Dr. Carmel Jones speaks about migration of southern families

The speaker for the Program Meeting on Tuesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. will be Dr. Carmel Jones from Dunkirk. His topic will be “The Migration and Assimilation of Southern Families in West Jay County.” Carmel’s family was one of the first to migrate from the Southern Appalachian Region to western Jay County in the early 1950s. Dr. Jones is a 1971 graduate of Ball State University’s Honors Program with a degree in history and also received a doctorate from Ball State. He is working to complete an oral history of his Appalachian migratory experiences in Indiana.

Carmel coordinates and moderates a discussion group with the Association of Life Long Learners at Muncie’s E.B. Ball Center. Carmel resides at the childhood home of dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp in Dunkirk, where he actively engages in landscape gardening.

Invite your friends and neighbors, and let’s have another standing room only crowd for this presentation!

The Jay County Historical Society welcomes you! We are proud of our work collecting, preserving, and displaying the rich heritage of Jay County, Indiana, the only “Jay” County in the United States. Come see the 11,000 square foot Jay County Historical Museum. Admission is free, and the museum is handicapped accessible. The museum is staffed by dedicated volunteers who would be happy to share Jay County’s history with you. It offers visitors a unique glimpse of bygone times here in east central Indiana.

Children play at the fair near Floral Hall in 1892

 Sunday museum open houses occur frequently throughout the year. In the early fall, our Jay County Heritage Festival has history-related fun and entertainment for all ages on the grounds of the museum, and admission is free. End-of-year holiday time brings special indoor activities at the museum, as well. 

The Jay County Historical Society is supported mostly through membership dues and donations. Please consider joining the Society. Members receive the Jay County Journal, our monthly newsletter with articles about both current events and historical topics in addition to a mystery picture. We also sponsor informative and interesting monthly program meetings at the museum. An annual dinner meeting for members is held in November with a special program and election of the board of directors. 

Frank Kenyon Remembered

Jay County recently lost a remarkable friend, Francis E. (Frank) Kenyon (4-30-1923 to 2-16-2012), a gentle man who chronicled our history through his pictures in The Graphic from 1949 to 1961, and in other publications until his retirement in 1988. Frank was the Norman Rockwell of black and white photography in Jay County. For 40 years, he captured, with a light-hearted touch, the essence of who we were as Jay Countians. The plaque affixed to a newspaper camera given by The Graphic Printing Company to Frank when he retired read:

 Frank Kenyon

Photographer

Whose Pictures Brought Joy

and Wonder to Our Lives

From 1949 to 1988

Presented in Sincere Appreciation

By The Graphic Printing Company, Inc.

April 30, 1988

 If there is a “Holy Grail” of memorabilia in Jay County, it is those issues of The Graphic which many people collected and eventually brought to the museum in various states of deterioration. Everyone hoped that we could somehow magically treat the yellowing paper to preserve forever the images which defined a generation. We have carefully checked our collection to be sure all pages are in place and selected  the very best examples to store in special boxes in a cool, dry, and dark place. We have three copies of each, but the life of that ink and paper is still finite. We needed to find a way to save Frank’s art.

Last spring, with the help of a dedicated volunteer, Richard Hummer, we began the task of scanning  and  storing digital files of every page (over 15,000) in high-quality TIFF format. Richard is now up to 1957, and our digital storage space is filling up fast, since we need to maintain backup in two places. Our hope is to find an offsite storage medium where we can rest assured that Frank’s legacy will be available to future generations who might want to recapture that time. We have a donation to start a fund for this storage project which will honor Frank’s work, and if you would like to contribute to it, simply send a donation marked “Frank Kenyon Graphic Storage Project.” 

Of course, another way to honor Frank is to purchase a copy of the book of Frank’s work, Through My Camera Lens, compiled by Jane Spencer and published by The Graphic Printing Co., Inc.  The book is available at the museum at a cost of  $10 plus shipping of $4.00.

Frank was an honest and humble man. I know he would be embarrassed by all this attention, but I also know he was proud of his work and proud of his home county. The least we can do is to insure that his significant body of work is preserved for future generations. ~ Tom Young

Thank you to the Portland Foundation for our recent grant!

