The Bicentennial of Indiana’s statehood offers a chance to look back on 200 years of Hoosier history, including the pageantry and spectacle surrounding its 100th birthday.
The Stevens Museum will host The Hoosier Centennial: A Look Back at the 1916 Celebration, one of the Indiana Historical Society traveling exhibits.
It will be on display at the John Hay Center located at 307 E. Market St. Salem, IN. from Nov. 3 through Nov. 30.
Indiana became the 19th state on December 11, 1816. The statewide Centennial in 1916 would prove to have a lasting effect on Indiana, including steps toward an improved road system, the production of lavish historical pageants and the development of a seven-reel film titled "Indiana," which featured James Whitcomb Riley.
Each of these stories is covered in The Hoosier Centennial, but the Indiana Historical Commission, the agency responsible for coordinating the celebration, considered the development of Indiana’s first state parks its crowning achievement.
Through the efforts of Richard Lieber, who chaired the IHC’s parks committee, the state was able to purchase the property that would become McCormick’s Creek in Owen County and Turkey Run in Parke County.
