Well House Books

Charlie Nelms had audaciously big dreams. Growing up black in the Deep South in the 1950s and 1960s, working in cotton fields, and living in poverty, Nelms dared to dream that he could do more with his life than work for white plantation owners sun-up to sun-down. Inspired by his parents, who first dared to dream that they could own their own land and have the right to vote, Nelms chose education as his weapon of choice for fighting racism and inequality. With hard work, determination, and the critical assistance of mentors who counseled him along the way, he found his way from the cotton fields of Arkansas to university leadership roles. Becoming the youngest and the first African American chancellor of a predominately white institution in Indiana, he faced tectonic changes in higher education during those ensuing decades of globalization, growing economic disparity, and political divisiveness. From Cotton Fields to University Leadership is an uplifting story about the power of education, the impact of community and mentorship, and the importance of dreaming big.

What did generations of Indiana University students think about their years on campus-the faculty, courses, administration, pressing social issues, and each other? Through student writings and art featured in The Well House Reader, the Bloomington campus across the years vividly and sometimes whimsically comes to life. Featuring selections from more than 150 years of student writing, “The Well House Reader”, edited Donald J. Gray, demonstrates how students voiced their views and opinions through their contributions to campus magazines and yearbooks. From the use of satiric couplets to ridicule university president Cyrus Nutt in 1872, parody and caricature to mock the Ku Klux Klan in 1924, and long form essays to complain about the university administration in the 1960s, IU students always made their opinions clear. They wrote burlesques to mock their teachers, essays to honor them, and short stories about the satisfaction and sadness of graduation and departure from their beloved alma mater. Poignant and revealing, “The Well House Reader” offers unforgettable glimpses of Indiana University through the eyes and experiences of its students across the decades.

From track and field to swimming and diving, and of course basketball and soccer, Indiana University Olympians celebrates over a century of Indiana University Olympic competitors. Beginning in 1904, at the 3rd summer games in St. Louis, IU's first Olympic medal went to pole vaulter LeRoy Samse who earned a silver medal. In 2016, swimmer Lilly King rocketed onto the world stage with two gold medals in the 31st Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. Featuring profiles of 49 athletes who attended IU, Indiana University Olympians includes the stories of well-known figures like Milt Campbell, the first African American to win decathlon gold and who went on to play pro football, and Mark Spitz, winner of seven swimming gold medals. The book also highlights fascinating anecdotes and the accomplishments of their less well-known colleagues, including one athlete's humble beginnings in a chicken house and another who earned a Silver Star for heroism in the Vietnam War. Despite their different lives, they share one key similarity-these remarkable athletes all called Indiana University home.

Indiana University Bloomington houses exceptional materials from nearly every continent. Windows on Worlds: International Collections at Indiana University takes readers on a visual journey through IU's collections like never before. Ranging in works as diverse as painting, sculpture, costume, rare manuscripts, musical instruments, and much more-the museums, institutes, collections, and other holdings on IU's flagship campus provide unique engagement opportunities for students, researchers, and members of the public. Windows on Worlds showcases the unique and unexpected items from collections across the Bloomington campus, such as the Boulle clock in the Federal Room of the Indiana Memorial Union; the Burmese headdresses in the Mathers Museum of World Culture (now the IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology); the fish-shaped coffin in the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art; the rare manuscripts and puzzles of the world-famous Lilly Library; and, finally, new additions on campus like the IU Metz Carillon. Brimming with beautiful photographs, this book offers readers insight into an extraordinary number of cultures and societies through IU's collections.

The first in-depth look at how women have shaped the history and legacy of Indiana University. Women first enrolled at Indiana University in 1867. In the following years they would leave an indelible mark on this Hoosier institution. However, until now their stories have been underappreciated, both on the IU campus and by historians, who have paid them little attention. “Women at Indiana University” draws together 15 snapshots of IU women's experiences and contributions to explore essential questions about their lives and impact. What did it mean to write the petition for women's admission or to become the first woman student at an all-male university? To be a woman of color on a predominantly white campus? To balance work, studies, and commuting, entering college as a non-traditional student? How did women contribute to their academic fields and departments? How did they tap opportunities, confront barriers, and forge networks of support to achieve their goals? “Women at Indiana University” not only opens the door to a more inclusive and accurate understanding of IU's past and future, but also offers greater visibility for Hoosier women in our larger understanding of women in American higher education.

Hoosier Beginnings tells the story of Indiana University athletics from its founding in 1867 to the interwar period. Crammed full of rare images and little-known anecdotes, it recounts how sport at IU developed from its very first baseball team, made up mostly of local Bloomington townsfolks, to the rich and powerful tradition that is the "Hoosier" legacy. Hoosier Beginnings uncovers fascinating stories that have been lost to time and showcases how Indiana University athletics built its foundation as a pivotal team in sports history. Learn about the fatal train collision that nearly stopped IU athletics in its tracks; IU's first African American football player; the infamous Baseball Riot of 1913; how a horde of students grabbed axes and chopped down 200 apple trees to make way for a new gymnasium; and the legendary 1910 football team that didn't allow a single touchdown all season-but still lost a game. Most importantly, it attempts to answer the burning question, where did the "Hoosiers" get their mysterious name?

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Faces and Places of IUPUI: Fifty Years in Indianapolis presents the story of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus in a new and unique way. With a focus on the "Fifty Faces of IUPUI," a select group of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members chosen by the campus, readers will learn how the campus developed out of the Indiana University School of Medicine in 1903 to become Indiana's premier urban public research university. From remarkable figures from the past such as Joseph T. Taylor, who grew up in the Jim Crow South and later became the Founding Dean of the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, to current undergraduates from a multitude of backgrounds and studying a range of disciplines, Faces and Places of IUPUI recounts the fascinating people who help make IUPUI a national and international leader in education and research. Using a combination of archival and contemporary photography, Faces and Places of IUPUI captures these stories and weaves them together to represent the university's evolution. By taking readers through the past and present, and leading them toward the future, this volume conveys the spirit of the 50th anniversary, as well as the impact that the IUPUI campus has made in its first 50 years.

In its first ten years, a small Midwestern cinema has attracted some of the most intriguing and groundbreaking filmmakers from around the world, screened the best in arthouse and repertory films, and presented innovative and unique cinematic experiences. Indiana University Cinema tells the story of how the cinema on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington grew into a vibrant, diverse, and thoughtfully curated cinematheque. Detailing its creation of a transformative cinematic experience throughout its inaugural decade, the IU Cinema has arguably become one of the best venues for watching movies in the country. Featuring 17 exclusive interviews with filmmakers and actors, as well as an afterword from Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul), Indiana University Cinema, is a lavishly illustrated book that is sure to please everyone from the casual moviegoer to the most passionate cinephile.