INDIANAPOLIS — The newest addition to The Indianapolis Public Library’s catalog of online digital materials is a collection of yearbooks from Broad Ripple High School during the years 1937 – 1989. Photos and information can be found on such notable Broad Ripple graduates as entertainer David Letterman, former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, architect Michael Graves, actor Abraham Benrubi, and basketball player and coach Mike Woodson.
Broad Ripple High School, located on the city’s near northside at 1115 Broad Ripple Avenue, was established in 1886 as a two-year high school for students in the village north of Indianapolis. It expanded to a four-year institution with annexation in May of 1923, becoming the city’s fourth public high school. It now serves as an Indianapolis Public Schools Magnet High School for the arts and humanities. The school’s yearbook, titled Riparian (“bank of the river”) as a result of a student naming contest, was first published in 1926.
By visiting www.indypl.org, viewers can find Broad Ripple High School students and faculty throughout the 52-year period in these full-edition presentations. From the Library’s homepage, click on Digital Collections to access these images as well as those from Tech, Manual and Shortridge High Schools. Visitors also can find other local history collections from the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, the Indianapolis Firefighters Museum, the English Opera House, and the Children’s Museum. Other unique collections include the May Wright Sewall Papers, World War One posters, historic Indianapolis postcards, Irvington oral histories, and audio recordings from poet James Whitcomb Riley. Similar to the Digital Public Library of America which launched earlier in April, these collections are part of a growing movement to increase access to the historical record of our communities.
