HomeAboutThe Exhibition: Indiana's Visionary Statesman

The Exhibition: Indiana's Visionary Statesman

The Modern Political Papers unit of the Indiana University Libraries is the home of the Richard G. Lugar Senatorial Collection, which contains items related to Lugar’s Senate career as well as his pre-Senate life. From March 22, 2019, to July 26, 2019, the Indiana University Libraries is displaying an exhibition drawn from these papers. The exhibition, Indiana’s Visionary Statesman, celebrates the life and achievements of Richard G. Lugar, the longest-serving United States Senator in Indiana’s history. Items in the exhibition were selected from this collection.

The exhibition takes place in the Main Gallery of the Lilly Library on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. It occupies sixteen cases and two wall cases. The first four cases examine Lugar’s early life and education, his election to the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners, and his activities as Mayor of Indianapolis. It then looks at his transition from mayor to senator and provides a behind-the-scenes look at a senator’s work. The bulk of the exhibition is devoted to his Senate career and examines his major committee assignments, some of the projects he sponsored for his Hoosier constituents, his foreign policy work, and other issues that were important to him.

In addition to highlighting Lugar’s vision and initiative in the programs he sponsored and the legislation he developed, this exhibition explores the intersection between his Indiana roots and his global perspective. It examines the local, national, and international impact of a legacy of over fifty years of public service.

The exhibition was curated by Sara Stefani, Project Archivist for the Richard G. Lugar Senatorial Papers. Exhibits in this digital website were curated by Sara Stefani and Tyler Davis.

Assistance was provided by Meaghann Campbell, Gretchen Creekbaum, and Katie Lichtle. Their hard work and dedication to this project, as well as their talent and insight, is acknowledged and appreciated.

Invaluable assistance was also provided by the staff of the Lilly Library, the specialist in Modern Political Papers, the Indiana University Archives, the Indiana University Archives Photographs Curator, the E. Lingle Craig Preservation Lab, the Indiana University Moving Image Archive, the Ruth Lilly Auxiliary Library Facility, the Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative, the Born Digital Preservation Lab, the Libraries Copyright Specialist, Library Technologies, Libraries Communications, and Library Administration.