From a house that outlaw John Dillinger might have visited to rooms where the KKK met, facts about Muncie's past are surfacing for students participating in an immersive learning class that allows them to learn about and document the city's historic neighborhoods.
"I enjoyed just going up and knocking on people's doors and asking to take pictures," graduate student Joseph Vella said. "I got to tour some, and it was cool; I didn't realize how old some of the houses are."
Telecommunications professor Chris Flook organized the project, which began in the fall with about 40 students. Flook said the course took a bit of a hiatus for the spring semester because winter weather wasn't conducive to filming, but will involve 10-20 students this summer and about 40 more next fall, when it will conclude.
The project is about documenting the homes in Muncie's 10 historic districts. Students visited the homes, interviewed residents, took footage of the homes and compiled a documentary, which debuted Friday and is available on the project's website, historicmuncie.org. Flook said more information currently is being added to the website, including mini-documentaries about each district.
He said he hopes those who see the documentary or read the narratives some students are writing will be inspired to take a greater interest in the city they inhabit.
"I don't think a lot of people, residents and students, understand that Muncie does have a rich heritage," Flook, a Muncie native, said. "A lot of it has been lost or changed, but you still see some of the ghosts of the past just sitting there, in some cases rotting and in some cases preserved."
Most of Muncie's historic districts are near downtown, which Flook said isn't unusual; he said the centers of many cities around the nation deteriorate as their metropolitan areas have grown.
Flook said Muncie's blight started near the end of the 19th century and was visible to him growing up. He said seeing it is part of the reason he wanted to start the immersive learning project. He said he also wanted to help students and residents get to know the city beyond McGalliard and Tillotson avenues.
"Hopefully we can show people a side of Muncie they're not used to seeing," project photography director and senior video production major Brian Hollars said. "Muncie is not really the most appealing place on the face of the earth. ... I thought it was going to be difficult to make things look attractive, but it was actually pretty easy."
Only two of the approximately 100 students who have been, are or will be involved in the project are actually from Muncie, Flook said. But he said even though Muncie wasn't the hometown of the majority of the students, he saw students jump into the project and work on it like professionals.
"You can only have one hometown, but I've lived in Muncie for six years, and I definitely consider it a great place to live," Vella said. "Students don't venture off campus as much as they should."
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