A live weekly radio adventure through Indiana history with host Nelson Price.
Show airs live at 11:30 a.m. each Saturday on WICR 88.7 FM in Indianapolis.
ICVA
Promoting Indianapolis and providing the show with its intrepid Roadtripper!
WICR
Our anchor radio station, on the campus of University of Indianapolis.
Special thanks to Heather Kaufman-McKivigan, website founder.
Fairmount town history
(Aug. 28, 2010) - You may know that movie icon James Dean grew up on a farm near the Grant County town of Fairmount. But were you aware the creator of the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world also grew up on a Fairmount farm? It was the boyhood home of Jim Davis, creator of Garfield, the cantankerous cat.
To explore the heritage of a town with several distinctions, Nelson was joined in studio by Fairmount resident Cathy Duling Shouse, the author of a new visual history book about her hometown, Fairmount, the latest in Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America" series. Cathy's ancestors settled in the Fairmount area before 1850. Of the 223 rare vintage photos in her book, more than half came from private collections of local residents. The images include a 1904 photo of the construction of the Winslow family farmhouse, where young James Dean was raised during the 1930s and '40s by his aunt and uncle.
There also are photos of Lake Galatia near Fairmount, which was formed by the last glacier. Lake Galatia is where, as Cathy puts it, "the most complete set of mammoth bones ever found was discovered." That was in 1904. The discovery of the huge skeleton of the mammoth (which apparently lived 11,000 years ago) sparked a lawsuit among local residents about their ownership. After the controversy was resolved, the mammoth bones were sold to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where they remain on display to this day.
Initially part of Miami Indian territory, Fairmount was settled early on by Quakers. Fun fact: The mascot of old Fairmount High School - where James Dean, a member of the Class of 49, was a standout basketball player - was "the Quakers."
Even before the discovery of the mammoth bones, there was a "jumbo" making news in Fairmount. In 1887, as Cathy writes in her book, "this small, primarily agricultural area participated in one of the most dramatic eras in state history: the natural gas boom."
Indeed, a natural gas well discovered near Fairmount that year was so massive it was named "Jumbo," after the famous circus elephant. Thanks to the bountiful gas reserves, entrepreneurs flocked to the Fairmount area and built spacious, Victorian-era houses, many of which still stand.
"The wells produced so much natural gas that it was thought the supply never would run dry," Cathy notes.
Her book, which she put together with the Fairmount Historical Museum, includes boyhood photos of both James Dean and Jim (Garfield) Davis, who suffered from severe asthma during his boyhood on a farm. In interviews with Nelson over the years, Jim Davis has said his artistic endeavors kicked off when he was bedfast with asthma and began doodling.
James Dean and Jim Davis had the same mentor at the high school: drama teacher Adeline Nall, whom the future cartoonist credits for pulling him out of shyness that resulted from the asthma.
Other notables with Fairmount roots include Olive Rush, a renowned artist who even had one of her works displayed in the White House, and a Fairmount High grad who went on to become director of the National Hurricane Center. (Do you think of Hoosiers as likely to become experts on hurricanes?)
Our focus on the town came just before the James Dean Festival, which draws thousands to the community, with the arrival of vintage autos and pilgrimages to the grave site at Park Cemetery of the actor (1931-1955), every September.
History Mystery question
Although James Dean had a long list of credits in live television shows, as well as a few small movie roles at the start of his career, he had starred in only three films before his death in a car crash in 1955. The three movies were East of Eden, Rebel Without aCause and Giant.
The casts of two of those movies included a young actor who, decades later, would come to Indiana to play a significant role in a movie filmed here. In fact, the actor would be nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the Indiana-made movie.
If we dial back the clock 200 years and travel to what is now 116th Street and Allisonville Road in Fishers, Ind., we would find William Conner living in a log home beside the White River with his Lenape (Delaware Indian) wife and five children.
Our Roadtripper, Chris Gahl of the ICVA, says that if we travel to Conner Prairie this weekend, we'll see the the four original members of the Broadway cast of Beatlemania perform many Beatles hits such as Hard Day's Night, Twist and Shout and others in an authentic tribute to Liverpool's "Fab Four."
Symphony on the Prairie's tribute to the Beatles will run Friday, Aug. 27 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 28 at 8 p.m.
Pack a picnic, watch the sunset over the prairie, and enjoy live music off Broadway.
Meridian Park neighborhood history
(Aug. 21, 2010) - Colorful history, welcoming porches, towering trees and a diverse assortment of homeowners are distinctive aspects of the next neighborhood to be featured in our rotating series. Many of the homes in the historic Meridian Park neighborhood on the near-Northside of Indianapolis were built between 1905 and 1930. They range from Arts and Crafts bungalows to spacious Dutch Colonial Revival, Tudor and Italian Villa homes. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Meridian Park has been in the spotlight this summer, which has included a popular home and garden tour.
For Meridian Park's turn on Hoosier History Live!, Nelson was joined in studio by two longtime residents of the scenic neighborhood, which is tucked away east of Meridian Street and north of 30th Street.
His guests from Meridian Park, which has been revitalized during the last 30 years, included Ben Solomon, who lives in an antique-filled Colonial Revival home built in 1916. Ben, who is the co-owner of Solomon/Jones Antiques and Interiors, has filled his historic house with furnishings purchased from the estates of prominent Indianapolis families. Nelson also was joined by photographer Lamar Richcreek, a faculty member at the Herron School of Art and Design who has lived in Meridian Park for decades with his wife, Jean.
According to a recent article in Urban Times, in the 1870s the site of the future neighborhood "was not just farmland - it was a frontier." The houses built in the early 1900s became the then-suburban homes of bankers, architects, artists and business leaders.
In addition to Arts and Crafts bungalows, several homes in Meridian Park were built in the Prairie and American Four Square styles, although the architecture is extremely diverse. Several Meridian Park homes also have quaint gardens. In addition, the neighborhood includes Washington Court, which is considered one of the city's first residential, pedestrian courtyards.
As affluent residents moved farther north during the mid-1900s, though, many homes were converted into businesses or deteriorated. A spacious home built in 1919 for a prominent Indianapolis businessman - and restored in recent years by its current owners, City County Councilor Jackie Nytes and her husband Michael O'Brien - eventually became a kindergarten, then served as the offices of a design firm. Nelson plans to ask his guests, Ben and Lamar, to share details about their homes' histories.
Some fun facts:
According to a recent feature story in The Indianapolis Star, Ben has filled his home with furnishings from the estates of the William H. Block family, former Gov. Paul McNutt, and the Holliday family. Ben's home has a veranda that overlooks his English country garden.
For some of the restorations, homes in Meridian Park had to be gutted down to their studs.
The neighborhood's residences include Tuckaway, the historic bungalow owned in the early 1900s by a well-known palmist and her husband, a fashion designer. Tuckaway was visited by famous Americans, including Walt Disney, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Gershwin and Carole Lombard. (Tuckway was the subject earlier this year of one of our History Mystery questions.)
History Mystery question
Historic neighborhoods south of Meridian Park include Herron-Morton Place. In the late 19th century, Herron-Morton Place flourished as a residential neighborhood thanks to the construction of Queen Anne-style houses and other homes, many of which have been restored in recent years.
It's well-known that before the area became residential, it served as the site of Camp Morton, a Civil War site for the induction of Union Army soldiers. During the war, much of Camp Morton became a prisoner-of-war camp for captured Confederate soldiers. But before the Civil War, this part of Indianapolis - near Alabama, Delaware and 20th streets - had a very different use. It was the peacetime site of an Indiana event that continues to this day, albeit at a different location.
Question: What was on the site of today's Herron-Morton neighborhood immediately before the Civil War?
The prize was a pair of tickets to Conner Prairie, plus a gift certificate for Wheel Fun Rentals along the Central Canal in downtown Indianapolis, all courtesy of the ICVA.
Roadtripper
Military Park is the oldest park in Indianapolis and covers 14 acres. The park hosted Indianapolis' first celebrated Independence Day on July 4, 1822. The first Indiana State Fair was held at the park in October 1852.
Our Roadtripper, Chris Gahl of the ICVA, suggests that we head to the 15th Rib America Festival on Labor Day Weekend - Friday, Sept. 3 through Monday, Sept. 6. Ten of the top rib restaurants will compete for the title of best - including teams from Texas, Tennessee and Georgia.
Admission is free before 5 p.m. on Friday and before 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Music, ribs, outside, Labor Day weekend - all a perfect combination!
Parks, boulevards systems history in Indy
(Aug. 14, 2010) - Earlier this summer, Hoosier History Live! explored the history of Indiana state parks. Next up is the system of parks and boulevards in Indianapolis, which involves the life of an internationally renowned landscape architect, George Kessler, who put together the first comprehensive, citywide parks plan. A German immigrant who eventually was based out of St. Louis, Kessler (1862-1923) never really became a resident of Indy, but he left a lasting impact on the city.
Nelson was joined in studio by two Indianapolis-based landscape architects who know this turf well. His guests were Meg Storrow of Storrow Kinsella Associates, who put together the National Register of Historic Places nomination for Indy's park and boulevard system, and David Roth of Synthesis Incorporated.
With Meg and David as our guides, we dig in and explore the creation of parks here, including Kessler's redesign of pre-existing Garfield Park (he created its well-known sunken gardens) and his vision for a chain of parks linked by wide, sweeping boulevards.
Kessler Boulevard, built after his death, was named in his honor. His system of parkways followed the major waterways in Marion County, including White River, Fall Creek and Pleasant Run.
Some fun facts:
Military Park and University Park also pre-date Kessler's plan, which was presented in 1909. Originally a militia training ground during the Civil War era, Military Park is located east of today's IUPUI campus. Although University Park had become a city park in the 1870s, Kessler redesigned it, creating formal paths and suggesting a central fountain.
Suggestions for parks plans in the late 1800s and early 1900s were highly controversial in Indianapolis. Residents had a bushel of objections, ranging from costs to the proposed location of parks. According to several sources, many residents felt the Northside would reap most of the benefits.
The colorful mayor of Indy at the turn of the last century, Thomas Taggart, aggressively pushed for the purchase of the farmland that became Riverside Park, which was not included in initial park plans. (Regular listeners will recall from a Hoosier History Live! show in June that, after his term as mayor, Taggart purchased the French Lick Springs Hotel and made it a lavish resort.)
Kessler designed parks systems for several other major cities, including Kansas City, Cincinnati and Dallas. His plan for Indy, however, is considered among his best-known. According to the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, he emphasized "a chain of parks brought to the doors of all sections of the community" linked by wide, sweeping boulevards.
At Brookside Park on the Eastside, Kessler designed scenic bridges. Objecting to the 19th-century metal trusses that spanned Fall Creek, Kessler also designed the Capitol Avenue bridge across the waterway.
Nelson also asked Meg about her current work on the enhancement of Alice Carter Park at North Meridian Street and Westfield Boulevard. A co-founder and principal of Storrow Kinsella, Meg has been involved in an extensive array of landscape design, greenway and park projects across Indiana. At Synthesis, David has been the project manager for many urban design and greenway projects across Indiana, as well as a playground project at Washington Park in Indianapolis.
History Mystery question
Our History Mystery question is a carry-over from last week, when there was no correct answer. The question concerns a popular Republican congressman from Indiana who is thought to have been the last public figure to shake Abraham Lincoln's hand before the president's assassination in 1865.
The Hoosier congressman, who later would become vice president of the United States, had been invited to accompany President and Mrs. Lincoln to Ford's Theatre that fateful evening in April, but he declined. The Hoosier congressman was elected speaker of the House twice, then became vice president. Hint: He was the first of (so far) five Hoosiers to become vice president.
Question: Name the Indiana politician.
The prize was a one-night stay at the Holiday Inn Express Indianapolis City Centre, as well as a pair of tickets to the Indiana State Museum, courtesy of the ICVA.
Roadtripper
Chris Gahl of the ICVA says it is time for us to "Dig-IN." This Taste of Indiana is a daylong event featuring growers and chefs from across Indiana. Held Sunday, Aug. 29, at White River State Park, this foodie event will draw in the top chefs from across the state for a unique gastronomic experience.
Highlights include free local food tastings prepared by local chefs, urban gardening exhibits, free wine and beer tastings, discussion panels, cooking demonstrations, urban gardening exhibits and much more.
Combining the best of what farmers markets have to offer with the know-how of some great food minds, this event will inspire the senses, educate the mind and bring many of Indiana's best and brightest agricultural and culinary experts to the forefront. Tickets are only $15.
2008 presidential election shift in Indiana
(Aug. 7, 2010) - Whether you applaud the outcomes or bemoan them, there's no question the 2008 election cycle made Hoosier history. Our atypical recent turn as a "swing state" included a fierce intra-party battle among Democrats during their first truly significant presidential primary in Indiana in 40 years. Next came a historic break from a tradition that stretched back even further, with a majority of Hoosiers voting for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1964.
At the epicenter of all this was political commando Kip Tew, who headed Barack Obama's campaigns in Indiana. A partner with the Indianapolis law firm of Krieg DeVault LLP, Kip joined Nelson in studio to share behind-the-scenes details from the razor-close primary against Hillary Clinton - which involved a split among Democrats here that Kip describes as "difficult and joyless" in his new book Journey to Blue (Hawthorne Publishing) - to a presidential campaign that involved TV journalist Jane Pauley, rallies in traditionally Republican strongholds such as Plainfield, and a whirlwind that changed lives, Kip's among them.
A Fort Wayne native who graduated from North Central High School in Indianapolis and Indiana University, Kip is a former state chairman and Marion County chairman for the Democratic Party. He is the latest in a parade of well-known Hoosier politicos of both parties who have joined Nelson to explore the dynamics - including shifts, curves, upsets and historic firsts - of Indiana's political landscape.
Except for the top of the ticket (Lyndon B. Johnson had been the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry Indiana), Hoosiers have a long history of ballot-splitting. And it may seem like ancient history now - with Evan Bayh's announcement earlier this year that he will not run for re-election - but speculation he could have been Obama's running mate hung over much of the '08 campaign here, according to Kip's book. Before that, Bayh and several of his closest colleagues aligned themselves with Hillary Clinton in the primary battle, meaning Kip and his crew became their opposition.
In Journey toBlue, Kip writes, the switch in allegiance from Clinton to Obama of another native Hoosier insider in the Democratic Party, former national chairman Joe Andrew, "angered the Bayh hierarchy more than anything else in the campaign."
Some other tidbits from Kip's book:
When Obama was preparing for his TV debate with John McCain, Kip worked furiously to arrange for the French Lick Springs Hotel to be the site of his debate prep, with an event that would feature Larry Bird playing hoops with the candidate. Kip writes that the failure of this to happen - in part because Bird decided he didn't want to get involved in the presidential race - "was one of the biggest disappointments of the campaign personally for me because . . . (it) would have been a nice little piece of Indiana history."
After Kip picked up Obama's book Dreams From My Father as a beach read in 2007, the politician's journey resonated with him in part for deeply personal reasons. When he was 4 or 5 years old, Kip learned his biological father had left shortly after his birth; he was raised by his mother and adoptive father.
Kip's wife, Robin, served as the chauffeur for Jane Pauley when the former co-host of The Today Show offered to return to her home state to campaign for Obama.
Indiana had the lowest turnout of registered voters of any state in the 2004 presidential election. In the show, Nelson explores how this affected the strategy of Kip and his team four years later. He also asks about the role of social media in the campaign here - and whether Kip thinks Obama could win Indiana if he had to run for re-election this year.
This show with a key Hooser newsmaker answers questions and gives insight into a campaign that resulted in a (temporary?) shift in presidential politics in the Hoosier state.
History Mystery question
A popular Republican congressman from Indiana - who later would become vice president of the United States - is thought to have been the last public figure to shake Abraham Lincoln's hand before the president's assassination in 1865. The Hoosier congressman had been invited to accompany President and Mrs. Lincoln to Ford's Theatre that fateful evening in April, but he declined.
The Hoosier congressman was elected speaker of the House twice, then became vice president. Hint: He was the first of (so far) five Hoosiers to become vice president.
Question: Name the Indiana politician.
The prize was a one-night stay at the Holiday Inn Express Indianapolis City Centre, courtesy of the ICVA.
Roadtripper
Our Roadtripper, Chris Gahl of the ICVA, recommended venturing to the Rathskeller in downtown Indy on Aug. 8 for a performance by the American Pianists Association's Classical Fellowship Awards Finalist, Igor Lovchinsky.
The performance took place in the Athenaeum's Biergarten and is the final concert in their popular Summer Concert Series.
Lovchinsky, an alumnus of Juilliard, won both the Eastman International Piano Competition and the National Chopin Piano Competition. His talent has won him solo spots in the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Indiana Chamber Orchestra and others.
Theater history in Indy with Howard Caldwell
(July 31, 2010) - In 1934, an 8-year-old boy who lived in Irvington - and who would grow up to become one of the best-known TV news anchors in Indianapolis history - patronized a theater for the first time. It was Loew's Palace at 35 N. Pennsylvania St., where young Howard Caldwell was captivated by a movie, which was followed by a stage show.
