University Archives has contributed to countless special projects related to IU history, including providing much of the fuel and glue for Indiana University’s Bicentennial projects in 2020. Some of the other special projects the IU Archives has collaborated on or initiated in the past include the Bicentennial Oral History Project; an exhibit featuring reimagined IU spirit wear; and collaborations with IU Press to produce the Well House Books series with a focus on presenting IU history.

One project began when Director of University Archives Dina Kellams found a digitized newspaper article from January 1898 with the headline “First Negro Girl in Indiana University.” The short article told the story of Carrie Parker Taylor, a Black woman and recent high school graduate from Clinton, Indiana, who had recently enrolled in IU. Taylor’s place in IU history had been forgotten until Kellams brought it to light, and the university sought opportunities to honor Taylor’s legacy, beginning with the Carrie Parker Taylor Scholarship. Her portrait now hangs in the Neal Marshall Black Culture Center, while another copy is shared throughout the campus as part of the Women of Indiana University Portrait Collection.

IU alumna Mary Brown Craig, BA’29, served as Indiana University’s first archivist from 1943–1977, after receiving her Master of Library Science from Columbia in 1932. Upon her passing in 1981, Herman B Wells (IU president, 1938-1962) said, "She was a modest and shy person normally, yet she was fierce in her loyalty to the university and in her protection of the beauty of the campus. She was involved in the mission of preserving what is best of the university and in that task, she spent unbelievably long hours, often seven days of the week."

Donors Don and Fran Jackson initiated this fund in 2024 to honor Mary Brown Craig. In the 1960s, Fran worked with Mary in University Archives while Don earned his MBA. The couple remembers the archivist with great fondness and enthusiasm.

The inaugural project supported by this fund was digitizing a decade of the Indiana Daily Student (IDS), which has been the student newspaper of IU Bloomington since 1867. With your support, University Archives can continue leading projects like this that help illuminate IU history. Thank you for your generosity!

Please note, the name and purpose of the fund displayed on this page constitute the authorized description of the fund by the Indiana University Foundation, Inc. Your gift supports the fund as described herein.