Thank you to The Indiana Arts Commision and The National Endowment for the Arts for a grant to help fund our ninth annual Heritage Festival.

 Frank Kenyon

Photographer

Whose Pictures Brought Joy

and Wonder to Our Lives

From 1949 to 1988

Presented in Sincere Appreciation

By The Graphic Printing Company, Inc.

April 30, 1988

 If there is a “Holy Grail” of memorabilia in Jay County, it is those issues of The Graphic which many people collected and eventually brought to the museum in various states of deterioration. Everyone hoped that we could somehow magically treat the yellowing paper to preserve forever the images which defined a generation. We have carefully checked our collection to be sure all pages are in place and selected  the very best examples to store in special boxes in a cool, dry, and dark place. We have three copies of each, but the life of that ink and paper is still finite. We needed to find a way to save Frank’s art.

Last spring, with the help of a dedicated volunteer, Richard Hummer, we began the task of scanning  and  storing digital files of every page (over 15,000) in high-quality TIFF format. Richard is now up to 1957, and our digital storage space is filling up fast, since we need to maintain backup in two places. Our hope is to find an offsite storage medium where we can rest assured that Frank’s legacy will be available to future generations who might want to recapture that time. We have a donation to start a fund for this storage project which will honor Frank’s work, and if you would like to contribute to it, simply send a donation marked “Frank Kenyon Graphic Storage Project.” 

Of course, another way to honor Frank is to purchase a copy of the book of Frank’s work, Through My Camera Lens, compiled by Jane Spencer and published by The Graphic Printing Co., Inc.  The book is available at the museum at a cost of  $10 plus shipping of $4.00.

Frank was an honest and humble man. I know he would be embarrassed by all this attention, but I also know he was proud of his work and proud of his home county. The least we can do is to insure that his significant body of work is preserved for future generations. ~ Tom Young

Jay Countians Go to War –

Honoring Those Who Served Our Country

The theme for this year’s Tenth Annual Jay County Heritage Festival, to be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 6 and 7, will be Jay Countians Go to War — Honoring Those Who Served Our Country. 
This year happens to be the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, and the 50th anniversary of Viet Nam.  Therefore, the festival will be honoring these anniversaries and also the history of World War I and World War II.
The festival committee is in the beginning stages of planning this event.  As plans evolve, they  will be asking for help from our members and friends.  Anyone with memorabilia from any of these wars which you would be willing to share (either to loan or donate) is asked to call the museum to let us know what you have available.

Be sure to mark these dates on your calendar and make plans to attend this event.  Let’s make our tenth annual festival the biggest and best yet!

Happy Holidays from all of us at the Jay County Historical Society!

Our annual Christmas at the Museum celebration will begin with an Open House on Sunday, November 27 from 1 to 4 p.m. Besides the regular Monday through Friday hours, during the holiday season the museum will also be open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, December 4, 11, and 18.

Each of the schools of Jay County have once again been asked to decorate a tree at the museum. Those visiting the museum may vote for their favorite school tree by bringing items for the Helping Hands Food Pantry to place under that tree. The school with the most items under their tree by Wednesday, December 20, will be awarded a set of Jay County history books for their library.

Because of the economic conditions in the county, we know it is difficult to keep the Food Pantry shelves stocked with needed items and feel this is an excellent way for us to help the less fortunate. You may bring non-perishable food items, paper products, and cleaning or personal hygiene items. Please be aware that out-dated items cannot be distributed by the Food Pantry.

In the past, many of the schools have held food drives at their own building and then have brought those items to the museum. To avoid handling the items extra times and to encourage family visits to the museum, we are asking that the schools do not bring their collections to the museum, but take them directly to the food pantry and give us the count. Items brought to the museum by families will count as two votes. By involving students in decorating the trees, we also hope many of them and their families visit the museum and discover something about Jay County’s history while here.

We encourage those of you who live in the area to bring your family and friends to the museum during the Christmas season. The trees are always uniquely decorated, and the museum is also filled with many other vintage decorations.