Although Loew's Palace is long gone, its essence is recaptured in a new book by Howard, who became a familiar face - and often was described as "Indiana’s Walter Cronkite" - during his long career at WRTV-Channel 6. His book, The Golden Age of Indianapolis Theaters (IU Press), not only explores the city's majestic theaters, many of them bygone or renovated for other uses, it also analyzes the Hoosier capital's theater-going heritage.
Howard joined Nelson in studio to delve into the colorful history that kicked off in September 1858 when the Metropolitan, the city's first theater, opened at 148 W. Washington St. with a seating capacity of more than 1,700. The Metropolitan later became known as the Park, then as the Capitol when it was a burlesque house as it declined before closing in the 1930s.
Almost from the start, there was controversy. Some shows at "the Met" featured dancing, which, as Howard points out, "was not tolerated by Methodists, Presbyterians or Baptists" during the 1850s. And many church groups here frowned on theater-going in general.
In the 1860s, famous actors who performed at "the Met" included none other than John Wilkes Booth. As Howard notes, his final performance in Indy was in 1863, a mere two years before he assassinated President Lincoln.
The city's second theater, the Grand Opera House, opened in 1875 and eventually became known for vaudeville. In the 1880s, the lavish English Theater and Opera House on Monument Circle vaulted theater-going to a new level. In 1902, a production at the English of Lew Wallace's Ben-Hur featured "eight horses pulling two chariots on treadmills, powered by electricity," creating a sensation. As Howard notes in his book, performers who came to the Hoosier capital included W.C. Fields and escape artist Harry Houdini (both appeared at the Grand) and Ethel and John Barrymore at the English.
Alas, only four of the grand historic theaters downtown survive:
Circle Theater (now called Hilbert Circle Theatre), which opened in 1916.
The Murat, which opened in 1910 with a revolving stage considered a national innovation.
Walker Theatre, which was planned by entrepreneur Madam Walker and opened in the 1920s after her death. She had dreamed of a theater for African-Americans, who were denied admittance at some theaters or required at others to sit in balconies at the back.
The Indiana Theater, a former movie palace that today is the home of the Indiana Repertory Theatre.
Howard and Nelson explored those, as well as the theaters that did not survive, such as Loew's Palace and the Lyric on North Illinois Street, which presented three vaudeville shows a day when it opened in 1912. Some fun facts:
The first presentation of a film in Indy occurred in 1896 at the Park (the Met had been renamed by this point), according to Howard's book. The film was a farce called "A Railroad Ticket."
In the 1800s, auditoriums and lobbies for most theaters here were on upper floors of the buildings. The ground level typically was used for retail or offices.
Although Howard will be forever associated with broadcasting - he was the anchor on WRTV's Evening News for its debut in 1959 and has been inducted into the Indiana Broadcasters Hall of Fame - his accomplishments as an author go beyond his new book about theaters. He also is the author of Tony Hinkle: Coach for All Seasons (IU Press, 1991).
History Mystery question
In 1938, a new movie theater opened in Indianapolis, but not downtown. The first film shown in it was College Swing, starring Bob Hope.
The new movie theater became one of the city's first to be air conditioned. For decades, it was considered among the city's finest movie theaters, but by the early 1970s it had declined and even was showing adult movies, some rated X.
Then a major restoration in the late 1970s gave the theater a new life as a nightclub and concert venue that continues to this day. Long lines under the theater's marquee are a common sight as patrons wait to enter or buy concert tickets.
Question: Name the Indianapolis theater that fits this description.
The prize was four tickets to downtown Indy's newest attraction, the Rhythm Discovery Center at Illinois and Washington Streets, courtesy of the ICVA.
Roadtripper
Chris Gahl of the ICVA suggested that we stroll down memory lane to check out the Heartland Film Festival's premiere of the major motion picture Flipped (see a preview) on Aug. 2 at Hilbert Circle Theatre in downtown Indianapolis.
Hollywood director, writer and producer Rob Reiner attended the premiere, along with the movie's stars Anthony Edwards, John Mahoney and Penelope Ann Miller.
The movie Flipped is the latest addition to Reiner's directorial credits, joining such memorable films as Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally,A Few Good Men and The Bucket List. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the screening beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets for reserved seating will be available in advance for $25 each.
Beer heritage in Indiana
(July 24, 2010) - Did you know one of the country's largest brewers 100 years ago was in Terre Haute? Before Prohibition, a German immigrant section of the Hoosier city bustled as the setting of beer-makers. None was savored more than the Terre Haute Brewing Company, which was located in a five-story complex that included a bottling plant and a stable that housed dozens of Clydesdale and Belgian horses. (The horses drew wagons that delivered the beer.)
Terre Haute-made Champagne Velvet became wildly popular with the World War II generation, with connoisseurs from coast to coast. Fort Wayne, Lafayette, New Albany and even tiny Aurora on the Ohio River also have rich beer-making heritages.
Thirsty for details? Nelson was joined in studio by the writer recently dubbed "one of Indiana’s grand dames of beer" by The Indianapolis Star. Rita Kohn writes the "Beer Buzz" column in Nuvo newsweekly and is the author of a new book,True Brew(Indiana University Press), that explores all aspects of the Hoosier state's links to beer, present and past.
And the past goes way back. According to Rita's book, a brewery was built in LaPorte in 1831 – even though the town's streets weren't laid out until two years later. In the 1840s, a brewery in Aurora was so productive it exported beer to Germany. Even one of the most prominent residents of early Indianapolis, banker Calvin Fletcher, wrote diary entries about his occasional beer-making endeavors using local ingredients.
"Indiana has a 200-year-old tradition of brewing practiced by people whose beer heritage was part of their cultural, social and economic life as home-brewers and commercial brewers," Rita writes in True Brew.
According to her book, the monks at St. Meinrad Archabbey in southern Indiana started a brewery in 1860. Alas, their beer was so lousy the brewery closed the next year.
No such humiliation was suffered by several beer-makers in Terre Haute, Fort Wayne and other Indiana communities. In Fort Wayne, popular Berghoff Brewing got under way in 1887. Civic leaders in Terre Haute hoped that city, not Milwaukee, would emerge as America’s beer-making capital.
Prohibition, which began in 1918, changed the landscape in many ways. According to True Brew, when Prohibition ended in the 1930s only about half of the country's brewers reopened. The landscape changed again in the 1990s with the popularity of microbreweries and brew pubs, where beer is brewed and consumed on the premises.
Some fun facts:
"New Albany taverns emerged as a stopping place for travelers crossing the Ohio River," according to a website that celebrates the southern Indiana city's bicentennial this year. "The immigrations, in 1830 and 1850, of many Germans to the area directly contributed to the emergence of brewing in New Albany."
In addition to selling beer to Germany, the Great Crescent Brewery in Aurora supplied beer to the silver mines in Nevada during the late 1800s, according to True Brew.
Apparently the colony of Rappites who settled in New Harmony during the 1820s had a brewery, as well as two distilleries. "After all," Rita notes in her book, "it was to be a utopian society."
Our beer heritage - and Rita - are featured in some Indiana events:
July 24 at West Lafayette Public Library: A celebration at 1 p.m. with brewing demos. Rita spoke at 5 p.m. in a tribute to the late Bill Friday, a West Lafayette reference librarian known as "Indiana's patron saint of home brewers."
A former speakeasy is being reused in an unusual way in a scenic Indiana town on the Ohio River. During Prohibition, the two-story speakeasy was patronized by riverboat passengers. Today, the former speakeasy building is the home of a harp-making operation and gallery. Harps made there are sold all over the world - even to Ireland. The historic building, which is located on the town's Main Street, also is the setting for concerts involving harps, including Celtic music celebrations.
Question: Name the Indiana river town with a former speakeasy that's been turned into a harp-making operation.
Stepping in this week for ever-busy Chris Gahl was our Roadtripper-ess, Amy Lamb of the Indiana Historical Society.
Amy recommended we Roadtrip down to weekly Concerts on the Canal on Thursday evenings through the end of August. The concert lineup includes a diverse selection of musical styles, from jazz, blues and Latin to cabaret and the Great American Songbook.
The IHS will also extend the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center's operating hours to 6 p.m. on concert nights. The new Indiana Experience includes a set of several interactive opportunities that connect visitors with the state's history in exciting and meaningful ways.
The home of the IHS is located at 450 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis along the Central Canal. And concerts are complimentary for those who bring a chair or blankets and sit on the east side of the canal!
Wayne County history
(July 17, 2010) - It was the setting for a "courthouse war" that involved the state's most protracted battle over the location of a county seat. With early settlements by groups of Quakers, Wayne County in far-eastern Indiana became a hub of anti-slavery activity and housed significant stops on the Underground Railroad.
And as one of the first counties formed in the Indiana Territory (it was organized in 1810, six years before Indiana became a state), Wayne County will celebrate its bicentennial this year. That makes it ideal for this installment in our Hoosier History Live! rotating series about town and county histories.
Nelson was joined in studio by Wayne County historian Carolyn Lafever, who lives on a 40-acre farm near Hagerstown. She is the author of A Pictorial History of Wayne County, Indiana (Donning Company Publishers, 1998) and the new Wayne County Indiana: The Battles for the Courthouse (The History Press), which describes the bitter feuds that resulted in six courthouses and three county seats, with Richmond finally winning out over Centerville.
Wayne County is home to everything from Abbott's Candy in Hagerstown, a legendary locally owned candy-maker/retailer that opened in the 1890s, to the Levi Coffin House in Fountain City (the town once was called Newport), which became known as the "Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad." Many of the escaped slaves helped by Levi Coffin and his wife, Catharine, chose to settle in Wayne County after the Civil War.
Speaking of the Civil War: Indiana's famous governor during the conflict, Oliver Perry Morton, was a Wayne County native who practiced law in Centerville for many years. An early supporter of the Republican Party, Morton's first official act as governor was to alert President Lincoln, his close friend, that Indiana would send 10,000 men for the Union Army.
Prior to the Civil War, Wayne County was the most prosperous county in the state "by virtue of the National Road passing through," according to A Pictorial History of Wayne County, Indiana. In her book, Mrs. Lafever notes that Wayne County had the state's largest population in 1848. At that point, Centerville was the county's hub; only with the advent of railroad lines in the next decade did Richmond eclipse it.
Richmond may have triumphed in the courthouse war, but not quite 100 years later the city endured a horrific tragedy. On Palm Sunday in 1968, two explosions devastated the downtown, damaging a 14-block area and causing 41 deaths and more than 100 injuries. Nelson and Mrs. Lafever explored the aftermath and the still-disputed causes of the explosions, which have been blamed on a gas leak, followed by the igniting of gunpowder stored at a sporting goods store.
For several years after the tragedy, a major part of downtown Richmond became a pedestrian-only zone known as The Promenade. When controversy ensued, vehicular traffic was allowed to return to the downtown area in 1997. (Does the conflict sound a bit familiar, Indy?)
Some fun facts:
Centerville became the first town in Indiana to get paved streets, according to A Pictorial History of Wayne County, Indiana.
The Whitewater River in Wayne County is considered the state's fastest-running river.
The Wayne County Historical Museum even has an Egyptian mummy. It was purchased in the 1920s by a wealthy Richmond woman during an overseas trip.
History Mystery question
Faculty members at Earlham College in Richmond included one of the country's best-known Quaker authors and scholars. He lived on campus into his late 80s, was quoted in everything from "Dear Abby" advice columns to the Philosophical Review and wrote books about spiritual and ethical topics. Born in 1900, he became known as "Mr. Earlham" in much the way Herman B Wells was regarded as "Mr. IU."
Question: Name the legendary faculty member at Earlham College.
The prize was a DVD of Movers and Stakers, Stories Along the National Road, courtesy of Executive Director Nancy Carlson of Ball State University. The National Road, of course, went through Wayne County, and you'll learn more about Richmond, Centerville and the Salisbury Log Courthouse.
By the way, if you didn’t win the prize, the film also will be screened at the Indianapolis International Film Festival on Saturday, July 24, at 2:45 p.m. at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Roadtripper
What was the first Indiana state capital? Where did the nickname "Hoosiers" come from? Chris Gahl of the ICVA has picked Hoosier Heritage Day on Thursday, August 12,
at the Indiana State Fairgrounds as a Roadtrip to learn answers to these questions and more.
Hoosier Heritage Day, aimed to educate visitors about Indiana history, will test your knowledge of Indiana trivia, trace your Hoosier family history, expand your
understanding of Indiana archeology, and much more.
Approximately 25 organizations will be present on the Boulevard from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to educate, re-enact and talk about Indiana history. And don't
forget to order corn on the cob at the fair, an Indiana specialty!
Diners across Indiana
(July 10, 2010) - Roadside diners are a broiling topic this summer, what with a landmark, now-vacant eatery in Plainfield imperiled. Built in 1954 and topped by an eye-catching coffee cup sign, the Plainfield Diner stands along the National Road/U.S. 40 and heads the "10 Most Endangered" buildings in the state list compiled by Indiana Landmarks.
The hubbub has prompted the creation of a Facebook crusade to save the beloved dinner and an outcry that's startling all and sundry, according to Mark Dollase, vice president of preservation services at Landmarks. Diners, which boomed during the 1940s and '50s, have been popular across the state for decades, even though, as the current issue of Landmarks' Indiana Preservationist puts it, they now are at risk of being "rendered obsolete by fast-food chains, urban sprawl, and interstates."
At Hoosier History Live!, we relish this opportunity to explore all aspects of Indiana diners. That means not only did Mark join Nelson in studio, so did Max Lemley of Columbus, Ind., former president of the Indiana Restaurant Association and a former "King of the Road" trucker who for years patronized diners along the highways and byways of the Hoosier state.
As we served up a slice of Americana, Mark, Max and Nelson weighed in on an array of Hoosier diners, contemporary and bygone. What are the ingredients of a good diner, and what are telltale signs of a rotten one? What makes the Plainfield diner, built in an architectural style known as "Streamline Moderne," so special? (Note: The diner, which has its original interior, closed in 2009 and currently is for sale.)
Do you savor the jukeboxes, chili platters, milk shakes or curved booths at a beloved Hoosier diner? Consider yourself invited to call in during the show to share your picks and pans.
With Mark, we also explored other historic structures on the "10 Most Endangered" list. They include Bush Stadium in Indianapolis, the former baseball park that was the focus of a Hoosier History Live! show (also with Mark as our guest) two summers ago. Tune in to hear about the latest proposal for the former home of the Indianapolis Indians on West 16th Street. The stadium reappears on the "10 Most Endangered" list, joining the Plainfield diner; circus barns in Peru where big cats and elephants once were trained; and St. John's Hospital in Gary, which was built in 1929 by African-Americans when the city's public hospitals declined to admit black patients.
Primarily, though, our focus is on diners, which, as the Indiana Preservationist puts it, are "a vanishing species."
Some fun facts:
According to several sources, the distinctive architecture of diners - long and narrow - originated because many initial ones had been dining cars on railways. The former rail cars were converted into inexpensive restaurants near train stations or alongside railroads.
Aficionados often debate which eateries qualify as diners. Most agree, though, that the ingredients should include a long counter, stools mounted on the floor, a casual atmosphere, late operating hours (often even 24-hour service) and typical American cuisine such as burgers, French fries, cole slaw, chili platters and, particularly in Indiana, tenderloins.
Max Lemley, our guest from Columbus, Ind., has long been a familiar figure in that city's food scene. Lemley's Catering has been a staple of the business community for decades, and he was the proprietor of "The Buffy" (its official name was Sap's Buffeteria), a popular hangout for coffee and talk, beginning in the 1970s. His current venture is M&D Marketing, which produces private-label sauces, rubs and spices.
History Mystery question
Three restaurants in Indianapolis opened as drive-ins, not diners, and constituted a small, locally owned chain. Located on busy city streets, the three restaurants began opening during the 1950s and continued with drive-in service through the 1960s. After that, some patrons referred to them as diners, although they did not have stainless-steel exteriors. But the small chain specialized in food often served in diners, including milkshakes, catfish and beef Manhattans.
One of the restaurants was located on North Shadeland Avenue. Another, at East 52nd Street and North Keystone Avenue, was the last to remain. It closed in early 2002.
Question: Name the small chain of Indianapolis-based drive-ins that fits this description.
The call-in number for the correct answer is (317) 788-3314, and the prize was two tickets to the James Whitcomb Riley Home, courtesy of the ICVA.
Roadtripper
Roadtripper Chris Gahl of the ICVA suggests you get a little wild in July - at the Indianapolis Zoo!
How did the Indianapolis Zoo come to fruition? In the 1940s, newspaper columnist Lowell Nussbaum began voicing his dream of establishing a zoo in Indianapolis via his column "Inside Indianapolis," which first appeared in the Indianapolis Times and then the Indianapolis Star. The columns spurred community leaders into action, and on Oct. 24, 1944, Articles of Incorporation for the Indianapolis Zoological Society Inc. were filed.
The Indianapolis Zoo continues its unique summer concert series, "Animals & All That Jazz," with performances July 15, 23 and 29. Meander alongside the animals as you listen to live jazz by Indiana musicians. It's a weeknight adventure, with food and beverage served. The Indianapolis Zoo welcomes more than 1 million visitors each year and plays a major role in worldwide conservation and research.
