Blog
Preserving History, One Piece at a Time
By Andy Chandler
As the United States of America celebrates its 250th year as a country this summer, the subject of history is naturally at the forefront. Aside from the culture wars; what will and will not be taught, and if what we teach should be used to solicit pride or shame, comes a question rarely asked: Who’s preserving it all?
That is a question that State Representative Tim Yocum (R-District 42) wished to find the answer for recently. Yocum is from Helt Township in Vermillion County, site of the Ernie Pyle Birthplace and World War II Museum.
The museum has been through somewhat of a historical odyssey itself. From 1975 to 2009, the museum was owned and operated by the State of Indiana Department of Natural Resources. After closing in 2009, it was reopened under non-profit ownership, the Friends of Ernie Pyle, and has been operated by them ever since.
During the 2009 closing, many of the artifacts were taken by the State to Indianapolis. Being that Pyle is a native son of the township, Yocum asked for permission to see the artifacts, and their current state of preservation.
A former county commissioner, the now state representative stated, “Being an official at the state level, I felt I could get some action on it. Preserving history is one of my biggest passions.”
He recently was invited to tour the Indiana History Museum, and invited Friends of Ernie Pyle Board President Steve Key, and me along to meet the head curator, Dr. Susannah Koerber.
We were led to the lab and storage area. It is a temperature and light controlled area of historical timepieces as well as a lab for restoration resembling a college science laboratory. Cameras and wires run overhead.
We were shown Ernie Pyle’s correspondent uniform, and several other pieces of clothing Pyle wore. “We arrange them by texture and fabric in order to preserve them in the same manner because clothing needs different levels,” said Dr. Koerber.
One of the items mentioned in Pyle’s column, which is known to be in the State’s collection, was the suit coat that Pyle wore to see First Lady and columnist Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House in 1943. Sure enough, the suit still has the same holes in the elbows that Pyle described in his column about the meeting.
In addition to items such as Pyle’s hats and typewriter bag, the curator has many other non-Pyle items to show. On the next table was a flag. It has a connection to a dark period of our history: it was a flag that was hanging from a nearby box at Ford’s Theatre the night President Lincoln was shot. It was interesting to note the somber reverence, yet child-like enthusiasm Mr. Key and Rep. Yocum displayed when shown both the Pyle artifacts and the Ford’s Theatre flag.
Overall, Mr. Key and Rep. Yocum were pleased and impressed with the efforts at preservation and restoration, and so, there will be more visits to the State Museum in the future.
As we are approaching the 250th anniversary of our nation and with the bicentennial of the state, ten years past, the people of Indiana should be proud that their heritage and legacy in the form of these objects and objects like them are being preserved in such a meticulous manner.
