TheNina Mason Pulliam Indianapolis Special Collections Room is aspecial collection of theIndianapolis Public Library inIndianapolis,Indiana, United States.
The collection contains a variety of adult and children's materials, fiction and nonfiction books by local authors, photographs, scrapbooks, typescripts, manuscripts, autographed editions, letters, newspapers, magazines, and regalia. The collection features materials related toKurt Vonnegut,May Wright Sewall, the Woollen family,James Whitcomb Riley, andBooth Tarkington. It is named for philanthropistNina Mason Pulliam and is housed on the sixth floor of the Central Library.[1]
The special collections and room at Central Library are named in honor ofNina Mason Pulliam (1906–1997), anAmericanjournalist, author, andnewspaper executive inArizona andIndiana, where she was also well known as a philanthropist and civic leader. The native ofMartinsville, Indiana, spent most of her childhood in Indiana, except for a period during her teens when she traveled to theArizona desert to recover her health after being diagnosed withtuberculosis. Following her return to Indiana, she completed high school and began studyingjournalism college atFranklin College, inFranklin, Indiana, but left to enroll atIndiana University, and later attended theUniversity of New Mexico. She began her career in journalism and publishing atFarm Life magazine inSpencer, Indiana, and moved toLebanon, Indiana, during theGreat Depression to work at theLebanon Reporter for newspaper publisherEugene C. Pulliam prior to their marriage in 1941.[2][3] Afterwards, she worked with her husband as founding secretary-treasurer and a member of the board of Central Newspapers Inc., the mediaholding company he established in 1934. Upon his death in 1975, she became president of the company, a position she retained until 1979. Nina Pulliam also served from 1975 until 1978 as publisher of theArizona Republic and thePhoenix Gazette, which began in 1946. Her stepson,Eugene S. Pulliam, became publisher of the company's two major newspapers in Indianapolis, theIndianapolis Star and theIndianapolis News. In 1970, she became the first woman admitted intoDePauw University's Alpha chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, which was later namedthe Society of Professional Journalists.[3][4][5]
A new mural has been installed in the Indianapolis Special Collections Room on the Sixth Floor of Central Library. The artistTom Torluemke has given it the working title,The Book of Life: The People We Know, the Experiences We Have, and the Conditions under Which We Live. More information and photographs of this mural can be found athttp://www.indypl.org/readersconnection/?p=1058
TheIndianapolis Collection contains materials relating to Indianapolis history and theIndianapolis 500, including city directories, church histories, college and high school yearbooks, biographies, theater programs, and audio-visual materials.
TheIndianapolis Authors collection of first editions of Meredith Nicholson, James Whitcomb Riley, Booth Tarkington, and others also has a variety of items beyond books.
TheChildren’s Literature Collection contains about 2,000 volumes, ranging from Indiana authors, illustrated editions, some award-winning titles, and a variety of historical materials such as prominent Indianapolis children's authors Eth Clifford,Mabel Leigh Hunt, Jean Brown Wagoner, and Guernsey Van Riper.[1]
TheFine Printing Collection began with a substantial gift by G. Harvey Petty. Over the years additional items have been added to this collection, not only of examples of fine printing, but also of works about typography and the history of fine printing. A number of examples of local private printing are included, including those from the Grabhorn Press (originally the Studio Press) and Press of the Indiana Kid.[1]
TheCookbook and Menu Collection was a gift from the family of Mr. Wright Marble, a local collector. The original donation included a number of 17th and 18th century English and Italian works, along with German, some Oriental, French, English and United States books published in the 19th century. The oldest title in the collection was published in 1542. Other locally published titles have been added over time. Another collector, Arthur H. Rumpf, donated a collection of approximately 100 historic menus, including those from railroad dining cars, hotels, and testimonial-recognition dinners. Local menus have been added over the years.[1]
The Library also offers free access to digital versions of valuable, fragile, and hard-to-use Indianapolis Special Collections Room originals in theIndianapolis Public Library Digital Archives.
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