Maestro Raymond Leppard's legendary life
(July 3, 2010) - In a first for Hoosier History Live!, our guest holds the title of Commander of the British Empire. That honor, bestowed by the Queen of England, is merely one of many high notes in the remarkable life and career of Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra conductor laureate Raymond Leppard.
The 82-year-old maestro's visit to our studio came as he is about to be named a Living Legend by the Indiana Historical Society at a black-tie gala July 16.
Maestro Leppard, who served as the ISO's music director from 1987 to 2001, certainly has become an adopted (and beloved) Hoosier since taking up permanent residency in Indianapolis. He even became an American citizen in 2003.
Born in London, he grew up in scenic Bath and became a prolific recording artist (his other honors include a Grammy Award) and conducted major orchestras around the world before his 14-year career with the ISO. During that tenure, he led the orchestra on eight recordings and two tours of Europe. He also has written several film scores, including the soundtracks for Lord of the Flies (1963) and Hotel New Hampshire (1984).
What's more, Leppard returned to the podium at the Hilbert Circle Theatre last September when his musical successor, Mario Venzago, left the ISO after contract negotiations failed. The ISO reached out to its conductor laureate and asked him to lead the orchestra for its season opener.
The maestro's legion of admirers also know he was a longtime friend of the late "Queen Mum" (mother of the current Queen Elizabeth II) and that he initiated Indianapolis On-The-Air, a nationally syndicated radio broadcast of ISO performances. At the beginning of his prolific career, he won raves as a harpsichordist.
In addition to the maestro, the distinguished Living Legends-to-be will include U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker and civic leaders Bill Mays, founder of Mays Chemical, and his wife Rose, a professor emeritus at the IU School of Nursing at IUPUI.
Some fun facts:
The ISO is one of just 17 year-round orchestras in the country.
Leppard has honorary degrees from several universities, including the University of Indianapolis. So this Commander of the British Empire should feel at home in the WICR-FM studios.
History Mystery question
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1930 and played its first concert at Shortridge High School. Since then, three venues have served for long periods as the concert hall for the ISO. The second venue was Clowes Hall, which opened in 1963. The ISO moved to Circle Theatre on Monument Circle with its initial renovation in 1984.
Question: What majestic building was the primary concert hall for the ISO from the mid-1930s until the opening of Clowes Hall? Hints: The building was not Shortridge. And it still stands.
The call-in number for the correct answer is (317) 788-3314, and the prize is two tickets to the Children's Museum, courtesy of the ICVA.
Roadtripper
Roadtripper Chris Gahl of the ICVA recommended that we check out the Spirit of America, a world-class marching band from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. How does free sound? Check out this marching-band extravaganza on Thursday, July 8 at 8 p.m. at IPS's Manual High School. The Spirit of America 100-member marching band will perform its acclaimed "Exploration," an inspiring adventure and a time travel through history to meet some of our nation's most prominent figures.
Founded in the early 1970s, Spirit of America began as a hometown marching band and now tours the country to teach of the about the United States and the history of our country. This group has toured Europe, Africa, Canada and even Australia. Be sure to make the easy Roadtrip to Manual High School this Thursday!
Encore presentation - originally broadcast April 25, 2009
County courthouses, with architect Jim Kienle
(June 26, 2010) - Everyone loves Indiana county courthouses. Those architectural gems known as "the magnificent 92," the majestic courthouses that dominate town squares across Indiana, will be the focus of our show. Nelson's distinguished guest is Indianapolis architect and historic preservationist Jim Kienle, of Moody Nolan, who is known for his award-winning restoration work.
As the lavishly illustrated book Magnificent 92 (IU Press, 1991) puts it, Hoosier towns "seemed to compete with one another for splendor and expense" in constructing their courthouses during the 1800s and early 1900s. There's no question that courthouses are cherished – and deemed worth fighting (or even disrobing) for. Remember the national spotlight that fell on members of a women's bridge club in Randolph County who posed for a calendar to raise money to save their historic courthouse in Winchester?
Magnificent 92 quotes a 19th-century historian as rhapsodizing: "A man might sooner be the architect of that edifice than be President of the United States or King of England." By the way, most of the "calendar girls" were in their 80s; the eldest was nearly 94 years old. (They posed behind discreetly placed miniature replicas of the beloved courthouse.)
Last year, Jim restored the Orange County Courthouse in Paoli. Built in 1850, it is the state's second-oldest courthouse in continuous use and is seen annually by thousands of travelers who visit the nearby resort hotels in French Lick and West Baden. (Fun fact: The oldest still in use is the Ohio County Courthouse in Rising Sun, which was built in 1844. Like its Orange County counterpart, the Ohio County Courthouse was designed in Greek Revival style.)
Jim and Nelson also will discuss bygone courthouses, including the ornate Marion County Courthouse, which was demolished during the early 1960s (a major shame, if you ask Jim and other historic preservationists) to make way for the 28-floor City-County Building that stands on its site. And how can we talk about Indiana courthouses without mentioning the landmark Decatur County Courthouse in Greensburg, which has a tree growing at the top of its 115-foot clock tower? According to the book Oddball Indiana (2002), the tree atop the courthouse in Greensburg is now in its 12th generation.
Nelson plans to ask Jim whether towns in other states have showcased their courthouses to the same extent, or is this a Hoosier thing? According to Magnificent 92, the flurry of construction between 1870 and 1899 across Indiana was such that more than 60 of the 92 courthouses were built during that era, with 23 others erected between 1900 and 1930.
"This wasn't entirely foolishness," according to the book's collaborators, Jon Dilts and Will Counts. "Old courthouses, built of wood or brick 30 years before, were small and dangerous. Records often had to be stored elsewhere where fire was not a constant threat."
Fun facts:
The Wabash County Courthouse received international attention soon after opening in the 1870s because it was the site of an early experiment in electricity. Thousands of spectators watched electricity jump from one lamp to another in the dome of the hilltop courthouse. (Regular listeners of Hoosier History Live! will recall a previous Trivia Mystery question about this event.)
In addition to the Marion County Courthouse, historic courthouses have been demolished in Muncie and Logansport.
According to Magnificent 92, the town of Leavenworth lost its status as the county seat in 1896 when the rival burg of English offered inducements that included a new, ornate Crawford County Courthouse. (Ironically, that courthouse also was among those demolished during the mid-20th century. Magnificent 92 calls its replacement "probably the least pretentious courthouse in Indiana.")
Our guest has focused his architectural career on bringing new life to historic structures and Main Streets in small towns. Jim and his wife, Marjorie Kienle, also were among the first wave of urban pioneers in the 1970s revival of the historic Lockerbie neighborhood in Indianapolis. Tune in to learn more!
Fishin' across Indiana with Skip Hess
(June 19, 2010) - Spring and summertime are fishin' time, and Hoosier History Live! reeled in a catch as a guest. To offer tips about prime fishing spots across Indiana, share advice about techniques and maybe tell a whopper fish story or two, the "Outdoors" columnist for The Indianapolis Star, veteran journalist Skip Hess, joined Nelson in studio.
With Skip as our guide, we explored the good, the bad and the unheralded about all things related to fishing, from the best bait to common mistakes by aspiring anglers.
Seizing the opportunity with his former colleague (Skip and Nelson sat next to each other for several years at the Star; before that, they worked together at the bygone Indianapolis News), Nelson asked Skip to share some favorite fishing spots at the state's lakes, rivers, streams and reservoirs.
They also discussed artificial baits, including ones manufacturers say are "guaranteed" to catch fish, as well as various "gimmicks" (Skip's word) that he says to avoid. Conceding that he can't resist eavesdropping on conversations in fishing-gear departments, Skip shared insights from his stealth work.
Noting that bass, crappie and bluegill are the favorite fish to catch in Indiana, Skip shared tidbits about record catches and other kinds of fish that may not be as popular but nevertheless are a thrill to reel in from Hoosier waters. And he shared specifics about the cost of fishing licenses and related details.
His popular "Outdoors" column appears every other Sunday in the Star. You may have read Skip's recent column about sightings around the state of mountain lions now prowling Hoosier trails decades after they were thought to have vanished from the state.
According to Skip's column, even the Department of Natural Resources is conceding the big cats are out there after a camera installed along a Greene County trail captured some startling photos. This topic is too hot to ignore, even though water creatures will be the primary focus of the show. So Skip and Nelson will go with the flow and, at some point, move to dry land to explore the mountain lion sightings.
Some fun facts:
Crappie is pronounced "crop-ee," as Skip is quick to point out to fishing newbies (including city boy Nelson.)
For decades, Skip was a well-known, award-winning investigative reporter at the Indianapolis newspapers. In recent years, though, he's been following the call of the great outdoors with his prose. His statewide network of anglers and hunters keeps him posted from every corner of the Hoosier state.
According to McClane's New Standard Encyclopedia of Fishing, which includes a state-by-state analysis, Indiana's most sought game fish "is undoubtedly the large-mouth bass, and angling for this species is very good throughout most of the state. But if the large-mouth bass is most sought, the bluegill and crappie (black and white) are probably most caught."
The best trout fishing, according to McClane's, is found in northeastern Indiana's lakes and streams, particularly in LaGrange and Noble counties.
Of course, the Hoosier state also is renowned for catfish. McClane's gives its ultimate thumbs-up to the Tippecanoe River as a site for catching them, as well as for yielding various kinds of bass and pike.
History Mystery question
The Hoosier History Trivia Mystery was a carry-over from the previous week, when there was no correct answer. The question concerns the family of Irish immigrant-turned-Indianapolis mayor and French Lick Springs Hotel owner Thomas Taggart. One of Taggart's daughters became a renowned artist. She studied art in New York City and had studios in the Taggart family homes both in Indianapolis and Hyannis Port, Mass. In the 1930s, she also began teaching at what was then called the John Herron Art Institute after earlier serving on its board.
Question: Name the Taggart daughter who became an influential Hoosier artist.
The call-in number for the correct answer is (317) 788-3314, and the prize was two adult and two youth tickets to the NCAA Hall of Champions, courtesy of the ICVA.
French Lick and West Baden Springs hotels history
(June 12, 2010) - With a heritage that includes mineral waters renowned for their supposed curative powers, an atrium with one of largest free-standing domes anywhere (it was touted as the "Eighth Wonder of the World"), a series of colorful owners and a roster of distinguished guests for more than 100 years, the two lavishly restored hotels in French Lick and West Baden are troves for history lovers.
To explore the rollicking history of the French Lick Springs and West Baden Springs hotels, Nelson was joined in studio by a gem of a guest: distinguished Hoosier historian Jim Fadely, widely regarded as the ultimate expert on flamboyant Tom Taggart, the former Indianapolis mayor who purchased the French Lick hotel in the early 1900s and made it an international showplace.
A descendant of early Indiana pioneers, Jim is the author of Thomas Taggart: PublicServant, Political Boss 1856-1929 (Indiana Historical Society Press) and a top administrator at University High School near Carmel.
Jim and Nelson have rotated the microphone on tours of the historic hotels in Orange County, where illegal gambling flourished for decades and Taggart's masterful promoters touted a sulfur-based water they marketed as Pluto Water. At the rival West Baden Springs Hotel, mineral water was marketed as Sprudel Water.
(West Baden was named after Baden Baden, Germany, a centuries-old site of similar mineral water. George Rogers Clark is credited with coining the name for French Lick, perhaps inspired by its salt licks. Even before the first white settlers, Native Americans had contended the mineral baths and waters of the Springs Valley were beneficial.)
Guests at the hotels during their heydays 100 years ago included Vanderbilts and Rockefellers. A self-made multimillionaire, Taggart was an Irish immigrant who, as mayor of Indianapolis, won praise for pushing for developing city parks, according to Jim. After traveling to French Lick on a vacation, Taggart was impressed and bought an existing hotel at the site, where the first inn (known as the French Lick House) had gone up in the 1840s. Then came spectacular success, concurrent with the rise of the rival West Baden Springs.
Both hotels in recent years have undergone stunning restorations spearheaded by Bloomington-based historic preservationists Bill and Gayle Cook; Indiana Landmarks Foundation initiated the renovation of West Baden, which had been closed as a hotel since the Great Depression. (During the intervening years, West Baden Springs had served as a Jesuit seminary, then as a branch of Northwood Institute, a college that offered instruction in the culinary arts and other fields.)
Some fun facts:
Near the French Lick hotel, Taggart built a hilltop home for his son on the second-highest point in the state of Indiana. According to Jim, he designed the residence, called Mount Airie, to recreate a Taggart home on Hyannis Port, Mass, which pre-dates the Kennedy family's compounds there. (Mount Airie today serves as the clubhouse for the spectacular golf course at French Lick designed by nationally renowned Hoosier Pete Dye.)
Tomato juice was invented - or at least marketed for the first time - at the French Lick Springs Hotel in 1917 when, according to folklore, the chef ran out of orange juice. (Regular listeners will recall this was the Hoosier History trivia mystery on our debut show.)
The first West Baden hotel burned to the ground. In 1902, owner Lee Sinclair and his daughter Lillian oversaw its lavish resurrection; its vast atrium was the largest unsupported dome in the world until the Astrodome in Houston opened during the mid-1960s.
According to Jim, the bipartisan political clout of the hotels' owners enabled gambling operations to flourish in the valley. Taggart was a national power broker in the Democratic Party; Ed Ballard, who succeeded the Sinclairs as West Baden's owner, was an influential Republican.
Since its ornate restoration, the French Lick Springs has 25 miles of hallways and the largest spa in the entire Midwest. One pavilion alone, the Pluto Pavilion, has $300,000 worth of gold leaf.
History Mystery question
The family of Irish immigrant-turned-Indianapolis mayor and French Lick Springs Hotel owner Thomas Taggart endured tragedies, just like the Kennedy family. (Both families owned homes in the resort of Hyannis Port, Mass.) The eldest of Tom Taggart's six children, a daughter named Florence, died at age 20 in a tragic yacht accident near New Orleans in 1899. However, one of Taggart's other daughters became a renowned artist. She studied art in New York City and had studios in the Taggart family homes, both in Indianapolis and Hyannis Port. In the 1930s, she also began teaching at what was then called the John Herron Art Institute after earlier serving on its board.
Question: Name the Taggart daughter who became an influential Hoosier artist.
The call-in number for the correct answer is (317) 788-3314, and the prize is two adult and two youth tickets to the NCAA Hall of Champions, courtesy of the ICVA.
Roadtripper
Tucked 65 miles southeast of Indianapolis is the charming town of Metamora, Indiana's only remaining functioning canal town. Our Roadtripper, Chris Gahl of the ICVA, says that when you visit the town, you'll journey through the early 19th-century history of horse-drawn canal boats - which fueled southeastern Indiana's economy until its displacement by the railroad later on in that century.
Metamora is littered with mom-and-pop stores in historic buildings dating back to the early 1800s. A must-stop is for a bag of freshly stone-ground cornmeal, a town treasure. And there are lots of great hikes along the Whitewater River Valley.
You might try spending the night at the Brookville Inn, a quaint B&B constructed in 1900. When in Brookville, be sure to see one of T.C. Steele's homes called "The Heritage" along the Whitewater River. And just down the road is Oldenburg, the Village of Spires. You can't go wrong by heading to Metamora for a slower pace of life. Leave your electronic gadgets at home!
Memoirs of farm life in the early 1900s
(June 5, 2010) - Journey with us to an era of rural schoolhouses heated by pot-bellied stoves, "party line" telephones with eavesdropping neighbors, chicken thieves, and kerosene lanterns used for nighttime walks to the hen house. Folks used slang and phrases that would perplex many of us today. Do you know what a "dewberry" is? And what kind of farm bird is a pullet?
Believe it or not, all of these - along with a sorghum mill, whooping cough epidemics and doctors who made house calls - were part of life 100 years ago in a corner of what today is the fastest-growing county in Indiana. For a glimpse of a bygone era in the Hamilton County village of Bakers Corner - typical in many ways of rural life across the state during the early 1900s - Nelson will be joined by a set of cousins, Ellen Swain and Carol Longenecker.
They are co-editors of a new book, Growing Up with Bakers Corner (Hawthorne Publishing). It's a collection of memoirs and vignettes told by a beloved ancestor, Mary Elizabeth Wilson, who was Carol's grandmother and Ellen's great-aunt. She was born in 1907 in Bakers Corner (the nearest "big city" is Sheridan), grew up on a farm, married a farmer, and enchanted people with her stories until her death in 2003.
She also was an artist. Mary Elizabeth's works include a painting of a historic covered bridge, over which she drove to attend Cicero High School in the 1920s. The covered bridge was demolished in the 1950s to make way for Morse Reservoir. The sorghum mill in Bakers Corner, which was the hub of much of the village activity, also is gone. It had been one of the country's last remaining, operational sorghum mills, but it burned down last summer.
Although the sorghum mill may have been distinctive, much of daily life in Bakers Corner during the early 1900s, as recounted in Mary Elizabeth's vignettes, will resonate with anyone familiar with rural and small-town Midwestern life during the era. Her family enjoyed eating a treat known as "mush". (Never heard of it? Tune in for a description.) At school, long hours were devoted to "penmanship" - in jarring contrast to recent news accounts about some Indiana schools that have considered phasing out instruction in cursive writing because so much activity today involves computer keyboards.
