In Memory of Elsa: Help Fund Branches Archive

In addition to her many other editorial and intellectual occupations, my brilliant and lifelong friend Elsa Florence Kramer served 25 years as editor of Branches, a magazine she co-owned with her husband Tom Healy through their company, Apple Press. Branches was a statewide periodical that covered topics related to health and well-being, spirituality, peace and justice, and ecology, all with an Indiana focus.

After Elsa’s tragic death Nov. 7, 2020, Tom made arrangements with the Indianapolis Public Library to donate the entire print run of Branches to the Indianapolis Room in Central Library, where it is being archived and will soon be made available on www.digitalindy.org. About 35% of the project's $10,000 budget is still needed to complete the funding of this initiative, and I will match each dollar raised through this GoFundMe campaign to make this archive of Elsa’s work available to all.

For the last 11 years of her life, Elsa was an adjunct professor with the Indiana University Department of Library and Information Science (DLIS). The Library’s plan includes hiring two DLIS students. One is now at work with Special Collections Librarian Stephen Lane to archive the physical collection; a second intern will start in January and work with the Library’s Digital Projects Coordinator Katie Farmer to make the collection available online. All funds will be given to the Indianapolis Public Library Foundation.

Your contribution will help make this memorial to Elsa—a brilliant and caring person—a reality. Thank you so much.