Weekend Warriors -- Help Indiana's volunteers help you

Ron Darrah, long-time volunteer at the Indiana State Archives and always a festive presence at Indiana Genealogical Society gatherings, has gone public in the current IGS newsletter (read it yourself in the members-only section if you're a member; if you aren't, why not?): the volunteers have tens of thousands of records in databases ready to go online, but the state archivist is stalling on doing so. Volunteers are the backbone of the state archives; it seems little enough to ask that state government do its part in preserving and making known Indiana's history.

It may be that he or his boss the governor don't know how many people care about this. Below is their contact information, and below that is the list of databases being held up, from the IGS Blog.

Indiana State Archivist James Corridan 317/232-3691 or jcorridan@icpr.in.gov

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels 317/232-4567 or www.in.gov/gov/2631.htm

Department of Correction (DOC) Databases
--Jeffersonville (DOC-Jeffersonville) 11,995 records
--Old State Prison North (Indiana State Prison North Inmate Index 1858-1897) 10,574 records
--New State Prison North (DOC-Prisoners) 34,428 records
--Boys School (DOC - Boys School) 12,376 records
--Girls School (DOC - Girls School Inmates) 5,670 records
[NOTE: Girls School files will be added in the future, as well as databases for the Reformatory from 1897 forward.]

Military Databases
--World War I - Book of Merit 1,626 records
--World War II - Gold Star 3,461 records
--Civil War - 200,000 records [proofing is nearly done]
--National Guard - 37,000 records [now at the letter K--there is the potential to reach approximately 100,000 records when complete]
--Early soldiers - approximately 20,000 records
--Mexican War - 4,783 records
--United Spanish American War Veterans Files - underway
--Upcoming Spanish American War - underway

Orphans and Foster Children Databases
--Foster Children Files - 10,691 records
--Foster Parent Applications - 1,462 records
--Orphanages and Other Licensed Institutions for Children 922 records
--Juliana Work - 4,628 records

Court Records Databases
--Marion County Loft 1 - 27,578 records
--Marion County Loft 2 - 23,614 records
--Marion County Loft 3 - 36,000 records [still increasing]

Naturalization Databases
--The Naturalization database that is currently online contains approximately 23,540 records. There are several additional smaller counties ready to be added. In the near future the volunteers hope to have more counties proofed and ready to be uploaded, including Marion County (23,226 records) and St. Joseph County (approximately 39,000 records). These two counties, along with various other counties (with considerably smaller tables) will triple the size of the current online Naturalization database.

Land Records Databases
--LaPorte-Winamac land office 18,785 records
--Fort Wayne land office 73,250 records
--General Land Office (Reserves) 2,579 records [already on the Indiana State Archives website]
--Vincennes land office 100,000+ records [soon to be finished]
--Terre Haute-Crawfordsville land office approximately 20,000 records [soon to be finished]