Mary Elizabeth's classmates often were felled by whooping cough; they also were among the first waves of children to receive the smallpox vaccine. And during the devastating influenza epidemic of 1918, Mary Elizabeth's mother became ill (she was pregnant at the time) during the Christmas holiday; she was so sick, according to Mary Elizabeth's account, that the doctor came to their home daily - sometimes twice per day. Eventually, young Mary Elizabeth also was stricken with the dreaded influenza, which was the focus of a Hoosier History Live! show in the summer of 2009.
Despite the illnesses and hardships, as Ellen and Carol will explain, their ancestor also shared stories filled with humor and warmth. Take her account about "party line" phones in which several families shared a single line. Every household had a distinctive ring ("two shorts and one long," for example), connections had to go through a local operator, and eavesdropping was rampant. According to Growing Up With Bakers Corner, the community did not convert from crank phones to ones with dials until the mid-1950s.
Families feasted on homemade delicacies such as gooseberry pie. And to help guide their hens about where to lay eggs, farmers used a fake product known as "nest eggs." As described by Mary Elizabeth, they were made of "white, smooth, heavy glass" and purchased in a local variety store. "It seemed the hen could not tell the difference between them and a real egg."
If these tales of party lines, nest eggs and other aspects of a bygone era and rural life ring a bell, call the show during our broadcast at (317) 788-3314. Nelson, Ellen and Carol would be delighted to hear anecdotes.
Ellen is an associate professor of library administration and an archivist at the University of Illinois. Explaining that she cherished listening to her Great Aunt Elizabeth's stories as a child, Ellen says they have directly influenced her current work in oral history. Carol, an ordained Wesleyan minister, is pastor of Bakers Corner Wesleyan. Like her grandmother, she lives on a farm in the area. The cousins will be the speakers at 7 p.m. on June 14 at the Sheridan Public Library. They also will be signing books at most events at the Sheridan Sesquicentennial from June 25 through July 4.
History Mystery question
In recent years, the restoration of a historic cabin in Sheridan, Ind., has won acclaim for the Hamilton County town. Built in the 1830s, the cabin was the home of a Virginia-born abolitionist who became a fugitive from justice in his home state. He secretly had been working to help a rebellion of slaves.
After the plan was discovered, he was thrown in jail. He managed to escape (although he was chased by bounty hunters) and fled to the Indiana wilderness, settling in what today is the town of Sheridan. The abolitionist's restored cabin sits on Pioneer Hill in Sheridan Veterans Park.
Question: Name the historic cabin.
The call-in number for the correct answer is (317) 788-3314, and the prize is four tickets to any Indianapolis Indians baseball game this summer at Victory Field, courtesy of the ICVA.
Roadtripper
Chris Gahl of the ICVA suggests that we take in the 55th annual Talbot Street Art Fair coming up on June 12 and 13. Samuel Henderson, the first mayor of Indianapolis, was also the first owner of the land now encompassing the historic Herron-Morton neighborhood, where the fair takes place.
Henderson did not believe Indianapolis would ever amount to much, and he later sold his substantial real estate here to pursue the Gold Rush in California. In 1859, Indiana's State Board of Agriculture purchased the land to create a permanent Indiana State Fairgrounds.
With more than 270 artists from across the nation, this juried art fair continues to be ranked as one of the finest fairs in the country. Fair hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. And you can walk a few blocks over to the adjacent neighborhood of Fall Creek Place for its annual neighborhood sale on Saturday, June 12.
Your house has a history
(May 29, 2010) - If only your walls could talk, right? This is the ideal show for folks wondering how to track down the past "lives" of their houses. Nelson was joined in studio by two Indianapolis-based home history hunters who live in historic houses themselves and who know firsthand the challenges involved and resources available.
With tips and advice galore, photo historian Joan Hostetler and Home History Hunter (as she calls herself!) Tiffany Benedict Berkson offered guidance about how to get started, as well as the pitfalls to avoid.
The two house history "detectives" discussed how to:
Identify sources in local libraries (including city directories) and online Help for unearthing your home’s history.
Explore the challenges and curves you may encounter. For example, some streets in Indy were re-named years ago. Did you know a portion of East 10th Street once was known as Clifford Street? In addition, many residential addresses across town were changed as the city grew.
Use Sanborn maps, the Indiana State Library, the Indiana Historical Society and U.S. Census info as resources.
Find good photographs of your house. "Did you know that the family most likely to have good photographs of your home lived across the street?" Joan says. "They usually positioned their children or family by the street and took a snapshot from the porch."
Joan is the owner of Heritage Photo Services, which specializes in photographic preservation, archive management, digital imaging and photographic research. She lives and works in a home built in1888 in the Cottage Home neighborhood by the legendary architectural firm of Vonnegut & Bohn. Active in neighborhood revitalization efforts, Joan collaborated with Nelson and photographer Garry Chilluffo on the Indianapolis Then and Now (Thunder Bay Press) visual history book.
Tiffany lives in a spacious, turreted house built in 1897 in Herron-Morton Place, where she is a past president of the neighborhood association. An avid local history enthusiast with a particular interest in the Victorian era, she is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Caroline Scott Harrison chapter) and a former volunteer at the President Benjamin Harrison Home.
This show is your chance to call in and seek free advice from two professional house history "detectives." Joan can be reached at heritagephoto@indy.rr.com. Tiffany can be reached through her website.
The following "learn more" websites are recommended by our guests:
A historic home with a distinctive past - and a distinctive name - is located in the Meridian Park neighborhood on the near Northside of Indianapolis. A bungalow built in 1906, the house became the residence of a fashion designer and his wife. She developed an international reputation as a palm reader.
Famous people such as Walt Disney, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Gershwin, James Whitcomb Riley and Helen Hayes visited the house to have their palms analyzed by the owner, Nellie Meier.
Nellie and her husband, George Phillips Meier, also were noted for their glittering dinner parties at the bungalow, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It almost is hidden from view because of towering trees.
Question: What is the name of the famous bungalow?
For a Memorial Day Weekend escape, Corydon offers its annual wine and beer tasting festival. The Uncorked! festival features live music, food vendors and, of course, wine and beer. Entry into the festival is $10 and includes 12 free samplings, as well as a complimentary wine glass. A portion of proceeds are donated to the American Heart Association.
Founded in 1808 and known as Indiana's first state capital, Corydon was the second capital of the Indiana Territory, from 1813-1816. After statehood, Corydon was the capital of Indiana until 1825, when the capital was moved to Indianapolis.
Shelby County history
(May 22, 2010) - This show, one in our rotating series about town, neighborhood and county histories, is a look at the heritage of a county just southeast of Indianapolis that the Big Blue River runs through. That river was romanticized 100 years ago by Shelbyville author Charles Major.
Shelby County also is known for destinations such as the Boggstown Cabaret, which opened in 1884 as an inn and quickly became a popular venue for piano and banjo music, as well as the Kopper Kettle in Morristown, an antique-filled, family-style restaurant that's also located in an historic building.
All of these are featured in a new visual history book written by Nelson's guest Julie Young, author of A Brief History of Shelby County (The History Press). Her book features dozens of photos and postcards of Shelbyville from the mid- and late 1800s. After a rocky start because of financial challenges, the county seat enjoyed a growth spurt from 1830 to 1850, with families who stayed put for generations.
"Shelby County is an old region where family names ... date back nearly two centuries," Julie writes.
Railroad lines through the county often helped spur growth. An exception was the Knightstown & Shelbyville Railroad in 1850, which, as Julie recounts, "folded faster than any other line in the state’s history." (Tune in to hear some of the amusing explanations.)
In addition to Charles Major, an attorney and author whose bestsellers included the adventure novel The Bears of Blue River (1901), famous folks who grew up in Shelby County include movie actress Marjorie Main (1890-1975), who always will be remembered for her performances as crusty "Ma Kettle" in a series of movies during the 1950s. As one of Hollywood's busiest character actresses, she also had roles in box office hits such as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) and Friendly Persuasion (1956); ironically, her father was a Shelby County minister who objected to the theater.
Shelbyville was the hometown of basketball great Bill Garrett (1929-1974), who broke the "color barrier" in the Big Ten when, after being recruited by Indiana University, he became the first African-American to play regularly. Earlier, he had been named "Mr. Indiana Basketball" as an outstanding player for Shelbyville High School in 1947.
In downtown Shelbyville, the public square is known for its diverse architecture.
The square also features a statue of Basler, the fictional hero of The Bears of Blue River, holding two bear cubs. (The desk used by Majors, the book's author, is displayed at the Grover Museum in Shelbyville. Among his other novels is When Knighthood Was in Flower, a historical romance that became a national bestseller in 1898.)
Recent developments in Shelby County, as Julie notes in her book, have included the building of the Indiana Downs race track and Indiana Live Casino, which has become the largest land-based casino in the Midwest.
Julie joined us last July for a popular show about bygone landmarks on the Eastside of Indianapolis. That's because her other books include Eastside Indianapolis: A Brief History (The History Press).
History Mystery question
The History Mystery was a carry-over from two weeks ago, when there was no correct answer. The mystery concerns one of Indiana's state parks, which became the site of the first annual Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) reunion in the country.
The park's CCC reunion began in 1953 and has continued for more than 50 years. It's the longest-running CCC reunion.
Question: Name the Indiana state park. Hint: Incorrect guesses two weeks ago included Brown County, McCormick's Creek and Spring Mill state parks.
Chris Gahl of the ICVA picked the fourth annual Celebrate the Arts - Indiana Performing Arts Festival this weekendat theIndiana State Museum. The festival ran through Sunday, May 23, and showcased interpretive programs of the museum by displaying its numerous arts forms. Included in the performances was a variety of Hoosier dance, theatre, music and storytelling.
Additionally, Indianapolis writer Rita Kohn's new play, Before the Shadows Flee, was presented at the Indiana State Museum on Saturday, May 22, at 2 p.m. The play is about actor Edwin Booth, brother of President Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth. Edwin Booth performed in Indiana theaters from the 1850s through the 1880s and experienced a lifetime of anguish over his brother's assassination of the president.
Encore show
Donner Party tragedy, Indiana links and lessons learned
(May 15, 2010) - It's been called one of the greatest tragedies in the history of westward migration. The Donner Party tragedy's most gruesome aspects occurred in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the brutal winter of 1846-47, but there are some Hoosier links with the ill-fated wagon train. Nelson's studio guest not only will explain the Indiana connection, he will share lessons derived (in conflict resolution, leadership selection and group decision-making) from the tragedy that involved stranded, California-bound pioneers, some of whom eventually resorted to cannibalism.
Although group leader George Donner was born in North Carolina and, as a 62-year-old farmer, was based in Springfield, Ill., when the expedition headed west, he had lived for several years in Greensburg, Indiana. In fact, Nelson's guest, Hoosier business consultant and speaker Karl Ahlrichs, is a descendant of George Donner, one of whose wives is buried in Indiana. (A subsequent wife, Donner's third, accompanied the California-bound group.)
The "Donner" name not only is on sites in California (including what is now known as Donner Pass, where some of the more than 40 deaths occurred), it also is on parks and buildings in southern Indiana because of the influence of the extended family in this state, including Donner Park in Columbus. Donner also owned property in Jefferson County. According to Karl, some of the Donner land later became part of the Jefferson Proving Ground, an ammunition testing site established in the 1940s.
After researching what happened with the Donner Party and why, Karl will explain how he uses this historic episode to enhance decision-making and critical-thinking skills. He even sees parallels between political choices at the ballot box for Hoosier voters and the selection of grandfatherly, affable George Donner as the group's leader rather than a much younger candidate, James Reed, a visionary who was intense, ambitious and abrasive.
The horrifying tragedies associated with the Donner Party (of an original group that numbered 87 pioneers, 39 perished, along with two Native Americans who died while bringing supplies) resulted in changes in the way rescue parties were dispatched to help stranded wagon trains.
In addition to George Donner, the party included his brother Jacob and several members of their extended families, as well as hired hands. When they became snowbound for months during the raging blizzards, members of the Donner Party ran out of provisions and ate their oxen and other animals. In desperation, they then turned to mice and just about anything else that could be consumed. The tragedy is not a lighthearted topic, but Karl says it can be instructive, and Hoosier History Live! strives to cover all aspects of our heritage, even events that we wish had not occurred.
Note: This is an encore of a show originally broadcast in September 2009.
History Mystery question
In the early 1800s, one of Indiana's first African-American communities was established in a Southern Indiana town. That's because abolitionists, over a series of years, brought more than 100 black slaves from the South to the Indiana town and freed them. For many generations, the descendants of these freed slaves attended a segregated school in the Indiana town. In recent years, the historic school, once known as the town's "colored school," has been restored as a heritage museum.
Question: Name the Southern Indiana town in which the historic African-American school-turned-museum is located.
Since this was an encore presentation, we fielded answers on our Facebook page. Prize was four tickets to an Indians game at Victory Field, courtesy of the ICVA.
State parks history
(May 8, 2010) - With nature in full bloom, Indiana's state parks not only beckon as serene retreats, they practically beg to be the focus of a Hoosier History Live! show. Responding to the call, we will explore their history, covering as much turf as possible with Nelson's guest, public historian Glory-June Greiff, author of People, Parks and Perceptions: A History and Appreciation of IndianaState Parks (Trafford Publishing).
With Glory-June, a preservation activist, as our guide, we will dig in to the creation of our state parks. We also will explore the major impact of German-born conservationist Richard Lieber (1869-1944), who is known as the "Father of Indiana State Parks," as well as the impact of the New Deal, including the Civilian Conservation Corps. And expect Glory-June and Nelson to explore the creation and evolution of state parks ranging from Turkey Run and Clifty Falls to Pokagon,Spring Mill and Fort Harrison.
Crusades to protect scenic areas of the state gained momentum in 1915 when, according to People, Parks and Perceptions, the sandstone canyons of Turkey Run in Parke County came up for sale. "The Hoosier Veneer Company coveted the heavily forested site in order to harvest its massive hardwoods," Glory-June writes. As a result, the survival of the "relatively pristine area was seriously in doubt." Lieber and others led a public outcry and convinced the scenic area's new owners to sell it to the state in late 1916.
By that point, McCormick's Creek in Owen County already had been established as Indiana's first state park. Almost immediately after World War I, unexpectedly large crowds flocked to both Turkey Run and McCormick's Creek. Fun fact: Turkey Run, which includes Sugar Creek, derives its distinctive name, Glory-June writes, because of "the great flocks of wild turkeys that once sought shelter within the stream's canyon walls."
Her book describes the ways state parks became cherished by, among other Hoosiers, modest-income families as destinations for their annual vacations. In the 1950s, family camping boomed, as did the clamor for the creation of more state parks.
Among the most recently created of them, there's a distinctive history with Fort Harrison State Park; it was established in 1996 after the closing of the military installation on northeast Marion County. "The property was virtually ready to go, once the park boundaries were determined, because the military installation had established large green spaces around its borders," Glory-June writes. "There were trails, artificial lakes, and even an 18-hole golf course, the first (and only) one in a state park."
Bonus: She will offer a free presentation, "The New Deal in Indiana State Parks," at Hancock County Library in Greenfield at 7 p.m. on June 7.
History Mystery question
One of Indiana's state parks became the site of the first annual Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) reunion in the country. The park's CCC reunion began in 1953 and continued for 50 years. It became the longest-running CCC reunion.
Question: Name the Indiana state park. Note: This Trivia Mystery was suggested by listener Terri Gorney of Fort Wayne.
The call-in number for the correct answer is (317) 788-3314, and the prize is a pair of tickets to the 40th Broad Ripple Art Fair on the weekend of May 15 and 16, courtesy of the ICVA.
At 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 25, 1779, British Lt. Gov. Henry Hamilton surrendered to the Americans and French Canadians after a siege at Vincennes. The victor, Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark, had led an army of 170 Americans and French-Canadians across the flooded area of present-day southern Illinois in a march to Vincennes.
This event is one of the premier Revolutionary War reenactments, and it attracts 400 to 500 re-enactors, along with an estimated 35,000 visitors.
The Spirit of Vincennes Rendezvous is designed to bring back to life the sights, sounds and smells of late 18th-century and early 19th-century Vincennes.
From marble quarries of Italy to Indiana limestone
(May 1, 2010) - In ourpopularseries about ethnic immigration and heritage, we explored the legacy of Italian stonecutters who came to southern Indiana to carve our famous limestone. Nelson was joined in studio by a descendant of stone carvers from Carrara, Italy, Indianapolis author and speaker Carol Faenzi. Her dramatic account of her great-grandparents' journey from Italy to the Hoosier state, The Stonecutter's Aria (Aperto Books), was selected by the Indianapolis Opera Company for its "One Book, One Opera"
celebration and was selected by the Columbus Area Arts Council for its Community Read.
Carol shared details about the "first families" of Italian stone carvers to settle in Bedford, including the Arenas, who did much of the carving work on the town's main plaza.
Did you know marble cutters from Italy who settled in Indiana often went on to use their talents with limestone in the construction during the 1930s of cathedrals, monuments and private buildings across the country? (Carol's ancestor's handiwork graces Julian Chapel at Duke University, the National Archives and the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.)
Carol and Nelson also explored one of the state's "gems" among our burial grounds, scenic Green Hill Cemetery in Bedford, a trove of distinctive, personalized monuments created by the stonecutters. Carol has traveled extensively to her ancestral home of Carrara, located at the epicenter of the Italian Alps and the quarries of marble, which is known in Tuscany as "white gold."
