Herron Students Help Capture the Real Dillinger in Exhibit at State Library

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With his starring role in “Public Enemies,” Johnny Depp is giving movie audiences Hollywood’s latest version of the 1930s gangster John Dillinger.

Meanwhile a group of IUPUI students and community partners have captured the real Dillinger in a one-of-a-kind exhibit now playing at the Indiana State Library.

“DILLINGER! Forging a Hoosier Legend,” explores the origins of Dillinger’s gang, how it gained “celebrity” status, and the impact of its demise.

Using reproductions of prison records, photos, telegrams, and other Indiana State Archives materials, six Herron School of Art and Design students co-designed the exhibit that runs through Dec. 31, 2009, at the library, 315 W. Ohio St.

Depp’s big screen portrayal of Dillinger is closer to reality than most, but “for the truth of the story, you want to see the exhibit,” says Vicki Casteel, visual communications archivist with the Indiana State Archives.

IUPUI students Isaac Arthur, Robert Cooper, Lindsay Craig, Richard (Cody) Fague, Michael Miller and Jennifer Streif, all seniors taking the Exhibition Design II course as visual communication design majors, began work on the project in December 2008.

“They created a visual appeal to the exhibit that we just wouldn’t have been equipped for here,” said Casteel, who as a Dillinger scholar was the mastermind behind the choice of content for the exhibit.

Dillinger – whose bank-robbing and jail-breaking exploits earned him the FBI designation as “Public Enemy No. 1” - was born in Indianapolis and lived in Mooresville as a teen-ager before he embraced the criminal ways that ended with his death July 22, 1934, at the hands of federal agents near a Chicago theatre.

“We didn’t just pick a high profile criminal to do an exhibit about . . . There is a lot involved in the Dillinger gang, particularly with the rough sentencing that John Dillinger himself received and the effect it had on him. The result of that unfortunately was bank robbery,” Casteel said.

The exhibit places Dillinger’s notoriety within its historical context, including World War I, Prohibition, and the Great Depression. “All of these influences sort of made the 1930s a unique time that created this phenomenon of a celebrity gangster,” said the archivist.

In addition to the Indiana State Archives and the state library, sponsors of the project included Friends of State Archives, the IUPUI Solutions Center, and Exhibit House, an exhibit design and production company where some students worked as interns.

“None of us alone could have done this alone,” said Matthew Groshek, the students’ professor.

Groshek is the Public Scholar of Exhibit Planning and Design. He holds a joint appointment with the museum studies department in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI and the Herron School of Art and Design Visual Communication Department.

“The Dillinger project exemplifies the applied learning opportunity that public scholarship allows,” the professor said. “It connects students to public and civic institutions and practitioners with skills that allow access to unique cultural and historical objects, while allowing community partners access to emerging professionals with their own unique skills.”

Student Richard Cody Fague said working on the exhibit was extremely valuable as a learning experience.

“I couldn't have possibly appreciated the type of dedication it takes to coordinate something like the Dillinger exhibit without participating first-hand,” Fague said. “The o opportunity to work in a professional context has rewarded me with a better understanding of what it takes to make great work—particularly work that has a vested community interest.”

The State Archives, in turn, appreciated the opportunity to work with the IUPUI students, Casteel said.

“They are a very talented group. I think that they all are going to have bright careers,” she said.

It was also rewarding to have a part in the retelling of the Dillinger story, Fague said.

“What I'll end up appreciating most about working on the exhibit is the fact that we've added another layer to the Dillinger mythos,” he said. “With the hard times in our economy and the Dillinger movie being released, I think the Dillinger story is resonating with a new generation of Hoosiers. I feel more connected with Indiana culture as a result of being a part of this retelling, and can't wait to see its effects unfold.”

For additional information on the exhibit, go to: http://www.dillingerlegend.org/index.html.