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Dillinger: Forging a Hoosier Legend at the Indiana State Library
Published: Sep 23, 2009
“DILLINGER! Forging a Hoosier Legend,” investigates the genesis of Dillinger’s gang, how it earned “celebrity” status, and the impact of its downfall. The exhibit at the Indiana State Library in downtown Indianapolis, through Dec. 31, 2009, features unique Dillinger artifacts, pictures and documents that provide visitors an in-depth look into the life of John Dillinger and what led this ordinary Hoosier farm boy into a life of crime.
The exhibit, which is free to all entrants, includes letters and official state documents related to Dillinger from the Indiana Department of Correction, the Indiana State Police, the Governor's Office and the offices of the Attorney General and Secretary of State. Materials from The Indianapolis Star include original Depression-era photographs and articles about Dillinger and his gang.
John Dillinger, marked as Public Enemy No. 1 by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, cemented his national notoriety on Saturday, March 3, 1934, when he escaped from the Lake County Jail (the so-called escape-proof jail) in Crown Point, Ind. Dillinger had been in Crown Point since his extradition from Arizona in January awaiting trial for the alleged murder of East Chicago Police Officer O'Malley.
After escaping that morning, Dillinger commandeered two machine guns and upon freeing a fellow inmate, he ultimately made his way out a side door of the "heavily fortified" jail and proceeded to make his getaway in the sheriff's V-8 Ford. Dillinger's break out set off a flurry of reported sightings across the Midwest in the days that followed. But his escape plan had one fatal flaw: in driving the stolen sheriff's car across the state line toward Chicago, he had violated the one law that could involve federal agents at the time, the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act. It cost him his life inside a Chicago theater four months later.
The exhibit was produced by students from the Herron School of Art and Design with the assistance of Exhibit House.
- by Jim Brown , Indianapolis Reporter for HelloMetro
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