KKK stranglehold in the 1920s
(April 24, 2010) - Hoosier History Live! is dedicated to covering all aspects of Indiana's past, including those we wish had not happened. Certainly the political and cultural dominance of the notorious Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s falls into the category of shameful. To explore what happened and why, Nelson was joined in studio by Allen Safianow of Kokomo, a professor emeritus at IU-Kokomo who has done extensive research on the KKK in Indiana.
The central figure during the 1920s heyday of the hate group was the flamboyant D.C. Stephenson (1891-1966), who rose to become Grand Dragon. Stephenson intimidated Indiana politicians, recruited large numbers of Hoosier members and even boasted, "I am the law in Indiana."
Stephenson's downfall (and the decline of the KKK's dominance in the state) came when he was arrested in the death of an Indianapolis woman whom he had brutally raped. During a sensational trial in 1925, Stephenson was found guilt of second-degree murder. The trial was in Noblesville, which drew national attention again decades later when a local building contractor discovered Klan records and memorabilia dating back to the 1920s.
Professor Safianow has analyzed the impact of those records, which contained membership rolls of Hamilton County citizens, hoods and sashes. Professor Safianow also has analyzed the KKK's impact during the 1920s in other parts of the state, including Tipton and Kokomo, said to be the site in 1923 of the largest conclave (called a "Konclave") ever held in the United States.
"At its height in Indiana in the 1920s, one quarter to one third of native-born, white males in Indiana were Klan members," Professor Safianow noted in an article in the Indiana Magazine of History about the discovery of the Hamilton County membership records and memorabilia. He also notes that the unraveling of – and infighting among – the Klan in Indiana had begun even before Stephenson's trial. In the aftermath, confidential files were released that described corruption and Klan ties to the administration of Gov. Ed Jackson.
In Indiana, the resurgence of the KKK (which had flourished after the Civil War in the Deep South) is often traced to the arrival in Evansville in 1920 of a Klan recruiter named Joseph Huffington. Agents then began recruiting members in southern Indiana. Stephenson, a Texas native who spent much of his youth in Oklahoma, also drifted to Evansville in the early 1920s, then moved to Indianapolis.
During a 12-month period beginning in July 1922, more than 100,000 Hoosier men joined the Klan, according to some experts. Targets of the KKK during the 1920s in Indiana included immigrants, Catholics, Jews and African-Americans.
Professor Safianow, a New Jersey native educated at Rutgers and Cornell, moved to Indiana in the early 1970s to join the faculty at IU-Kokomo. He says he began his research on the KKK because of Kokomo's connection to the massive rally in 1923. Nelson discussed with Professor Safianow the challenges that confront historians who attempt to get a handle on the Klan of the 1920s.
History Mystery question
In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was so brazen it openly used a convention center-revival house in downtown Indianapolis for several rallies. The convention center, known as a "tabernacle," was the setting for a vast array of public events, most having nothing to do with the Klan; they included dance marathons, religious revivals and teachers' conventions. Designed in a Spanish style with a whitewashed facade, the tabernacle was built in 1921 at the corner of Ohio and New Jersey streets. It had a seating capacity of 10,000, not counting a loft for 1,500 choir members. (Choral performances frequently were broadcast across the country on network radio programs.)
Question: Name the sprawling tabernacle that was the setting for hundreds of large gatherings in downtown Indianapolis from the 1920s until its demolition in the late 1960s.
Answer: Cadle Tabernacle. Its owner, entrepreneur Howard E. Cadle, intended for the tabernacle to promote nondenominational Christianity. But the building's use expanded to include hundreds of secular gatherings, some of which distressed Cadle, who lost control of the site periodically and died in 1942. The tabernacle, located on the northwest corner of Ohio and New Jersey streets, was demolished in the late 1960s to create parking lots for banks and other businesses east of Monument Circle. Today the former Cadle site is the location of Firehouse Square, an upscale complex of townhouse condos.
The prize was a DVD of Movers and Stakers, a documentary about the history of the National Road in Indiana, courtesy of producer/director Nancy Carlson of Ball State University.
Roadtripper
World-celebrated artist Nancy Noël invited all to experience her Spring Open House, on Saturday, May 1, and Sunday, May 2, at The Sanctuary, a restored Victorian church in downtown Zionsville. During this annual celebration, guests travel from all over the country to buy art and have the chance to actually meet Nancy in person.
Live music and tasty treats provided by the resident, in-house French chef ensure an enjoyable Roadtrip to Zionsville. And the open house is free. Hear more on Saturday from the Roadtripper himself, Chris Gahl of the ICVA.
Encore show
1920s auto heritage in Indianapolis
(April 17, 2010) - With so much focus recently on the Detroit-based auto industry, does anyone remember that before the Great Depression of the 1930s, Indy almost rivaled Detroit as the car-making capital? During the Roaring '20s, three of the most elegant American cars were designed and manufactured in Indy: theStutz, theMarmon and theDuesenberg.
Certainly our studio guest has not forgotten the Hoosier auto-making heyday. In this "encore" show, originally broadcast in February 2009, Nelson welcomes well-known entrepreneur Turner Woodard, a vintage-auto buff, historic preservationist and owner of what was once the Stutz Motor Company building in the 1100 block of North Capitol Avenue in Indianapolis. Today, the Stutz Business Center houses more than 120 artists, architects, photographers and small businesses.
Fasten your seat belts as we roar back to the days when the Stutz Bearcat, the Blackhawk and other Indy-designed autos were captivating aficionados across the land. Turner, a board member of Indiana Landmarks and a former race-car driver, joins Nelson to explore how the luxury-car boom took off in Indy – and why it sputtered out, leaving Detroit unrivaled as the auto hub. Note: Because this is an encore broadcast, there won’t be opportunities for call-in comments.
Some tidbits about Indy’s auto heritage:
Early auto entrepreneur Harry Stutz moved from his native Ohio to Indianapolis in 1903 to be at the epicenter of the city that, according to the book Lost Indianapolis by John McDonald, seemed positioned to become "the headquarters of the automotive industry." Thrilled at the notion of a 500-mile race, Stutz frantically built a race car in only five weeks for the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. The Stutz car finished 11th, but that was considered a triumph because nearly half of the field dropped out during the grueling competition, which took seven hours to complete. For several years, the Stutz was advertised as "The Car That Made Good in A Day."
The inaugural 500 was won by a Marmon car – a Marmon Wasp, to be precise. (Its average speed during the raced was 74 mph.) According to The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, about 22,000 Marmons with 8-cylinder engines were built in the Hoosier capital and sold in 1929. "Marmons were always an elegant and well-engineered machine, widely admired but never built in large numbers."
Fred and August Duesenberg moved to Indy from New Jersey for many of the same reasons that brought Stutz to the city. The Model J Duesenbergs built for five years (1929-34) are regarded by some experts as among the most splendid cars ever produced, but their cost was exorbitant. Depending on the model and design, a Duesenberg sold for nearly $20,000 in 1929.
Buyers of the luxurious Stutz, Marmon and Duesenberg cars, according to the encyclopedia, "were people who regarded their automobiles the way they did their yachts, as exotic playthings." The Great Depression was among the factors that spelled doom. Turner and Nelson explore other factors, including the fact that many of the Indy-made cars were custom-assembled to buyers' specifications (Henry Ford is generally credited for having the genius to create assembly line production in Detroit), as well as the easy access in Michigan to the Great Lakes for shipping convenience.
Nelson also asks Turner about his collection of rare and exotic automobiles. Many of the Indy-made cars of the 1920s now are considered collectors' dream machines. And since the original broadcast of this show in 2009, Hoosier History Live! would also like to note that Turner also invested in Indianapolis heritage by buying the historic Canterbury Hotel in downtown Indianapolis in March of 2010.
History Mystery question
A Hoosier inventor born in 1857 is credited with creating one of the very first gasoline-powered cars in America. During a test run in 1894, the "horseless carriage" reached a top speed of about 7 miles per hour. To avoid scaring horses on city streets, the test run was conducted in a rural area near Kokomo, which was the inventor's adopted hometown. He built automobiles in Kokomo until the 1920s.
Question: Name the inventor.
Because this week's show is an "encore" presentation, you won't be able to call in with the answer. However, since Hoosier History Live! is now on Facebook, if you go to our page and sign up as a fan and are the first to put the correct answer on our Facebook page, we'll send you a pair of tickets to the Indiana Wine Fair on April 24 in Brown County! That might even be more fun than a drive around Howard County.
Website now includes more shows for listening
We are gradually adding a richer audio section with full-length shows for your listening pleasure. Recently added:
A town under water: Elkinsville - With long-ago Elkinsville residents Forrest, Carol, Connie and Brenda Lucas, June 7, 2008.
There's treasure buried everywhere in the Hoosier History Live! website — and ironies ...
In the Elkinsville show audiocast (in bold above), you can hear the thunder and lightning in the background. It was recorded from 11:30 a.m. to noon on the day of the June 6, 2008 flood. The basement of the home of one of the sisters was flooded when she came up from Columbus, Indiana to Indy to do the show, and it took the sisters something like 10 hours to drive back down. And all for a show called "Elkinsville: A Town Under Water."
WWII fighter pilot from Indiana
(April 10, 2010) - For four months in 1944, a Hoosier was the lead flying ace in the entire U.S. Navy. His biographer, Ray Boomhower of the Indiana Historical Society, joined Nelson in studio to share insights about the daring exploits of Alex Vraciu, a Hellcat fighter pilot who shot down 19 enemy airplanes in the air and destroyed an additional 21 on the ground.
Ray is the author of Fighter Pilot (Indiana Historical Society Press), a new biography of Vraciu (rhymes with "cashew") that's written for young readers to enhance their understanding of World War II.
A native of the Calumet Region of far-northwestern Indiana and the son of Romanian immigrants, Vraciu graduated from high school in East Chicago, then attended DePauw University and learned to fly during his college years.
Fighting in the skies over the Pacific Ocean, he shot down six dive-bombing Japanese airplanes in just eight minutes on June 19, 1944. According to Ray, the Hoosier flying ace was "possessed with keen eyesight, quick reflexes, excellent shooting instincts and a knack for finding his opponent's weak spot."
Born in 1918, Alex Vraciu grew up in East Chicago enthralled by the exploits of aviator Charles Lindbergh and World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker, according to Fighter Pilot. At DePauw, fearless Vraciu received national attention for a prank that he pulled during his psychology class. (Tune in to the show to hear Ray describe the details.)
When Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941, Vraciu was undergoing training to be a Navy pilot. Eventually, the Hoosier earned the title of "ace" (achieved by downing five enemy aircraft in aerial combat), doing so while piloting one of the famous F6F Hellcat fighter planes. The Hellcats, Ray writes, "helped turn the tide for the Americans" in the aerial war against the Japanese.
Several times, Vraciu nearly lost his life. He had to ditch his Hellcat in the ocean twice because of battle damage or mechanical failure. In addition, two of the Navy carriers he served on were torpedoed (but not sunk) by the Japanese. His exploits made him a hero in East Chicago. According to Fighter Pilot, more than 6,000 people cheered Vraciu at a welcome-home celebration. After the war, Vraciu remained with the Navy, retired with the rank of commander and settled in California.
Fighter Pilot is Ray's 11th book. Others have included biographies about Hoosier astronaut Gus Grissom (which was the focus of a Hoosier History Live! show with Ray in April 2009) and about war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Ray also is the editor of Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History, the popular magazine published by the IHS.
History Mystery question
During World War II, a Hoosier who already was famous for his football achievements endured two near-death experiences as a pilot. As a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps, this native of northern Indiana was reported missing in action and was given up for dead twice during the war. Both times, he survived terrifying ordeals. After World War II, he became a pioneer sportscaster in the early days of television.
Question: Name the football star-turned-war hero. Hint: To this day, he remains the only native Hoosier to have won the Heisman Trophy as the nation's outstanding collegiate football player.
Answer: Tom Harmon, who grew up in Rensselaer and Gary, where he drew national attention in the 1930s to Horace Mann High School as a star quarterback. Harmon followed that up with even greater fame at the University of Michigan, where he captured the 1940 Heisman Trophy. Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Harmon enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a fighter pilot. His B-25 bomber crashed during a ferocious thunderstorm over South America in 1943; he was the only crew member to survive. Later that year, his aircraft was shot down over China by the Japanese. Harmon survived because he parachuted into a lake, was rescued by the Chinese and hidden. For more than a month, Americans feared he had been killed; a special Mass was held in his honor. His war injuries, particularly severe burns on his legs suffered during the attack over China, limited his effectiveness after the war as a pro football player. But Harmon became extremely successful as one of TV's first sportscasters. Tom Harmon, who died in 1990, was the father of popular TV and movie actor Mark Harmon, the star of the "Navy NCIS" series.
The prize was a pair of tickets to the Indiana Wine Fair on April 24 in Brown County.
Roadtripper
Roadtripper Chris Gahl of the ICVA suggested that we head to bucolic Brown County for the Indiana Wine Fair on Saturday, April 24 in the village of Story in southern Brown County.
Doling out 1-ounce pours to an appreciative public in the Story Inn's "Old Barn," the Indiana Wine Fair will be an excellent opportunity to build your own wine cellar. Additionally, the night before, Friday, April 23, will feature a jazz concert and cabaret-style show.
Free parking will be available adjacent to the Story Inn, and free shuttle service will be running from the Nashville Courthouse.
Two years on the air and going strong
Proudly two years (on the air) old, Hoosier History Live! celebrated on Feb. 18 with a soiree at Morris-Butler House in Indianapolis. Party attendees enjoyed cake and refreshments and got to meet and greet fellow history lovers from a wide variety of backgrounds. Several on-air guests made appearances, including Sue Grizzell, Chris Connolly, Bo Connor and Rita Rose.
Host Nelson Price, producer Molly Head and event sponsor Marsh Davis of Historic Landmarks gave brief talks, and Nelson quizzed participants on Hoosier history, with prizes to several winners. Webmaster Richard Sullivan of Monomedia presented a slide show featuring some photos from the program's two-year history and some tidbits about the making of the show and the website.
Thanks to all who attended and helped out with our two-year celebration. And thanks so much for listening to - and reading about - Hoosier History Live!
Booth Tarkington's magnificent life and home
(April 3, 2010) - "A Decorated Past" was the headline on a recent newspaper story about the historic North Meridian Street mansion once owned by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and playwright Booth Tarkington. The "decorated past" included glittering dinner parties that the author of The Magnificent Ambersons (1918) and the Penrod series hosted for guests such as Helen Hayes and the Marx Brothers.
But there also is a "decorated present" at the Tudor-style home, as its current owner, former Marion County Clerk Doris Anne Sadler, explained when she joined Nelson in studio along with Sally Sebeckis, decorator chairman of St. Margaret's Hospital Guild, which has chosen what's commonly known as the "Booth Tarkington Home" as the 2010 Decorators' Show House.
By the way, the Decorators' Show House, which benefits Wishard Health Services, has quite a history of its own: This marks its 49th year, making it one of the nation’s oldest, consecutively-running show house events.
A portion of the Booth Tarkington Home dates clear back to 1911, long before most of the other North Meridian mansions were built. Most were constructed during the mid- and late 1920s. The home’s initial owner was a widow named Marie Hare, who lived in it with her six children. Tarkington, who first drew national attention for his novel The Gentleman from Indiana (1899), bought the home from Mrs. Hare in 1923. Then he significantly enhanced the mansion, filling it with artwork as he flourished as a writer there and entertained his distinguished friends until his death in 1946.
Since Doris Anne, her husband Tim and their two young children moved in, guests have included former President George H.W. Bush. During a visit last fall, the former president shared memories of his encounters as a young boy in Kennebunkport, Maine, with Tarkington, who spent his summers at the New England resort. For nine months of the year, though, Tarkington and his wife, Susannah, lived in the North Meridian mansion, where he wrote every single day, including Sundays, even during a period in the late 1920s and early '30s when he suffered from cataracts and was nearly blind. (During that period, Tarkington wrote by dictating his stories.)
This was quite a reversal from the early life of Tarkington, who had been born in 1869 to one of Indianapolis' most prominent families. He disliked school, frequently played hooky, and, as a young man, drank heavily and lived extravagantly. As a condition of Susannah's marriage to him in 1912, she demanded that he focus on his gift for writing. In addition to winning the Pulitzer Price for The Magnificent Ambersons, a novel about an aristocratic family coping with social and economic upheavals, Tarkington won a Pulitzer for Alice Adams (1921). This is the second time St. Margaret's Hospital Guild has chosen his mansion as the Decorator's Show House; it also was the show home in the mid-1980s.
Daily tours of the Decorators' Show House will be April 24-May 9 (except for Mondays), with special events sprinkled throughout. They will include a "designer breakfast tour" May 7 at 8:30 a.m. that will feature presentations by Tarkington scholar Jim Powell of IUPUI as well as by Nelson and photo historian Joan Hostetler, who collaborated on the book Indianapolis Then and Now, which features the historic home. Fun fact: Even though Tarkington is associated with a North Meridian mansion, he used spacious homes built during an earlier era, houses in the Woodruff Place neighborhood, as the inspirations for the elegant residences in The Magnificent Ambersons.
