Hoosier History Takes Flight: A Year of Escape, Discovery, and Indiana Aviation

Sometimes a project surprises you, not just by coming together, but by taking off.

This winter marks the first anniversary of The Indiana Aviation Escape Room’s inaugural flight, and I’m still honestly buzzing over how popular it’s been.

(ID: Indiana Young Readers Center logo with toucan and escape room suitcase.)

What started as a nonfiction writing and instructional design project has turned into a hands-on experience that libraries, schools, nonprofits and students across Indiana have truly embraced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBHos2wCH8w

Watching my work connect with readers and players over its first year has been one of the happiest moments of my writing life.

(ID: Teens use ultraviolet light o find clues in source materials.)

At its heart, the Indiana Aviation Escape Room is an invitation to enter a moment in history. Players race against the clock to solve puzzles and crack codes, but beneath the ticking timer is something deeper, stories of innovation, courage, and people who changed the course of flight. Along the way players get access to some amazing source materials provided by local historians, the Chanute Aquatorium Society, the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian.

(ID: Teens solve puzzles to feel history come alive.)

The experience highlights Northwest Indiana’s aviation legacy, including:

• The Tuskegee Airmen, whose bravery and excellence broke barriers in the skies

• Willa Brown Chapell, a groundbreaking flight instructor and aviation leader whose story deserves to be widely known

• Octave Chanute, the pioneering engineer whose work influenced the Wright Brothers

• The Wright Brothers, whose collaboration with Hoosiers helped shape early aviation

Every challenge is designed to uncover hidden facts and fascinating primary sources, making history feel immediate, interactive, and alive.

(ID: Teens use teamwork to sort source materials for clues.)

I was commissioned to write and design this project by the Indiana Young Readers Center in 2024, and it was published in Winter 2025 by the Indiana State Library. The project was funded through a Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) regional grant, in partnership with the Library of Congress, which allowed us to ground the experience in real historical documents and authentic research.

(ID: Rex Blackwell explains the Escape Room Project at the Aquatorium Society's Meeting.)

The Indiana Young Readers Center Collection celebrates books and projects by Indiana authors and illustrators, those born here, shaped here, or who call Indiana home. Since opening in 2016, the Center has become a place where kids can explore Indiana history through stories, creativity, and discovery. Knowing this project lives in that space, and is available to libraries and schools across the Hoosier State, means everything to me.

(ID: Tuskegee Airman statue and plane at the Aquatorium.)

The Indiana Aviation Escape Room is also part of a larger series of six Indiana history-based escape room experiences developed by the Indiana State Library. Each one blends narrative, teamwork, and primary sources, with varying difficulty levels so students (and adults!) can jump in together. These experiences promote collaboration, problem-solving, leadership, and curiosity, skills that matter far beyond the room itself.

(ID: Teens use ultraviolet light o find clues in source materials.)

Each of the six Indiana State Library escape room experiences is designed to spotlight a defining Hoosier moment in history while also introducing participants to a meaningful museum or cultural attraction connected to that story. For the Indiana Aviation Escape Room, the setting is the Aquatorium (formally the Gary Bath House), a National Historic Landmark located in Marquette Park, that perfectly reflects Indiana’s aviation legacy. Placing the experience in there allows players to connect historical innovation, place-based history, and primary sources in a way that feels immersive and real.

(ID: Octave Chanute's statue and plane at the Aquatorium.)

Ultimately, these projects are meant to spark curiosity beyond the escape room, encouraging young people to visit these historic sites, engage with them in meaningful ways, and perhaps even become active members or volunteers themselves, because most cultural organizations need the energy, ideas, and leadership of the next generation.

(ID: Teens use communication skills as they sort for clues.)

One of the most meaningful aspects of this project has been its grounding in primary sources. In an age of quick summaries, AI-generated answers, and surface-level information, giving students the chance to work directly with historical documents matters more than ever. Primary sources invite curiosity, critical thinking, and interpretation, they ask students not just to learn history, but to do history.

(ID: Chanute Statue in a seas of Blackeyed Suans.)

I am deeply grateful to the Chanute Aquatorium Society for being such an extraordinary community partner in this work. As stewards of the Gary Aquatorium, a piece of history rescued from demolition in 1991, they generously shared their space for beta testing the escape room with a group of Gary teens in fall 2024. Their board members also offered invaluable advice and expertise, ensuring the project honored both Octave Chanute, the “grandfather of flight,” and the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen with care and accuracy. The Aquatorium itself, which honors aviation pioneers and the integration of the armed forces, was the perfect place to test a project rooted in authentic history, community collaboration, and the power of original sources. It is an amazing place to visit and open to the public for free. Go here for more info. Welcome to the Chanute Aquatorium Society

(ID: Former Indiana State Children's Librarian Suzanne Walker, currently at the Library of Congress, and Jessica Renslow at the beta testing of the Hoosier Aviation Escape Room.)

A year in, I’m grateful. Grateful to the Indiana State Library, the Indiana Young Readers Center, to the Aquatorium Society and every librarian, teacher, and student who has opened the box, followed the clues, and raced the clock. Seeing history spark excitement, and seeing young people realize that Indiana’s stories include innovators, risk-takers, and trailblazers, has been incredibly rewarding.

(ID: Teens pose with smiles after solving the escape room)

As a final full-circle moment, I’m thrilled to share that the Indiana Aviation Escape Room has been checked out by the Gary Public Library for summer 2026 (yes, the waitlist really was that long). Knowing this project is coming home to the Steel City fills me with pride, and I can’t wait to see how it’s received by the community that helped shape it. I’ll be sharing more details as soon as they’re available. Here’s to the first year of flight, and to many more adventures still waiting to be unlocked!

 (ID: Cookies designed by the fabulous Kim Kimble.)