This collection is open for research.
The modern bicycle made its first appearance in the United States around 1880,
becoming very popular in the state of Indiana. Indianapolis was home to several
bicycle manufacturers. What could have been a fad became instead an integral part of
American life. Women became as passionate about cycling as men, recognizing that the
bicycle was a liberating force that would help them on their journey down the road
to equal rights. Since 1951, Bloomington and Indiana University have hosted the
annual Little 500 bicycle race. Modeled on the Indianapolis 500 and described as the
"World's Greatest College Weekend," the race was the inspiration for the 1979 film
Collection consists of photographs, one tintype, glass slides, a diary recording a cycling tour of Germany, a bound volume of newspaper clippings detailing cycling accidents, a glass negative, correspondence, bill headings, postcards, cycling club ephemera, bicycling catalogs, broadsides, sheet music, news clippings and business records all related to and documenting the sport of cycling in in the U.S. in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The collection also contains one small contemporary artist's print depicting a cyclist dated 1978.
Acquired: 2013
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Photocopying permitted only with permission of the Curator of Manuscripts, Lilly Library.
[Item], Cycling mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
Processed by Craig Simpson.
Completed in