Brown County images on line to international audience

Election day, Nashville, 1926

Brown County images on line to international audience

By Eric Bartheld

From the turn of the century to 1963, Nashville photographer Frank Hohenberger recorded the people, the texture of their daily lives and the scenic environment that defined southern Indiana.

IU campus

Liar's bench, Nashville

Librarians at Spearsville

Indianapolis Speedway
Hohenberger photos courtesy of the IU Foundation

Now these historical images have "crossed into the future." Indiana University's Digital Library Program has made these historical images available to Web users a half block away or schoolchildren studying in Tibet or scholars from the Pacific Rim studying rural American life. Researchers, genealogists, historians, local schoolchildren and others with Internet access can easily view Hohenberger's photographs from their homes, offices or classrooms. "These photographs hold both scholarly and popular interest," said Kris Brancolini, acting director of IU's Digital Library Program. "The site is designed to benefit both types of visitors."

Having studied the print trade and photography in his early years, Hohenberger moved to Brown County, Indiana, in his early 40s because he was attracted to the lifestyle and the photographic opportunities the area provided. He gained national recognition for his Indiana photographs, selling thousands of his prints to magazines, newspapers and individuals across the country.

Hohenberger also wrote a weekly column for the Indianapolis Star which ran from 1923 to 1954. "Down in the Hills o' Brown County" contained local folklore, politics, court trials and biographical sketches. Some of his columns contained material Hohen-berger had gleaned from hours spent swapping tales with Nashville locals on the "Liar's Bench" -- a wooden bench which stood across from the courthouse and the old log jail on Main Street. One of Hohenberger's earliest popular photographs was a shot of town folk sharing stories on the bench.

The "Liar's Bench" photograph is now one of about 400 that are available for viewing from the IU Digital Library Web site. Additional photographs from the collection of IU's Lilly Library -- a total of about 8,700 images -- are being added to the site continuously as they are converted to digital form.

"Our goal is to have the entire photograph collection available on line eventually, as well as supplemental material, including articles about Hohenberger, reproductions of his newspaper columns, and excerpts from his diary," said Brancolini.

Hohenberger's Indiana images include street scenes, historic buildings, natural landscapes, covered bridges, gristmills, trains and numerous photos of people -- at work, home or leisure. He also looked beyond Brown County, traveling all over Indiana to find subjects which captured the spirit of the state or held historical significance.

"We now have an opportunity to make history come alive for students across the state and around the world," said Suzanne Thorin, Ruth Lilly University Dean of University Libraries. For instance, schoolchildren from anywhere in Indiana can plug into the Internet and access digital images which capture the historic transition from horses to automobiles.

Also featured on the Digital Library Web site are a number of Hohenberger's photographs taken in the Midwest, New England, New Orleans and New Mexico as well as photographs collected from several journeys to Mexico and Cuba.

IU's Digital Library Program was launched last fall for the purpose of enhancing access to a wide selection of IU's information resources by making them available electronically. It is a collaboration of the IU Libraries, the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology, the School of Library and Information Science, and the Center for Copyright Management at IUPUI.