Roadtripper
Roadtripper Chris Gahl of the ICVA suggested that we head to Franklin, Indiana to see a picture at the Artcraft Theatre in Franklin's historic downtown, just north of the Johnson County courthouse. Built in 1922, the theater has been a venue for Indiana entertainment for more than 80 years.
The Artcraft started out as a theater for Franklin residents to enjoy both motion picture and stage productions, and through years of faithful patronage it has been able to establish itself as the perfect place to catch silver-screen hits from the Golden Age of film. This summer's movie lineup includes famous films like "Treasure Island," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," the James Dean classic "Rebel Without A Cause" and the family favorite "The Wizard of Oz." And tickets are only $5!
While you are enjoying Franklin's delightful small-town ambiance, you also can dine at the Willard Hotel, next door to the Artcraft. Make it a Roadtrip!
Hoosier History mystery
Novelist-playwright Booth Tarkington is considered to have been one of the "Big Four" of the golden age of Indiana literature during the early 1900s. Two of the others were poet James Whitcomb Riley and Meredith Nicholson, author of the best-selling novel "The House of 1,000 Candles."
Question: Name the fourth distinguished Hoosier literary figure regarded as one of the "Big Four" during the early 1900s.
The prize was a pair of tickets to the Indiana Wine Fair in Brown County on April 24!
Answer: George Ade. Known as the "Aesop of Indiana," George Ade lived for many years in Kentland in northern Indiana and became famous for his modern fables. Ade (1866-1944) attended Purdue University and is remembered there in the name of Ross-Ade Stadium. His best-selling books, including "Fables In Slang" (1899), told moral tales using humor and everyday language. George Ade's lavish home near Kentland, known as Hazleden, became the setting for parties and events attended by Theodore Roosevelt and Will Rogers. Hazleden, which is open to the public by appointment, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Brown County history
(March 27, 2010) - Has any Hoosier not marveled at the scenic beauty of the southern Indiana county that includes the Hoosier National Forest, the charming towns of Nashville and Story, colonies of artists, and a mountain (or at least a Hoosier hill) of other attractions? With at long last the arrival of spring, Hoosier History Live! explored Brown County in all its wonder.
Nelson was joined in studio by the co-authors of a new book about the county's rich history. Titled (naturally) Brown County, the visual history book is part of the Arcadia Books "Images of America" series. The co-authors are attorney and historic preservationist Rick Hofstetter, owner of the historic Story Inn, and Jane Ammeson, a travel writer who has put together several other books about southern Indiana. Jane and Rick guide us through the heritage of a once-isolated county that, as they put it, attracted generations of photographers, painters and potters, as well as a mix of lifelong locals, including "hardworking 'hill' people sometimes just eking out a living."
The story of Brown County involves everything and everyone from Abe Martin, the cartoon character who attracted a huge national fan base in the early 1900s, and renowned artist T.C. Steele to covered bridges, ice cream parlors and bed-and-breakfasts. In 1859, the Nashville House was built as the county's first hotel. Although the original structure burned in 1943, the rebuilt Nashville House (located on the same site) is among the county's wildly popular dining spots, known for fried chicken, fried biscuits and apple butter.
Several captivating images in Rick and Jane's book were taken during the early 1900s by renowned photographer Frank Hohenberger. Initially based in Indianapolis, he was inspired to move to Brown County in 1917 after seeing photos of, as Rick and Jane write, "a log cabin, an old water mill and some people who looked to him like Southern mountain folk." His nationally distributed photos were credited with increasing tourism to the area, as did the artwork of painters such as Steele, whose hillside home, the House of the Singing Winds, is now a state historic site. Such attractions along with festivals and events – next up is the Indiana Wine Fair in the town of Story on April 24 – make the county a perpetual destination for visitors.
Before the boom in Brown County's popularity, though, it actually had been losing population. According to Brown County, the number of residents dropped almost by half between 1890 and 1930, declining from 10,308 to 5,168 "due to poor land management and the Depression." Electricity did not arrive to parts of the county until the late 1940s, and the first automobile didn't appear until 1913, two years after car-crazed Indianapolis already had celebrated the inaugural 500 Mile Race. The county's isolation was among the reasons famed cartoonist Frank "Kin" Hubbard chose it as the home for his bumpkin philosopher creation, Abe Martin. According to Brown County, Hubbard found material by sitting near the potbellied stove in a Brown County hardware store.
Some fun facts:
In 1837, when Nashville was named the county seat and 75 people lived in the town, wolves were so abundant that Brown County officials offered $1 per wolf scalp, according to Rick and Jane's book.
Stone Head, a neighborhood with distinctive stone markers, began during the 1850s when a farmer was asked to carve some directional markers. In more recent times, the best-known Stone Head marker was stolen and missing for several years before being discovered in an IU dorm.
The oldest covered bridge in the state, according to Brown County, is located off State Road 46 at the north entrance to Brown County State Park. The covered bridge, which spans Salt Creek, was built elsewhere in 1838 and moved to the county during the 1930s.
History Mystery question
The Hoosier History Trivia Mystery is part of our salute to Women's History Month. In 1999, a "first" for women occurred in the campaign for Indianapolis mayor. A major political party nominated a woman in the race. Although she lost the mayoral election, she previously had made Indiana history by serving as the state's first female secretary of state, from 1994 to 2003.
Question: Name the first woman to run as a major-party candidate for Indy mayor.
Answer: Sue Anne Gilroy. A Republican, she lost her race for Indianapolis mayor in 1999 to Bart Peterson, a Democrat. Before that, Gilroy had won election to two terms as secretary of state. Her career in politics began with work for her mentor, Richard Lugar, when he was Indianapolis mayor in the 1960s and '70s; eventually, Gilroy became director of the Indianapolis Parks and Recreation Department in the Lugar administration. Today, Gilroy is executive director of the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation.
The prize was a CD of Movers and Stakers, a documentary about the history of the National Road in Indiana, courtesy of producer/director Nancy Carlson of Ball State.
Indiana's only First Lady
(March 20, 2010) - In a salute to Women's History Month, we explored the life of Caroline Scott Harrison, the wife of President Benjamin Harrison and, so far, the only Hoosier to have served as First Lady. Although many accounts focus on Mrs. Harrison's gentle nature and tragic illness – she died of tuberculosis in the White House in 1892, throwing the country (and her adopted hometown of Indianapolis) into deep mourning – Mrs. Harrison initiated many accomplishments and often stood firmly on principle, sometimes on issues particularly appropriate for exploration during Women's History Month.
When the influential Johns Hopkins Medical School asked Mrs. Harrison, as First Lady, to help raise funds, she agreed, with major conditions: She demanded that the medical center begin admitting women students, and do so in the same way men were being admitted. Mrs. Harrison also founded the Daughters of the American Revolution and served as its first president general. An Indianapolis chapter of the DAR is named for her.
Nelson was joined in studio by Jennifer Capps, curator of the President Benjamin Harrison Home. Like her husband, Mrs. Harrison was born in Ohio (in 1832) and became a civic leader after moving to Indianapolis. Talented in the creative arts, she painted with watercolors, played the piano and grew orchids. Along with her husband, Mrs. Harrison became an active member of First Presbyterian Church and taught singing to children in the congregation.
At the White House, Mrs. Harrison started the china collection that continues to this day. (A stunning, nearly life-sized portrait painting of Mrs. Harrison hangs today near the China Room in the White House as a tribute to her.) She is credited with initiating many improvements to the White House. Mrs. Harrison was convinced it had fallen into neglect; she also knew that the Harrisons' two grown children, grandchildren and her elderly father would be living there with the president and First Lady. Fun fact: The Harrisons apparently were indulgent grandparents. They allowed their grandchildren to keep a rambunctious pet goat named "Whiskers." The goat boarded at the White House horse stables ("Whiskers" posed no threat to presidential decorum; he did not roam around the Oval Office!), but his presence did annoy the groundskeeper.
More significantly, several "firsts" resulted from Mrs. Harrison's vow to improve the White House. The Harrisons were the first family to live in the White House with electricity, beginning in 1890. They also were the first family to have a decorated Christmas tree on the premises. (Previous generations typically adorned their holiday trees only with candles.)
As Mrs. Harrison began losing her battle with tuberculosis in 1892, her husband announced he would not take to the campaign trail so he could stay by her side. His opponent, Grover Cleveland, responded by sharply curtailing his campaigning as well. Among the Americans who wrote letters of support and sympathy to the ailing First Lady was a young Helen Keller. (Regular listeners will recall the Helen Keller letter as the subject of a recent History Mystery question.) Mrs. Harrison's death occurred two weeks before her husband lost his bid for re-election. Thousands of Indianapolis residents watched her funeral procession to Crown Hill Cemetery.
Roadtripper
Roadtripper Chris Gahl of the ICVA returned to tell us about the opening of the 2010 outdoor season at Conner Prairie on Saturday, March 27.
New this season will be "Grandparents Day," happening each Wednesday — special programming for grandparents and grandchildren. Also, each Thursday will feature "Taste the Past," where you can sample authentic foods from Indiana's Prairietown residents.
Opening Weekend on March 27 and 28 will also feature an "ask the doctor" dialogue between a present-day physician and Prairietown's Dr. Campbell, comparing common medical issues and diseases of 1836 to those of the present day.
And weather permitting, Conner Prairie's 1859 Balloon Voyage will open for its second season on Opening Weekend. So, get outdoors and head to Conner Prairie!
History Mystery question
This question was a hold-over from the previous week, when no one called in with the correct answer. So we added another hint!
This town lies along the Big Blue River in Indiana, and the popular hymn Bringing in the Sheaves was written there in 1874 by evangelical preacher and composer Knowles Shaw (1834-1878).
The town's state-of-the-art Thompson Mill had a water-funneled turbine in its basement, as opposed to a mill wheel, and provided all of the flour for the Union Army during the Civil War.
More recently, this town's Main Cross Street was the original location of contemporary business The Best Chocolate in Town, owned by Elizabeth Garber, who now has a retail location on Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indianapolis.
Answer: Edinburgh. Knowles Shawwrote Bringing in the Sheaves in Edinburgh in 1874 while serving as minister of the First Christian Church there. An itinerant evangelical preacher, he also wrote Tarry with Me and a tune used with We Saw Thee Not. He is thought to have baptized (immersed) some 20,000 people, and he is buried in East Hill Cemetery in Rushville.
The Thompson Mill was originally built in 1826, and in 1850 James Thompson erected a larger four-story mill with a water-funneled turbine in its basement, as opposed to the more familiar side mill wheel with water running over it to create power. The Thompson Mill did provide all of the flour for the Union Army during the Civil War.
Fun fact: The Bona Thompson Memorial Center in Irvington is named after a daughter of one of the Thompsons of Edinburgh who moved up to Indianapolis.
Speaking of moving up to the big city of Indianapolis, Elizabeth Garber, originally from Columbus, started her chocolate operation in Edinburgh in 1998. She later moved her business to Franklin and now operates on Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indianapolis as The Best Chocolate in Town.
Traveling in time down the White River
(March 13, 2010) - March is Women's History Month, and as Nelson was off in New York City tripping the light fantastic on a well-deserved break, we had a pair of not-so-well-behaved women guest-hosting the show. One grew up along the banks of the White River picking up Indian artifacts, and the other is an oft-canoeist of many rivers in Indiana. Per writer Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's words, "well-behaved women seldom make history."
Jim Willaert, guest experience general manager at Conner Prairie, took us on a tour in time down the west fork of the White River in Central Indiana. Bereft of mountains and seashores (although you will incorrectly see mountains in the 1956 movie Friendly Persuasion starring Gary Cooper, set in Indiana during the Civil War), the Wahehani once boasted 12 or more Delaware settlements along the river between what is now 96th Street in Indianapolis and Muncie.
Beyond the Native American connection to the river, Jim took us through the progression of European settlers arriving in flatboats. He told us a bit about the Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act of 1836, which provided for making rivers more navigable, as well as for construction of canals, roads and railroads, but it also nearly drove the state bankrupt. And did you know that much of the proud early citizenry of Indianapolis, from the 1820s right up until after the Civil War, firmly believed that Indianapolis could be a thriving river port? They thought White River could handle steamboat and barge traffic coming up from the Wabash. We heard about a couple of accidents and disasters.
In the early 1900s, resort areas for swimming and boating sprung up along the White River in what is now Broad Ripple and Ravenswood in Indianapolis. The White City Park (now Broad Ripple Park, owned by the city) built the second-largest swimming pool in the country there in 1908. In 1922, the National Swimming Event took place in the Broad Ripple pool, and, in 1924, the Olympic tryouts were there. At this meet, Johnny Weissmuller won the 100-meter freestyle and later went on to win a gold medal at the Olympics.
More recently, the White River fish kill downstream from Anderson in December of 1999 brought further attention to the need to preserve and protect one of Central Indiana's most precious natural resources, the White River.
As Chris Gahl of the ICVA was deep in Big Ten action, Amy Lamb of the Indiana Historical Society checked in with a special preview of the Indiana Experience, opening to the public on March 20 at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center. This ongoing interactive and high-tech exhibit allows the IHS to showcase its archival holdings, including 1.6 million photographs, in engaging new ways. This is not your grandfather's history museum exhibit, apparently!
According to Amy, ongoing elements of the Indiana Experience will include:
You Are There experiences, three-dimensionally recreated historic photographs that include trained first-person interpreters who interact with visitors.
Destination Indiana, a facilitated, interactive opportunity for visitors to "travel through time" using innovative digital technology, touch screens and immersive displays of historic images and documents.
The Fortune History Lab, a hands-on demonstration lab that allows visitors to learn and participate in conservation and preservation activities.
The Cole Porter Room, an intimate multimedia space with a performer/facilitator and original materials dedicated to the interpretation of Cole Porter's life and work.
Danville town history
(March 6, 2010) - On Good Friday of 1948, the town was devastated by a tornado that flattened almost everything in its path. By that time, the Hendricks County town of Danville for generations had been the home of Central Normal College, which brought prestige to the community. Never heard of it? Unaware that Danville in 1878 "stole" the entire school – including equipment, faculty, students and baggage – from the town of Ladoga?
Find out more during this show, one in our rotating series about Indiana towns that already has explored Fort Wayne, Greensburg, Greenfield, Sheridan and many others. Nelson was joined in studio by Danville lawyer and civic leader Jeff Baldwin, the author of Danville, a visual history published in 2009 as part of Arcadia Books' Images of America series. A lifelong resident of the town founded in 1824 as the county seat of Hendricks County, Jeff writes that evidence of the 1948 tornado still is discovered when digging in many yards. "Pieces of tin roof and glass from that day," he says, "are turned up with a shovel." In fact, one caller to the show lived through that day and told of seeing, in the aftermath, a two-story building with one wall completely blown away, yet a lace tablecloth was still in place on a table in a second-floor room, visible from the ground below.
On a more lighthearted topic, Jeff points out that Danville found itself in the national spotlight a few years ago when a mysterious "Danville Turkey" showed up in the middle of Main Street and stopped traffic by strutting back and forth for days. The turkey could not be shot because it was not in season. As a protected animal, it also could not be adopted.
There's much turf to cover as we explore the heritage of the town that once was home to perhaps the heaviest married couple in the country (they toured with P.T. Barnum's circus) as well as an Indiana governor during the 1890s who refused to relocate to Indianapolis and instead took a passenger train daily.
We also explore the impact of Central Normal College, which specialized in training teachers. There were no dorms or fraternity houses, so most students roomed with local families. That meant the construction of spacious homes with multiple entrances – and, as Jeff puts it, "a lifestyle that we now would call upscale" for many Danville residents until the college closed in 1951. (At the turn of the last century, Central Normal had trained more teachers than IU, Purdue, and the forerunners of Ball State and Indiana State combined, according to Jeff's book.)
And then there's the Mayberry Cafe, a diner in Danville that pays tribute to the classic TV series The Andy Griffith Show. A popular tourist destination, the cafe is easy to find. Just look for the unattended squad car parked nearby.
Roadtripper
Chris Gahl of the ICVA says "All aboard! Make tracks with the presidential train!" He called to suggest that we head to the President Benjamin Harrison Home on March 23 to participate in Benjamin Harrison Day.
Harrison was our centennial president, inaugurated 100 years after George Washington. It's timely to visit, as the home is also hosting a unique exhibit chronicling presidential travel by rail, including the journeys of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, Hayes, McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. In addition, the exhibit includes many items from the hundreds of gifts presented to Benjamin Harrison's party when making its 10,000-mile train trip in 1891 to the West Coast.
History Mystery question
One of Indiana's best-known contemporary authors grew up in Danville and continues to live there today. The author, a Quaker minister, writes nationally distributed books that include a series of folksy, humorous vignettes set in the fictional town of Harmony; it is quite similar to Danville. In addition, the author also writes theological books and is a popular speaker across the country.
Question: Name the contemporary author based in Danville.
Answer: Phil Gulley. He is the author of Front Porch Tales, Hometown Tales, PorchTalk and other popular books that have won him praise as a modern voice for small-town American life. Gulley, who grew up in Danville, continues to live in his hometown with his wife and two sons. He is the pastor of a Quaker meeting house in Camby and has written several theological books, including If Grace is True. He also writes a humor column for Indianapolis Monthly magazine. He will be featured with the Encore Vocal Arts chorus in a concert at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 6, called “Poems & Parables” at Meridian Street United Methodist Church in Indianapolis.
