On March 28, retired Indiana University folklore professor and well-known author Henry Glassie talks about the challenges of preserving everyday historic buildings like barns and small houses in his lecture Indiana Vernacular. Glassie’s talk is co-sponsored by Traditional Arts Indiana and will include music by Julane Lund, a hardanger fiddle player from Martinsville. Glassie will sign copies of his book Vernacular Architecture following the program.
This lecture at Indiana Landmarks Center, 1201 Central Avenue, is free and open to the public. The talk begins at 6 p.m., preceded by a reception at 5:30 p.m.
RSVP: Although the program is free, Indiana Landmarks requests RSVPs online (vernaculararchitecture.eventb
TAI learned that Milan Opacich, tamburitza musician and luthier passed away Monday morning (January 21, 2013) at his home in Schererville, Indiana. Many folklorists who worked in Indiana will be familiar with his work. He was a key collaborator in the Gary Project and was featured by Richard Dorson in his classic Land of the Millrats. A highly respected musician and luthier in the Calumet Region and beyond, he was honored with a National Heritage Fellowship in 2004. The son of a Croatian mother (Roza) and a Serbian father (Mile), Milan Opacich was born in Gary, Indiana in 1928. Religious and political conflicts between Serbians and Croatians were persistent when he was growing up in the Calumet Region, which is home to one of the largest Serbo-Croatian communities in the United States. His blended heritage positioned Milan on the cultural boundary between both communities, where his family bore the brunt of ethnic and religious prejudice. His mother was not allowed to worship with the Croatian Catholics, because she had married a Serbian. His father chose not to worship at the Serbian Orthodox Church, because they did not accept Milan’s mother. While religious and ethnic differences divided his community, Milan used music, art, and stories to 
