Indiana Humanities Council rebrands and becomes Indiana Humanities. 
        • Indiana Humanities launches Food for Thought, a groundbreaking, collaborative two-year theme that encourages Hoosiers to think, read and talk about the role of food in their lives. Food for Thought wins the Federation of State Humanities Councils’ Schwartz Prize for best public humanities program.
        • As part of its Food for Thought initiative, Indiana Humanities hosts Chew on This, a series of dinner-and-discussion programs held simultaneously at 10 international restaurants on Indianapolis’s west side. Participants gather to share a meal and explore ideas around food and ethnic identity. The concept is so popular that Indiana Humanities makes Chew on This one of its mainstay programs, hosting dinners once or twice a year at restaurants across the state and bringing Hoosiers together to dine and discuss a common question tied to Indiana Humanities’ current programming theme.
        • Indiana Humanities hosts a new program called INconversation, a question-and-answer-style discussion that involves a guest, a moderator and the audience. The first program features urban analyst Aaron Renn discussing the future of Indianapolis’s neighborhoods with journalist Erika Smith. The INconversation program continues today and over the years has introduced Hoosiers to dozens of thought leaders in the arenas of history, literature, politics and more.
        2012
        • Indiana Humanities publishes Food for Thought: An Indiana Harvest, a coffee-table-style book that showcases a lively cross-section of individuals contributing to Indiana’s food scene.
          • Indiana Humanities develops and implements its next two-year programming theme, Spirit of Competition, examining five core elements of competition: civility, rivalry, innovation, passion and failure. Activities include a custom-designed and interactive traveling exhibit, a welcoming project for the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee and an essay contest.
          2013
          • Indiana Humanities participates in Humanities at the Crossroads, a national initiative to better understand the status and future of the academic and public humanities in American life and the variety of ways the humanities have been practiced, transformed, supported, evaluated and justified over the past 50 years. As part of the initiative, Indiana Humanities conducts the Indiana Case Study, surveying nearly 400 people from 88 counties to gather basic data and show how humanities organizations connect to one another and to the people of Indiana.
          2014
          • In anticipation of Indiana’s bicentennial in 2016, Indiana Humanities introduces a new programming theme, Next Indiana, to encourage Hoosiers to think, read and talk about the people, places and ideas that will shape the next 200 years. Programs include ALL-IN Block Parties, discussion toolkits, a Next Indiana Bookshelf of Indiana texts and a podcast series exploring ethical questions that have been raised by fascinating moments in Indiana’s history.
          2015
          • Lilly Endowment Inc. awards Indiana Humanities with $5 million to establish an endowment, update the Nicholson House and infuse additional resources into programming.
          2016
          • As part of the Next Indiana theme, Indiana Humanities introduces Next Indiana Campfires, a program that pairs treks through nature with literary readings to spark conversations about Indiana’s future. The program becomes so popular that Indiana Humanities continues it long after the Next Indiana theme ends (rebranding the excursions simply as Campfires).
          2017
          • The Federation of State Humanities Councils honors Indiana Humanities’ Next Indiana Campfires program with the Schwartz Prize for the year’s best public humanities program.
          • Indiana Humanities begins a yearlong renovation of the Nicholson House, restoring both the interior and the exterior of the historic home.
          • Indiana Humanities implements its latest programming theme, Quantum Leap, helping Hoosiers to explore and celebrate the spirit of possibility and problem-solving that occurs when we bridge the humanities with science, technology, engineering, math and medicine. Over the course of two years, Indiana Humanities sponsors field trips to places of scientific discovery, hosts a poetry tour, develops a Soundbites podcast, promotes a statewide read of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and more.
          • As part of the Quantum Leap initiative, Indiana Humanities teams with Central Indiana Science Outreach, the Indiana State Museum and March for Science Indianapolis to launch Books, Booze & Brains, a book club that meets monthly with area scientists to discuss popular-science books. The well-received program remains a fixture of Indiana Humanities programming well after the Quantum Leap theme ends.
          • With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Indiana Humanities introduces the INcommon Grant, which supports discussion-based programs that use the humanities to explore subjects related to race and ethnicity — including the longer histories driving contemporary debates around immigration, gentrification, incarceration, policing, institutional racism, the legacies of segregation in housing and education, and more.
          2018
            • Indiana Humanities has a monstrous year, igniting Frankenstein programming across the state funded by a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Activities include a kickoff Frankenfest event, campus and community reads, a speakers bureau, a symposium, grants and hundreds of other activities.
                2019
                • Indiana Humanities publishes Next Indiana Campfires: A Trail Companion, a collection of prose and poetry from the award-winning Campfires series.
                • As the nation grapples with increased divisions, Indiana Humanities introduces a new programming theme called INseparable. INseparable invites Hoosiers to explore how we relate to one another across boundaries, real or imagined, and to consider what it will take to for us to be inseparable. Key programs include a statewide read of Jean Thompson’s The Year We Left Home, stipends for filmmakers to create short documentaries related to the theme (and statewide screenings of the completed films), conversations and discussions, and a tour of the Crossroads: Change in Rural America Smithsonian traveling exhibit.
                2020
                • The Indiana Women’s Suffrage Centennial organizes programs to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Catalyzed by Indiana Humanities, the Indianapolis Propylaeum, the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana Historical Bureau, the group works with a state commission and many grassroots and local partners to communicate about and hold events.
                • As part of its suffrage programming, Indiana Humanities implements the May Wright Sewall Fellowships, which provide stipends to support new humanities research on Indiana women’s participation in local, state and national politics leading up to and since the 19th Amendment. It also awards Preserving Women’s Legacy Grants to four Indiana Main Street communities to help them discover, preserve and activate locations that tell stories about women’s contributions in Indiana.
                • In response to the murder of George Floyd, Indiana Humanities commits to “continuing to develop successful practices, deepen our relationships with communities of color, ensure accessibility and transparency in our grants process and more.” As part of this commitment, Indiana Humanities offers the Wilma Gibbs Moore Fellowships, providing scholars with funds for humanities research that explores anti-Black racial injustice and structural racism in Indiana and that considers how Black Hoosiers have responded.
                2021
                • Indiana Humanities launches Unearthed, its latest programming initiative that encourages Hoosiers to discover and discuss their relationships with the natural world. Through engaging speakers, a statewide read of Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s World of Wonders, a tour of the Smithsonian’s Water/Ways exhibit, Campfires treks, a film series, a podcast and more, participants explore how we shape the environment and how the environment shapes us.

                Indiana Humanities was founded in 1972 on the ideas of supportive grantmaking, public dialogue and ambitious projects. We’re celebrating 50 years because of curious Hoosiers like you. Please consider a gift in recognition of this milestone.