Abbreviated title (ISO 4) Indiana Mag. Hist. Language English | Discipline American History Edited by Eric Sandweiss | |
Former names Indiana Quarterly Magazine of History Publisher Indiana University (United States) | ||
The Indiana Magazine of History is a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by the Indiana University Bloomington Department of History. Established primarily as a venue for historical documents of interest, particularly on Indiana's territorial and early-statehood periods, the journal today publishes a range of scholarly articles, reviews, roundtables, and interviews covering the history and changing culture of Indiana and the Midwest from early European and Native American encounters to the present.
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History
The Indiana Magazine of History was founded in 1905 as the Indiana Quarterly Magazine of History by George S. Cottman as "a magazine devoted to the preservation and collating of matter that is of real value to the historical student." In 1913, when Logan Esarey succeeded Cottman as editor, the magazine began its affiliation with Indiana University and adopted its current name. It was under Esarey that the IMH began its transition to a publication that focused on historical interpretation and analysis as well as reproduction of printed sources. This transition was completed under the editorships of John Barnhart (1941 – 1955), whom longtime IMH associate editor Lorna Lutes Sylvester credits with bringing an "aura…of sophisticated scholarship" to the journal, and Donald F. Carmony (1955-1975), whose service to Indiana University was recognized in 2002 by the creation of a chaired professorship in the IU history department. The duties of the position include editing responsibilities for the Indiana Magazine of History.
Aside from its longevity, the journal is notable for its efforts in bringing together professional and amateur historians as both contributors and readers, while still remaining a decidedly academic endeavor. Its wide lay readership (the journal was for many years offered as a benefit of membership in the Indianapolis-based Indiana Historical Society and its members continue to comprise the bulk of its subscribers), along with the support of Indiana University's professional scholars, have helped to account for the Indiana Magazine of History's continued publication. In 1955, former editor William O. Lynch (1928–1941) reflected on this point in an article chronicling the first fifty years of the journal's existence: "The two editors of the early period from 1905 to 1913 – the largely self-educated man and the university-trained college teacher – supplemented each other to a noticeable degree and cooperated in a fine spirit." The magazine continues to serve as the journal of scholarly record for Indiana history, while expanding its services to include lesson plans for teachers, collaboration on the scripts of Indiana Public Radio's "Moment of Indiana History" program, and free online access to its back issues through Indiana University Digital Library Program's Indiana Magazine of History Online website.