Courthouse Monument
Monroe County
Civil War Roundtable

Excel file download

PDF file download

Above is a very general index to the contents of the Overlease Library which is housed in a bookcase at the Monroe County History Center, 202 E. 6th St., Bloomington, 332-2517. The Overlease Library was established in the name of one of our charter members, Bill Overlease, who was a frequent program contributor and an enthusiastic supporter of the roundtable from its inception. Bill passed away suddenly in late 2007 and has been sorely missed. Access to the library is restricted to roundtable members. The regular staff of the History Center does not have access during normal open hours. You can browse the library during one of our regular monthly meetings or you will need to contact a roundtable executive board member for access at other times. This index is a way for you to check out the contents of the library in general or even search, in a limited manner, for a specific topic, person, battle, etc. that you may be researching. It is rudimentary but of more help than not having anything at all. If you are using the Excel file, here are a few tips for its use:

  • Of course, just browse the file if you want. Perhaps a title or topic will spark an urge to read or research something. If you see a topic that interest you, take it home, then return it when you are done. There are no particular time limits on borrowing at the present, just "reasonable". Just be sure you leave contact information when you do take something.
  • Because it is an Excel file, it can be sorted alphabetically or numerically by column. If you are unfamiliar with how to sort in Excel, contact an executive board member or officer and we will get you help.
  • If you are interested in a particular topic, you can sort by "key word" (there are usually two per entry) as these tend to be the main topics of the book, article, media item, etc.
  • You can sort by "author" if you have a particular interest in one person's work or slant on a CW topic.
  • Sort by "date" to perhaps get an interesting feel for the way the perceptions of the war have changed over the years.

If you do not have Excel, Microsoft makes a free Excel Viewer that can be downloaded here. After downloading this file, you can install the viewer to your computer and use it to view the Overlease Library Index in Excel format.