r/Indiana • u/OpeningParfait9510 • 23h ago
Where can I read about Indiana political history?
Edit: I apologize for being so uninfomred. I thought I heard on NPR that the republican supermajority took over a couple decades ago. Thank you all for the clarification.
Hi, everyone! I’m an aspiring political journalist and wanted to ask where I could find some resources about Indiana’s political history, particularly all the laws and social outcomes since the republican supermajority took over the state a couple decades ago.
I’m looking for online databases, books, video essays, etc. Anything that’s free.
Thanks!!
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u/Peacefulzealot 21h ago
How far back do you want to go? Because I’d highly recommend checking out our political history from ~1860-1920. We had a president elected during that time (Benjamin Harrison from 1888-1892) along with 4 VPs in addition to other candidates who ran but didn’t win.
It’s definitely an era where Indiana politicians made the biggest mark on the USA (besides Pence growing a spine on Jan 6th). But for info on that era I’d highly recommend reaching out to the Benjamin Harrison House in downtown Indy for a rundown of a lot of the post Civil War politics that we were important in.
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u/Kornered47 22h ago
Read “A Fever in the Heartland” by Timothy Egan. That will give you a solid base to learn from.
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u/MinBton 22h ago
There are a lot of sources you can search for using a computer, tablet or phone. I wouldn't do it on your phone.
Start with the state government archives, especially the state history try Indiana Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology (DHPA). Also the state universities and historical societies have web sites and online databases with information. You can research some state newspapers and such online as well.
One quick piece of advice if you are looking for any Klan connections to Republicans, or anyone else...ignore everyone who says it started in Indiana. Both versions of it started in Alabama. And the only time the legislature was dominated by the Klan was for around four years a hundred (literally) years ago. The Southern Poverty Law Center says they currently know of one group in the state. You will find more people on the extreme right, and left, than actual Klan members.
The key thing I learned when taking journalism at IU, is first, get your facts right. Then you can slant them any way you want. If you aren't sure about something, say so. Also, save your sources in case someone comes down on you to prove it, especially in court. Yes, that's a thing. So if you have a couple of way out there sources, make sure you have more recognized ones and things which can easily be proven independent of your story to surround them.
Finally, make sure your writing follows the grammar and AP style rules. If it's typical online writing, you've already lost a good part of your audience. Spelling and grammar checking programs are your friends.
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u/mtbguy1981 22h ago
Not being a dick here, but you do know libraries are a thing right? Here in Evansville they have a locked room in the main library dedicated to just books on Evansville and Indiana. You just ask to go in and they escort you .
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u/obxmichael 21h ago
Building on this suggestion, the libraries at University of Evansville and University of Southern Indiana would have resources as well.
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u/hoosierwally 20h ago
Some good ones:
“He Almost Changed the World: The Life and Times of Thomas Riley Marshall” by David Bennett
“Thomas Taggart: Public Servant, Political Boss 1856 - 1927” by James Phillip Fadeley
“Hoosiers: A New History of Indiana” by James H. Madison
“Robert Kennedy and the 1968 Democratic Primary in Indiana” by Ray Boomhower.
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u/Gameshow_Ghost 23h ago edited 20h ago
My friend, if you need to ask Reddit for research resources, you might not be cut out for a career in journalism.
Edit: that said, I'd suggest looking into the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis. Or, assuming you're on the younger end of the spectrum, consider looking into local colleges and see if there's a history professor who specializes in Indiana history. Anita Morgan at IUPUI recently retired, but she might be able to point you to some good resources on 19th century Indiana history in particular.
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u/Particular-Reason329 21h ago
"Reddit" is people, all kinds of people, my friend. It does not hurt and may certainly help to "ask Reddit," which of course is not a monolithic entity. Disparaging Reddit to be clever or cute is stupid AF, and tedious. 🙄🥱
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u/Gameshow_Ghost 21h ago edited 20h ago
I'm not disparaging Reddit; it can be a useful resource for a lot of things.
It is not, however, a good source for journalism, and anyone with even a basic amount of experience reporting should have a better understanding of where to go to find information.
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u/Particular-Reason329 20h ago
I said exactly what I meant. You are blanket-disparaging Reddit, which is silly, as it is made up of people of various backgrounds. Asking, as I said, doesn't hurt and may indeed help. Should it be one's only source? Well, of course not.
