Communications of the ACM
Indianapolis Speedway and niversity Library Put Racing History Online
Images from the first Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 1911 are included in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection.
Credit: IUPUI
The rich history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and racing have been captured by a new digital collection of more than 14,000 images made possible by the collaboration of the motorsports organization and the University Library at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection features highlights from the Speedway's 100-plus years with photographs taken from 1879 to 1997. The photographs can be viewed online due to an ambitious digitization project, funded by grants from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Indiana State Library.
Some of the highlights include the very first public event at the Speedway, the 1909 U.S. National Balloon Championship. That helium-filled-balloon competition took place at the Speedway more than two months before the oval was completed. Other historic moments represented in the collection are the 1909 motorcycle race, dominated by "Cannon Ball" Baker, and the first Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 1911.
This online collection will allow users from around the world to explore the storied past of the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Users can browse the collection by searching for drivers by name or searching for particular races by year.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection is one of more than 60 online collections created by the IUPUI University Library and its community partners. These unique online repositories, containing digital images of historic documents and objects, were created with the help of local organizations and the Indianapolis Recorder newspaper.
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