New Exhibit – “Here I Met My First True Radicals:” Student Reform Movements at Indiana University

For freshman Theodore Dreiser in 1889, Indiana University served as fertile ground for his future literary endeavors, but to him “the life of the town, the character of its people, the professors and the students, and the mechanism, politics, and social interests of the University body proper” were far more influential. For generations of students such as Dreiser, the University has served as their first opportunity at self-expression and to react to the political, cultural and social events of their time. Drawn from the collections of the IU Archives, this exhibit highlights groups of students who sought to shape the world around them, whether it be at the local level in their search for self-government and greater gender and racial equality on campus, or as a reaction to national events such as the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, the refugee crisis of WWII, McCarthyism, the Vietnam War, apartheid in South Africa, and the AIDS crisis. This exhibit was co-curated by Carrie Schwier (Public Services and Outreach Archivist) along with graduate students Alessandro Meregaglia and Elizabeth Peters.

You can visit the exhibit at the IU Archives (Wells Library E460), Monday – Friday 8-5pm.

Watch for future posts highlighting portions of the exhibit in more detail!