The Collection
The Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics has already begun to collect political memorabilia. The first display of the memorabilia was on the second floor of the Helmke Library on the IPFW campus and included political buttons, scrapbooks, programs, state convention badges, an editorial cartoon from the first half of the Twentieth Century, and a copy of the Twenty-fifth Amendment signed by Senator Birch Bayh.

Preserving the Past
These campaign materials and documents are more than a nostalgic trip to the past; they also help to preserve our past in a way that can help us move forward. The Mike Downs Center is always looking for other opportunities to display its collections throughout the community in places such as library branches, community centers, and schools.

The political memorabilia collection has begun to expand to include items such as mayoral transition plan notes, polls, and consultant reports regarding the River Greenway, tourism, and environmental issues. These are documents of some significance for the Fort Wayne area and the Mike Downs Center is working to be the repository of the papers of state and local political leaders.

Search Online
Along with having displays throughout the community, the contents of the collection will be posted on the Mike Downs Center's website whenever it is feasible.

Simply press the Search button below to see a list of items currently available online, or fill in one or more of the fields to help refine your search. You may search for campaign buttons for a particular year or a particular office by selecting the Item Type, or you may wish to see all items relating to a particular candidate by just selecting that field and pressing Search.

For Example: The following search form finds: