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Learn More about the Archives’ Collections

The Indiana State Archives collects, preserves, and makes available historical and evidential material relating to the state of Indiana. These records date from the territorial period to the present.

Research Indiana Indexes


Indiana Archives and Records Administration Research Indiana Catalog banner

Welcome to the Research Indiana Indexes, the new home of the Indiana Digital Archives. Thanks to the work of our volunteers, over 1.36 million names are searchable online. More names and indexes will be added regularly.

Visit the State Archives


The Indiana State Archives is located at 6440 East 30th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46219 and is open weekdays from 9 to 4. To schedule an appointment to visit the Archives’ Reading Room:

Digital Exhibit


The History of Microfilm

Thumbnail image of slideshow/timeline feature: At the top, an image of boxes and microfilm reels with the text THE HISTORY OF MICROFILM followed by text rendered illegible due to the reduced size of the thumbnail. Below that image, a sliding left/right timeline with visible dates extending from 1796 to 1881.

The IARA Imaging and Microfilm Laboratory has been creating microfilm to preserve Indiana's history since 1937. Microfilm is the the scaled-down reproduction of documents on film, used to preserve important information for up to 500 years. Originally created as a novelty in the 1800s, the practice is now considered the most effective in the archival sciences for long-term preservation. Learn about microfilm's journey from useless parlor trick to the gold standard in historical safeguarding, in our photo-filled slideshow and interactive timeline.

View the Exhibit

From the Vault Blog


Stories from the Archives

Dryer

Hello! My name is Myren Mitchell, and I’m the Friends of the State Archives summer 2022 intern.  Currently, I am enrolled in Indiana University’s Master of Library Science graduate program specializing in Archives and Special Collections.

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Join the Indiana Archives Virtual Volunteer Program!

Looking for something to do from home? Join our FromThePage project and become a Virtual Volunteer! We have started a new project to index some of our state’s Civil War records.

Near the start of the Civil War in the summer of 1862, the Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton directed all northern states to fill a draft call for 300,000 men. In Indiana, two separate lists were created, one for men who had already enlisted in the volunteer forces and another listing all white men between the ages of 18 and 45 years who were able to be potentially drafted into the military.

You can help create an index to these records from home - all you need is an Internet connection.

To help, visit our Indiana Draft Enrollment Lists of 1862 or the Indiana Volunteer Militia Enrollment Lists of 1862 on FromThePage.com and click Start Transcribing. You will be prompted to sign up for a free account.

For some transcription tips, check the Help tab on the page for any individual Work, and please send an email to arc@iara.in.gov if you have any questions.

Follow Us on Social Media

The Indiana Archives and Records Administration participates in social networking sites in order to share events, announcements, photos, and stories from the Indiana State Archives. Our goal is to share Indiana history and information with as many individuals as possible.

By clicking the icons below, you will be taken to a web service that is not owned by the State of Indiana and has different privacy and security policies. The State of Indiana is not responsible for, and does not endorse, guarantee, or monitor content, availability, viewpoints, products, or services that are offered or expressed on non IN.gov portal websites.

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