History, Muncie

The Unviersity Libraries' Archives and Special Collections houses unique and rare resources that can enhance your research and academic work at Ball State University. As outlined above, many of those resources pertain to the history of Muncie and Delaware County. 

Archives and Special Collections is located on the second floor of the Bracken Library in Room 210. The department is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. 

Delaware County Courthouse Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries. Delaware County Courthouse by Jack Phelps. 

The Digital Media Repository provides online access to a variety of primary source materials of interest to users researching or merely curious about the history of Muncie and Ball State University. These materials include photographs, oral history interviews, artwork, video and film footage, cartographic resources, architectural drawings, publications, and 3-dimensional objects. 

Collections of local historical interest include: 

The University Libraries' Archives and Special Collections houses over 600 photograph collections, totalling more than 100,000 photographs. The department's Stoeckel Archives of Local History Photographs Guide describes many of the collections. Users may also consult the Archives and Special Collections staff about photographs and collections. 

Among the collections that feature numerous photographs of Munice are the Otto Sellers Collection, the Spurgeon-Green Collection, and the W.A. Swift Collection. 

The Muncie and Delaware County Film and Videos digital collection currently consists of several digitized historical 16mm films produced from 1913 to 1980. Additional films and videos will be added to this collection in the future. 

The collection includes footage of local events such as the 1913 flood that effected many communities along the White River, and the 1970s Delco Remy UAW strike in Anderson. Also included are films that were conducted by WLBC-TV, a local television station founded in 1953 that eventually became WIPB-TV. 

The Stoeckel Archives of Local History - part of the University Libraries' Archives and Special Collections - includes a number of manuscripts pertaining to business and industry, churches, clubs and organizations, schools, genealogy and family history, government, photographs, and oral histories.

Finding aids can help you discover manuscripts in the Stoeckel Archives and determine whether they are relevant to your research. There are also two comprehensive guides to Archives and Special Collections' manuscripts, one for small groups of manuscripts and one for larger groups. 

Archives and Special Collections maintains research guides that describe the local history resources available for a number of topics.