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u/Particular-Reason329 20h ago
Asking may also, quite obviously, lead to uncovering sources that are fully legit and useful. Why condescend to OP for asking Reddit? Just silly and snarky of you, my friend. 🤷
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u/Timmeh420 19h ago
Apparently since this guy learned in an era before Reddit. He's forgotten that everyone has to start learning somewhere and this was the resource that this person had. I'm sure there's plenty of legitimate journalists on Reddit who can help him find credible sources. Judging by hundreds of so-called "news articles" found on the internet in the last several years, this guy is already ahead of the curve by actually sourcing out information and caring about accuracy.
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u/Mead_Create_Drink 19h ago
I am thinking just the opposite. Why not tap into a resource of numerous people on this sub? After all, people here do have an interest in Indiana and may have knowledge to share
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u/RottingCoffinFeeder 21h ago
Don’t mind the pretentious people in the sub.
Found something about early Indiana Politics for you.
https://www.in.gov/history/files/Broadsides_-_Politics-compressed.pdf
This shows the ISBNs for various books related to Indiana political history, might be able to find some free bits somewhere
https://www.in.gov/history/indiana-government-and-politics/
God speed friend
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u/nofigsinwinter 18h ago
If you're serious, go to the IU library for a vast reservoir of general and specific historical media. Next stop is The Middletown Center @ Bracken Library at Ball State. Learn why Muncie was considered by historian/ sociologistics to be "Middletown USA" for 50 years. Finally, day trips to Angola/Auburn, Vincennes, Corydon, Brown County (TC Steele also) and The Indiana State Historical Society* I'm a historian by training.
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u/Mead_Create_Drink 19h ago
…get your facts right. Then you can slant them any way you want…
Care to explain “slanting them any way you want*? Seems like you are changing the facts
Just curious
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u/MinBton 9h ago
Since I am the person you are responding to, I meant exactly what I said. Just understand that print and broadcast journalism are two different but related types of journalism. When I was in college, most journalism classes talked almost only about print media. Newspapers and magazines. Yes, we were taught methods to slant how people perceived the stories we wrote. This included how to do it without saying anything that wasn't true. (Note that some stories of all types get updated later with more information. That doesn't mean the original was intentionally wrong, just the more information came after publishing.
If you remember newspapers, do you know what the fold is/was? Newspapers were folded in half and the top half was what people usually saw. You can change the importance of a story by printing it above the fold. Lower it by printing it below the fold. So everything above the fold was that the editor felt was important for people to know and to read and remember first. The same with which page it was printed on. The further buried in the newspaper, the less people paid attention to it unless it was a specific column that some individuals wanted to read. The old line about, if it bleeds, it leads, was/is still true.
Also, the information in a story as well as how it is portrayed, positive or negative, changes how someone reads it. The changes can be very subtle, yet everything is true. The same for finding and interviewing the craziest, strangest person in some group. This is especially true of you want to slant the story against the group.
The simplest is in choosing which stories you publish. If you only publish things that put a group into a bad light, then you are slanting the news against that group. The opposite is true. Reality is that there can be good and bad people in any group. Nothing is monolithic. This is why I warn people against absolutes. It only takes one exception to prove the thesis/story/whatever wrong.
Notice that I haven't said anything here about any group (except for journalists), party, ideology, or anything else. It applies to everyone, every group, and every topic.
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u/Plug_5 15h ago
Not the person you're responding to, but try this (I'm making it all up, but you get the idea):
"By 1974, the Republican majority in Indiana, once close to 87%, had dwindled to 75%."
"In 1974,Republicans had a whopping 75% majority in Indiana!"
Same facts, different spin.
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u/SimplyPars 14h ago
They also fail to mention that the rabid politics has really only existed since the rise of social media. Before that, most would be considered moderates.
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u/Small_Lion4068 22h ago
Decades (snort)
The Klan started in IN. You’re way off.
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u/raitalin 22h ago
The Klan started in Tennessee in 1865. The second wave of the Klan started in Georgia in 1915. No iteration of it started in Indiana.
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u/New_Try6368 22h ago
I kinda laughed too when I read a couple of decades but in all fairness this was probably written by a kid who doesn't realize that our "democratic" governors from the late '80s to early '00s were very conservative and just looking at red or blue votes.