The prize was a pair of tickets to the President Benjamin Harrison Home, courtesy of the President Harrison Home.
Central State Hospital history
(Feb. 27, 2010) - It opened as the Indiana Hospital for the Insane in 1848 as the state's first psychiatric hospital. The final chapter on what became known as Central State Hospital is scheduled to come later this year when most of its remaining buildings (located just west of downtown Indianapolis) are to be demolished.
The hospital on West Washington Street housed more than 3,000 patients in 1928 when its name was changed to Central State. But it closed in 1994, and some of its most distinctive structures – including a stately, Victorian-era building often referred to as the "Seven Steeples" – were declared unsound and torn down clear back in the late 1970s.
To guide us through the dramatic history of the institution that became known to generations of Hoosiers as simply "Central State," Nelson is joined in studio by Chuck Hazelrigg, a dentist and pharmacist who worked at Central State for 15 years beginning in 1970.
Eventually, Chuck became director of Central State's medical support services, supervising everything from radiology to security and the children's wards. He also became fascinated with Central State's history, conducted a range of interviews with former patients and employees, and is regarded as its historian. (Today he teaches at the IU School of Dentistry and serves as vice president of the Carmel Clay Historical Society.)
During the show, Chuck shares insights about the history of buildings, including the original structure (which eventually became known as the "men’s building"), the women's building and what was known as the Sick Hospital. Central State’s pathology building now houses the Indiana Medical History Museum.
In 2004, the city of Indianapolis took possession of the other former hospital buildings after purchasing the site from the state for $400,000. The city is exploring the possibilities for development such as commercial, residential or mixed uses.
Some facts:
When it opened in 1848, the Indiana Hospital for the Insane had just five patients.
To provide patients with a serene setting and relief from stress, the hospital complex for many years featured gardens, fountains and a chapel. Because of the belief during some eras that vigorous exercise could assist the mentally ill, the complex also included features such as a bowling alley.
Since 2000, Indianapolis-based USA Diving has leased one of the old dorm buildings, placed down mats, and used it for land training for top divers, including Olympians.
History Mystery question
Although not truly a Hoosier, one of the most famous and influential psychologists of the 20th century lived in Bloomington during the 1940s. This person chaired the psychology department at Indiana University for several years during and after World War II and recruited several like-minded psychologists and researchers to join the faculty. This psychologist also conducted behavioral experiments with pigeons and rats while in the Hoosier state. In 1948, this psychologist left IU to teach at Harvard University.
Question: Name the influential psychologist.
Answer: B.F. Skinner. Considered a “radical behaviorist,” B.F. Skinner became famous for developing the theory of “operant conditioning” – that is, that behavior is determined by consequences such as rewards and punishments. He worked extensively in laboratories with rats and pigeons, including during his stint on the IU campus in the 1940s. Skinner, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1904, spent most of his career at Harvard. After writing influential books such as Walden Two (1948) and Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971), he died in Cambridge, Mass., in 1990.
The prize was a CD of Movers and Stakers, a documentary about the history of the National Road in Indiana, courtesy of producer/director Nancy Carlson of Ball State.
Early African-American settlements
(Feb. 20, 2010) - As Hoosier History Live! saluted Black History Month, we explored the waves of African-American migration here, which began even before Indiana became a state in 1816. Nelson was joined in studio by Wilma Moore, senior archivist for African-American history at the Indiana Historical Society. She shared details about the settlements that began, sometimes initially by freed slaves, during the pioneer era up through World War I.
From the beginning, many blacks who came here encountered challenges and restrictions. A state law in 1831, for example, required blacks settling in Indiana to register with county authorities and pay a bond to guarantee good behavior. Even so, African-Americans chose to settle in Indiana during the early 1800s – and even before. According to an article that Wilma recently wrote for Traces, the Historical Society's magazine, some blacks settled with the French in the mid- to late 1700s in the area that eventually became Knox County.
Early communities of African Americans in the 1800s included the Roberts settlement in Hamilton County, Lyles Station in Gibson County and the Beech settlement in Rush County. Many of the black communities were located near Quaker settlements. In northern Indiana, one of the first rural black settlements was initiated in St. Joseph County by Samuel Huggart, a free African-American from Ohio. Huggart was able to buy property beginning in the 1830s, according to a recent story in The Indianapolis Star.
Some insights from Wilma’s article in Traces:
In 1820, the U.S. Census recorded 1,230 African-Americans living in the new state of Indiana.
During the 1870s, many African Americans migrated here from North Carolina. Known as "Exodusters," most of them were headed for Kansas, but many chose to remain in Indiana and other nearby states.
In 1900, the U.S. Census indicated that more than one-third of black residents of Indiana had been born in Kentucky. At this point, Indianapolis had a black population that made up 10 percent of the city's residents. This placed Indy seventh of northern cities in the size of its African-American population. (Northern cities with the largest black populations then were, in order, Philadelphia, New York City, St. Louis and Chicago.)
Incidentally, here is the study guide for the 2010 Indiana Black History Challenge, courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society. What’s your score?
History Mystery question
African-American resort community in northern Indiana
Beginning in the 1930s, African-American families built cottages in northern Indiana to create a resort community. They had been prohibited from purchasing vacation homes at resort communities on lakes elsewhere in northern Indiana. The resulting community became a popular summer destination for black families from Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and other Indiana cities, as well as families who lived in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois.
Question: Name the historic African-American resort community in northern Indiana. Hint: It was the focus of a Hoosier History Live! show last year. At right is a picture of one of its rustic cottages.
Answer: Fox Lake. By World War II, more than 30 cottages had been built in the resort community, which is in Steuben County in far-northeastern Indiana. Among the few communities of its kind in the nation, Fox Lake featured recreational opportunities for families such as swimming, dancing, basketball and tennis, as well as Sunday religious services. Fox Lake, which is now integrated, continues to thrive today.
The prize was a pair of tickets to the Indiana State Museum, as well as a couple of day passes to Climb Time Indy Indoor Rock Climbing, courtesy of the ICVA.
Roadtripper
In search of Indiana authors
Chris Gahl of the ICVA called in with a tip about how the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library Foundation is asking the public to help find the next Kurt Vonnegut or Booth Tarkington. As part of the Eugene & Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award, the foundation is canvassing the community to recognize the contributions of Indiana authors to the literary landscape. The deadline to nominate is March 26, with a panel selecting a national and regional winner, as well as an emerging author. Any published writer who was born in Indiana or has lived in Indiana for at least five years is eligible for nomination.
Winning authors will each receive up to $10,000 and will be able to designate their hometown Indiana public library as a recipient of an additional $2,500 grant. This is a public nomination process. See the Indiana Authors Award website for the full scoop.
A historic event!
Second-anniversary soiree is a success
Our Hoosier History Live! Second Anniversary Soiree on Feb. 18, 2010, was a successful event. Dozens of our audience members, on-air guests and show sponsors attended at the historic Morris-Butler House at 1204 N. Park Ave. in Indianapolis for birthday cake and cupcakes, History Mystery questions with prizes, and a demo of our new website with an ever-growing audio library. Thanks to Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana for hosting.
Medical treatments of early settlers
(Feb. 13, 2010) - To help cure a family member struggling with a disorder, would you serve a delicacy known as fried mice pie? Believe it or not, that was a treatment suggested to pioneers in the Old Northwest Territory, including early Indiana.
To find out what disorder the repulsive-sounding pie was supposed to cure, you'll have to listen to the show. Nelson was joined in studio by Hoosier storyteller Sue Grizzell, who has extensively researched medical "treatments" practiced during the late 1700s and early 1800s, often using archives at the Indiana Historical Society.
According to Sue, many of the bizarre or crude early folk remedies were the result of desperation on the frontier. "Early Hoosiers only occasionally had access to doctors. ... They mostly lived in isolation, faced economic uncertainty and practiced self-sufficiency as much as possible."
A lifelong storyteller, Sue has collaborated with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra on various projects; in 2002, her story "Porch Swings and Prairie Wings" became part of the "Sharing Hoosier History Through Stories" series. You won't want to miss this fascinating show, during which Sue will explain how our ancestors dealt with ailments and terrifying illnesses such as malaria and cholera.
"Whether ill or injured, the inhabitants of the Old Northwest Territory and early Indiana were subjected to all manner of medical treatments," Sue says. "Ranging from the common-sensical to the bizarre, these treatments sometimes worked but could often be fatal."
She notes that Thomas Jefferson once remarked, referring to doctors during his era, that they "let loose upon the world, destroy more human life in one year than all the ... Cartouches (a murderous French bandit) and Macbeths do in a century."
Families on the Indiana frontier typically ended up doing most of their own doctoring because contact with physicians was infrequent, Sue says. Hence, the popularity of folk remedies. She points out that, although pioneers had as many challenges surviving some of the "cures" as they did the initial illnesses, "modern science has proven some folk remedies effective." All of this was fodder for a show that was as intriguing as Sue’s popular, fact-based storytelling presentation about fried mice pie and root doctors.
Her next public presentation is scheduled for March 25 at the Marion Public Library.
Roadtripper
Sweet treats in Fort Wayne
Chris Gahl of the ICVA suggested a sweet Roadtrip to Fort Wayne. The Chocolate Tour at Fort Wayne-based DeBrand Fine Chocolates is a perfect getaway for chocolate lovers during February, the month of romance.
Founded in 1987 by artisan chocolatier Cathy Brand, this Indiana company has grown significantly since its humble beginnings in Cathy's family's century-old home and now employs nearly 100 people with its four retail shops. Public tours of the chocolate maker take roughly one hour and include touring three chocolate kitchens and, of course, samples of their confections!
History Mystery question
Orthopedic manufacturing, starting in the 1890s
Beginning in the 1890s, the manufacturing of orthopedic devices began in a small Indiana city. Eventually, several orthopedic businesses and suppliers were founded in – or chose to move to – the city, including the manufacturers of artificial hips. They have had a huge, historic impact on the local economy of the Hoosier city, which has a population of about 13,000 people.
Question: Name the Indiana city.
Answer: Warsaw. Its nickname is "Orthopedic Capital of the World." Located near lakes in north central Indiana, Warsaw is in Kosciusko County. In 1895, the first orthopedic manufacturer – what became known as DePuy Manufacturing Company – began in the city. In the decades after that, competitors and related businesses, including Zimmer Inc. and Biomet, were founded in Warsaw or moved there.
The prize was a pair of tickets to the President Benjamin Harrison Home, as well as a couple of free slots coupons for Indiana Live Casino, courtesy of the ICVA.
Terre Haute in the 1920s
(Feb. 6, 2010) - With our rotating series about town histories, we typically don’t focus exclusively on a single decade. This show is an exception because Nelson’s guest – Tom Roznowski, a musician and radio personality – has spent years researching a new book with an unusual format that’s as much a social history of American life in the 1920s as it is a close-up look at Terre Haute.
Written in the form of an old-fashioned city directory – and using Terre Haute’s 1927 Polk Directory as a starting point – An American Hometown: Terre Haute, Indiana 1927 (Indiana University Press) examines the city on the Wabash River that in 1927 had 400 grocery stores, three daily newspapers, speakeasies, cigar stores and a self-sufficiency that meant, as Tom puts it, more than 40 percent of the food consumed came from area farms.
He also notes most music was heard live, with four theaters in Terre Haute maintaining house orchestras in 1927, upright pianos in most living rooms, and radio sets just beginning to “pre-empt” entertainment. Through vignettes of individual residents’ stories – ranging from a local teacher and a fashion editor to a boxer, a chicken plucker and an inn keep – his book also depicts disturbing aspects of Terre Haute life in 1927. Those include the segregation of blacks into a neighborhood derisively called “Baghdad” and the disdain for destitute residents of an institution known as the County Poor Farm in an era before Social Security and worker’s comp.
Although Tom is based in Bloomington, where he hosts a radio show on WFIU-FM, he long ago began immersing himself in Terre Haute of the 1920s, an era when the country was, as he puts it, “completing the transition of a rural nation into an urbanized one.” Many of the social changes are reflected in the vignettes captured in his book. Observations and insights from An American Hometown: Terre Haute, Indiana 1927 include:
Horse-drawn vehicles were still a common sight in downtown Terre Haute in 1927. Milk delivery wagons, farm wagons loaded with produce, and peddlers with wagons relied primarily on horses. As a result, the major duties of a resident who listed his job as “street cleaner” in the city directory would have involved cleaning up after horses.
An extensive mass transit system during the 1920s included electric trolleys that carried about 30,000 passengers daily in Terre Haute.
The Ku Klux Klan had regular, weekly marches down Wabash Street in Terre Haute in 1927 and supported two local chapters. A veterinarian, whom Tom describes as “bald and bespectacled,” reaped local publicity when he was named the Imperial Wizard.
Among more than 100 physicians in the city in 1927, only one was a woman.
Boarding houses and rooming houses, often owned by widows, were still prevalent. According to Tom, boarding houses would gradually be phased out because of zoning regulations, occupancy restrictions and insurance requirements.
“The nearby Wabash River – a repeated subject of story and song – was an integral part of the city’s identity. Excursion boats carried passengers to picnic grounds and wooded retreats.”
Roadtripper
Roadtripper Chris Gahl of the ICVA called in from the Super Bowl action in Miami and suggested the best fan gathering spots for listeners for Sunday night’s game. Of course, we expect to see our Indianapolis Colts make Hoosier History! again with a second Super Bowl win!
Speaking of the Colts, did you know that the Hoosier History Live! audio library includes an interview with Mark Herrmann, currently of the NCAA, who played quarterback for the Colts in both Baltimore and Indianapolis? This show aired originally on Feb. 2, 2008, and Mark talked about Colts history in Indianapolis, and the history of the RCA (formerly Hoosier) Dome. This show aired while the RCA Dome was still standing, and before the construction of Lucas Oil Stadium.
Wouldn’t you like to be able to hear the Mark Herrmann show on the Hoosier History Live! website? Friends, remember the we are an independently produced show and are self-supporting through sponsorships and individual contributions. For a small sponsorship amount, you can sponsor the podcast of the Mark Herrmann show, or any other show, on our website, and you’ll get a credit on the podcast. For details, contact Molly Head, or see the "Support us" page.
Abe Lincoln blockbuster preview
(Jan. 30, 2010) - We don’t stretch historic truths, particularly if "Honest Abe" is involved. So it’s no overstatement to predict an upcoming unveiling of the Lincoln treasures newly acquired by the Indiana State Museum – paired with a traveling display of Lincoln artifacts from the Library of Congress – will be the blockbuster exhibit of 2010 in the Hoosier state. On top of all that, “sister” institutions across Indiana are lending rare Lincoln artifacts to the state museum.
Where else are you going to see the Bible on which President Lincoln (and, just last year, Barack Obama) took the oath of office? Our guest will be the Hoosier expert who has been immersed in all things Lincoln ever since the announcement that the $20 million collection of the now-closed Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne would remain in the Hoosier state, where Lincoln lived from ages 7 to 21. Dale Ogden, chief curator of cultural history at the state museum, has been burning the midnight oil to set up the exhibit called With Charity for All: The Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, which opens Feb. 12 along with the Library of Congress' traveling exhibit.
Dale shared folklore about – and guided us through – the trove, which includes a handwritten copy of Lincoln’s second inaugural address that "the Great Emancipator" delivered in March 1865, the last portrait Lincoln sat for and rare signed copies of the Emancipation Proclamation. Dale and his crew even have arranged for famous Hoosiers, ranging from NASCAR driver Tony Stewart and WNBA star Tamika Catchings to astronaut David Wolf, to cut videos for a Lincoln trivia kiosk.
Some other gems that will be displayed:
The Studebaker carriage in which President and Mrs. Lincoln rode to Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865. The carriage is on loan from the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend.
A corner cabinet made by Thomas Lincoln, Abraham's father. The Lincoln family moved to the Hoosier wilderness in 1816, the same year Indiana achieved statehood. Even though Abe was just 7, he was tall and strong for his age, so he could help his father clear land in a thick forest and build the family's cabin.
A leather portfolio, signed by Abraham Lincoln, that he used to carry his law papers in Illinois. (Abe Lincoln, along with his father, stepmother and other family members, moved to Illinois when the future president was 21 years old.)
Rare photos of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln and their sons, including pictures that once were in the Lincoln family's personal collection.
A poem, penned in Lincoln's hand, titled My Childhood Home I See Again.
The chair in which President Lincoln sat for several famous photos.
Dale’s visit to Hoosier History Live! comes on the heels of the announcement that $7 million has been raised in just six months to care for the state museum’s large collection of Lincoln artifacts. Part of the collection from the former Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne will be housed at the Allen County Public Library.The state museum and the library became the recipients of the collection after officials of Philadelphia-based Lincoln Financial Corporation, which had been headquartered in Fort Wayne, announced in spring 2008 that they would end their support of the Lincoln Museum. (The museum had been started decades ago by a top executive of Lincoln Financial, then known as Lincoln Life, who amassed a vast collection of artifacts.) The decision to close the museum, as Dale notes, "put into play a collection of historic proportions."
After nine months during which experts worried that the artifacts might be dispersed to private collectors across the country – and during which the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and other esteemed institutions expressed interest in acquiring them – the resolution was announced last December that the collection would remain in Indiana. That’s when Dale began burning the midnight oil – as well as traveling to D.C. to view the historic Bible ("It took my breath away," he says) and other artifacts at the Library of Congress. The display of the Library of Congress artifacts is being titled With Malice Toward None at the state museum.
There’s info about With Charity for All and With Malice Toward None, which will be a timed-ticket exhibit, at www.indianamuseum.org.
History Mystery question:
Lincoln speech at Indianapolis hotel
In February 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln traveled through Indianapolis en route from Illinois to Washington D.C. for his inauguration. During his stay in the Hoosier capital, the president-elect delivered a speech that made national news. Lincoln made the speech to thousands of Hoosiers from the balcony of a hotel in downtown Indianapolis. The hotel, located on the corner of Washington and Illinois streets, was demolished in 1901.
Question: Name the historic hotel.
The prize was a gift certificate to Chancellor's Restaurant at the University Place Conference Center, part of the Devour Downtown showcase of food and drink.
Roadtripper:
Devour Downtown Winterfest features dozens of restaurants
Roadtripper Chris Gahl of the ICVA gave us a complete report about Devour Downtown Winterfest, running through Feb. 6. More than 40 downtown restaurants are offering three-course meals for $30.
Wayne and Kim Seybold on Winter Olympics and Hoosier links
(Jan. 23, 2010) - The Vancouver Winter Olympics will kick off in February of 2010, and who better to explore Winter Olympians with Indiana connections than the brother-and-sister figure-skating duo who became the most famous of that illustrious group, even though they didn’t win a medal? Wayne and Kim Seybold certainly put their hometown of Marion in the national spotlight with their quest to compete in the 1988 CalgaryOlympics, a story that involved hard luck, family sacrifices, a town that rallied to support them, and overwhelming health crises that persisted long after their heyday as Olympians.
Fans of the Seybolds will recall many of the basics, including how their family lived for years in a trailer park so their devoted parents could save money for coaches, costumes and travel expenses for Wayne and Kim as they made long daily commutes across the state for lessons. Then there were the three scares with brain tumors for Kim (officially known as Natalie, her given name); she learned of the second health crisis the day after Wayne and Kim carried the Olympic torch in Indiana as the flame passed through en route to the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
Beginning more than 22 years ago when the Seybolds were pursing their Olympic dream - and continuing through their post-Calgary career as touring professionals in shows with ice skating’s top names - Nelson covered their story for the Indianapolis Star and News. (Wayne and Kim are featured in his books about famous Hoosiers.)
And today? Wayne is mayor of Marion, where the Seybolds remain hometown heroes. Kim lives in the Fishers area, coaches at the Carmel Ice Skadium, married a former hockey player and is the mother of two young daughters. (The youngest was just a few months old when her mother was diagnosed with the second brain tumor.)
Known for their warm personalities, the Seybolds joined Nelson not only to explore the joys and struggles intertwined with their personal Olympic story, but also to share details about other Hoosiers who have competed in previous Winter Olympics. Granted, there have not been many – in fact, fewer than a dozen since the debut of the Olympic Winter Games in 1924. It’s not as though mountains, luge and bobsled runs, and speedskating coaches are plentiful in Indiana.
Even top-level figure skating arenas and coaches were not abundant here when Wayne and Kim (who are 46 and 44. respectively) began chasing their dream as kids. Not only did the Seybolds live in a trailer during most of their years of training, they received donations from residents and businesses of Marion (think bake sales and car washes), which put their hometown in the spotlight during ABC Sports coverage of the 1988 Calgary Olympics.
The Marion High School graduates finished 10th in pairs skating, a result that drew criticism of the judging from many analysts (not just Hoosier fans of the brother and sister), but their popularity was such that Wayne and Kim were able to carve out careers as professional skaters in touring shows for several years before returning to Indiana. Campaigning as a Republican, Wayne was elected mayor of Marion in 2003 and has kept up a jammed itinerary of overseas trips as he courts jobs to replace those lost to economic downturns.
While the Seybolds were still touring as skaters – and performing a routine known as the “death spiral” in which Wayne swung Kim inches above the ice – she began experiencing spells of dizziness and blurred vision. After being diagnosed with the type of brain tumor that may reoccur throughout her life, Kim underwent her first surgery – which involved temporarily removing an eye so the surgeons could extract the tumor – in 1995. She eventually married former pro hockey player Mark Catron (Wayne’s former roommate) and began coaching. The need for a second surgery was discovered in January 2002, the day after Wayne and Kim served as Olympic torchbearers in a ceremony on Monument Circle. That surgery, which went well, occurred 14 years to the day after Wayne and Kim, now known as Kim Seybold-Catron, performed their short program in Calgary. Kim underwent brain surgery for the third time in May 2007.
Others with Hoosier roots who have competed in the Winter Olympics include:
Pairs skater Jill Watson, who grew up in Bloomington and won a bronze medal with her partner Peter Oppegard in the 1988 Calgary Olympics that also featured the Seybolds. Jill Watson also competed in the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, finishing sixth.
Zionsville native John-Michael Liles, a member of the U.S. hockey team at the 2006 Turin Olympics. Today, John-Michael, who attended Culver Military Academy, plays for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League and is a minority owner of the Indiana Ice.
Bobsledder Dick Nalleyof Indianapolis, who finished fifth at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. A member of the U Indy Athletics Hall of Fame, Dick became an Indianapolis firefighter after the Olympics. He died of cancer at age 47 in 2002.
Bryan Leturgez of Cedar Lake, another bobsledder. A graduate of Indiana State University, Bryan made the U.S. bobsledding team in three straight Winter Games: the 1992 Albertville Olympics, the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics and the 1998 Nagano Olympics. An Olympics buff, Nelson periodically interviewed Bryan, Dick Nalley and others. He’s looking forward to his on-air reunion with the Seybolds.
Hoosier History mystery
A national Hall of Fame that has nothing to do with sports is located in Marion, Indiana. This Hall of Fame is in a Colonial Revival house and celebrates a domestic art.
Question: Name the Hall of Fame.
The call-in number for the correct answer is (317) 788-3314. The prize was a pair of tickets to the Eiteljorg Museum.
Roadtripper
According to Roadtripper Chris Gahl of the ICVA, the internationally renowned performing group Cirque du Soleil is coming to Indy February 11 to 14, performing seven shows entitled Alegria at Conseco Fieldhouse. From a group of 20 street performers in 1984 Quebec, the group has grown to a major performing-arts troupe with more than 1,000 performing artists. If you enjoy live theater, live music and the circus on steroids, Cirque du Soleil at Conseco Fieldhouse is a Roadtrip you won’t want to miss.
High school hoops' 100 years
(Jan. 16, 2010) - On the heels of our 100th show, the sport intertwined with Indiana culture is about to celebrate a centennial. The high school basketball season will culminate with the 100th state tournament, the perfect opportunity for Hoosier History Live! to explore the chaotic and colorful early years of hoops here. With the "100 Years in 100 Days" celebration of Hoosier Hysteria under way – it will culminate with a parade in downtown Indy in March – Nelson was joined in studio by Chris May, executive director of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle, and a Hall of Famer: Ralph Taylor, an outstanding player for Washington High School's state champion team of 1965. (Ralph went on to star at Purdue, leading the Boilermakers to a Big Ten championship in 1969.)
Ralph, Chris and Nelson explored the first basketball game ever played in Indiana. (The game in 1894, the subject of one of our History Mystery questions a while back, was played at the Crawfordsville YMCA.) We also explored the tumultuous early days of the state tournament. The first, in 1911, came down to arch-rival teams from Crawfordsville and Lebanon. According to some accounts, the Crawfordsville players were in agony during the first half because of sabotage. In the locker room, they discovered their jock straps had been saturated with Dr. Sloan’s Liniment. Perhaps motivated by righteous anger, the Crawfordsville roared ahead in the second half to win, 24-17.
Hoops enthusiasts know basketball wasn’t invented by a Hoosier. That distinction goes to Dr. James Naismith of Massachusetts, a medical doctor and minister who used peach baskets when he set up (and drafted early rules for) a game he called "Basket Ball" at a YMCA where he was a youth instructor. Even Naismith, though, identified the Hoosier state as ideal for the sport; when he visited Indiana to attend the 1925 high school tournament, he is said to have marveled at how his "little wintertime diversion had gripped an entire state," according to an Indianapolis Star account.
The on-court dramas that have ensued since then at the state tournament have become Hoosier folklore. We easily could devote entire shows to the "Milan Miracle" of 1954 in which tiny Milan High School slew "Goliath" (Muncie Central), an astonishing upset that inspired the classic movie Hoosiers (1986). Or to the back-to-back triumphs in 1955 and '56 by Oscar Robertson and his teammates at Attucks High School, the first all African-American (and first Indianapolis) team to capture the state title.
During those Attucks victories, Ralph, our guest, was a young boy who idolized the state champs and dreamed of one day following in their sneakers. Ralph, Chris and Nelson shared details of the "100 Years in 100 Days" hoopla, which will involve a traveling exhibit – put together with the help of the Basketball Hall of Fame – that will visit high schools and towns across Indiana. The centennial celebrations are being organized by the Indiana High School Athletic Association.
Today, Ralph is an Indy-based international resource adviser and president of the Hall of Fame's board. Chris, a former radio sportscaster, was not on the team during his days at Rushville High School; at 5-feet-6, he has found other ways to be immersed in the sport he loves. Nelson asked his guests about the sense among some that the "golden age" of the state tournament happened about 50 years ago – and that enthusiasm has fallen dramatically because of several factors, including "class" basketball. According to Hoosiers All author Emerson Houck, the guest on our show in August 2009, in 1938 there were 787 schools entered in a single-class championship, the largest entry list ever. Today, there are slightly more than 400 high schools entered in what has become a four-class tournament. No less a legendary figure than former coach Johnny Wooden (who was a star player at Martinsville High School in the 1920s) has called class basketball "a crime against culture."
Other fun facts:
Of the 10 largest high school gyms in the country, eight are in Indiana. (The two exceptions are in Dallas, Texas.) The largest, of course, is a stone's throw away from the Hall of fame: It's the New Castle High School Fieldhouse, which opened in 1959 and seats 9,325 spectators. Number 2 is the Wigwam in Anderson, which was spared (at least temporarily) from demolition last year; it remains in use even though the old Anderson High School, which used to be next to it, was closed more than a decade ago and subsequently burned.
The traveling "100 Years in 100 Days" exhibit will come to Greenwood Park Mall on Jan. 23. The exhibit, which includes historic memorabilia ranging from apparel to rare photos, newspaper articles and basketballs, will be at the mall from 12 noon until 6 pm. For more details about the exhibit's schedule or the "100 Years" celebration, visit 100yearsin100days.net.
History Mystery question
For most of basketball’s early history, the balls were muddy brown in color. A famous Hoosier is credited with suggesting orange as an ideal color for a basketball.
Question: Name the famous Hoosier.
Answer: Tony Hinkle, the legendary multi-sport coach at Butler University. He's credited in the 1950s with advocating an orange basketball so that it would be more visible to players and spectators. Born on a farm near Logansport in 1898, Hinkle came to Butler in the early 1920s and was a coach or teacher there for nearly 50 years. He took Butler's basketball team to a national championship in 1929, and he also coached football and baseball. He died in 1992, more than 20 years after the athletic fieldhouse on campus had been renamed in his honor.
The prize was a pair of tickets to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra concert, featuring the music of Mozart, on Saturday, Feb. 20, courtesy of the ICVA. The station requests that you not try to call in to win if you have won a prize on any WICR program within the last two months. Of course, we always do welcome general questions for the show!
Roadtripper
Our intrepid Roadtripper correspondent, Chris Gahl of the ICVA, shared details about two upcoming winter festivals. Chris gave us the scoop on the 15th annual Winter Antique Show in Huntingburg, as well as the Chocolate Lover’s Weekend in French Lick.
K.P. Singh on the Sikh heritage in Indiana
(Jan. 9, 2010) - For our 100th show, wouldn't you expect something special from Hoosier History Live? Well-known artist K.P. Singh joined Nelson in studio for a show in our rotating series about ethnic immigration and spiritual heritage in Indiana. Born in India, trained as an architect and renowned for his pen-and-ink drawings, K.P. was one of the few local members of the Sikh religion when he settled in Indianapolis during the 1960s; then-Mayor Richard Lugar had hired him as a city planner. Today, there's more than one Sikh temple in the Indy metro area, as well as a head priest. K.P., who eventually became a founding member of the International Center of Indianapolis and now devotes himself full-time to his artwork, will share details about the growth here in Sikhism, the world's fifth-largest religion. At one Sikh temple alone in Indianapolis, weekly attendance usually is more than 300 people.
Credited with helping start a group that saved Union Station from demolition in the 1970s, K.P. is a tireless advocate of historic preservation and is acclaimed for his architectural artwork of Hoosier landmarks, ranging from the Indianapolis City Market, Monument Circle and the Indiana Statehouse to the Vigo County Courthouse and the University of Notre Dame. He's also acclaimed for his artwork that depicts monuments in his homeland of India, as well as in Washington D.C., such as the Lincoln Memorial. Many of his drawings, as well as accompanying essays and poems, are featured in his book, The Art and Spirit of K.P. Singh (2003). He will share his personal journey as a Hoosier, along with details about the evolution of local Sikhs, whose temples are called "gurdwaras."
In 1947, when he was just 7 years old, K.P. left India with his family. His family members, along with thousands of other people, were thrown out of the country during an era of ethnic strife. Eventually he studied architecture, then earned a master's degree in city planning at the University of Michigan. He came to Indianapolis in 1967 and almost immediately found himself described on the front page of the former Indianapolis News in its "Did You Notice?" feature this way: "Did you see a turbaned and bearded man looking like an Indian maharajah viewing a children’s exhibit in the lobby of the City-County Building?" Fortunately, Indy has come a long way in its international diversity, sensitivity and awareness during the 43 years since his arrival created such a stir. Along the way, K.P., who has been named a Sagamore of the Wabash, has enjoyed remarkable successes with his artwork. It’s been exhibited in more than 25 countries and at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.
Some fun facts:
Before the building of gurdwaras, local Sikhs usually worshipped in private homes. K.P. is a member of the Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis, which worships at Gurdwara Sahib, a temple built in 1999 on Southeastern Avenue near Acton. In 2008, Gov. Mitch Daniels visited the Sikh temple, praised the growth of the Sikh community in Indiana, and said, "May it multiply ... and as it does, we will become a stronger state."
Sikhs believe in one God (Hindus worship to multiple deities) and worship on Sundays. People entering a gurdwara remove their shoes and cover their heads with hats, scarves, caps or turbans. All members of Sikhism have the surname Singh. The head priest at Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis is Pritam Singh.
Most accounts indicate there are nearly 30 million Sikhs around the world, with about one million in the U.S. and Canada. They have been in the U.S. for more than 100 years, initially settling in California as farmers. Sikhs have a particularly strong presence in the Punjab state in India.
Over the years, K.P. has done pen-and-ink drawings of a vast range of Hoosier houses of worship. His book includes his artwork depicting the historic St. John’s Catholic Church in downtown Indy and St. Paul's Episcopal Church on the Northside, for example.
History Mystery question
A former governor of Indiana served as the U.S. ambassador to a small Asian nation in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Question: Name the former governor and the Asian nation where he represented the U.S. in the diplomatic corps.
Answer: Gov. Robert Orr and Singapore.
A Republican who grew up in Evansville, Orr served two terms as Indiana’s governor, from 1981 to 1989. (Before that, he spent eight years as lieutenant governor.) In 1989, President George H.W. Bush appointed Orr as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Singapore, an island city-state. Singapore is the smallest nation in Southeast Asia. Orr served as the ambassador there for three years. He died in 2004 and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.
The prize was a pair of tickets to the Children's Museum, courtesy of the ICVA. The station requests that you not try to call in to win if you have won a prize on any WICR program within the last two months. Of course, we always do welcome general questions into the show!
Roadtripper
Our Roadtripper, Chris Gahl of the ICVA, logs almost as many airplane miles as George Clooney in Up In the Air. (Of course, our intrepid Roadtripper is a far more stand-up guy than is the Clooney character.) How are new security guidelines affecting air travel these days? Just how much do you have to take off, and what about those full-body scanners? What are some tips for getting in and out of the airport in a smooth and calm manner? Any trips on parking, or good transit options? Chris offered a report.
Janet Flanner’s colorful and literary life
(Jan. 2, 2010) - Along with her admirer Kurt Vonnegut, fascinating Janet Flanner was one of the most acclaimed literary figures ever to come out of Indianapolis. Alas, more than 30 years after her death, Paris-based Janet Flanner may no longer be a household name, although she received a burst of attention last spring when she was inducted posthumously into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.
Witty and incisive, Janet Flanner (1892-1978) grew up amid the family that founded the Flanner & Buchanan mortuary business in Indianapolis. For 50 years, from 1925 to 1975, she wrote – under the pen name "Genet" – columns, profiles and vignettes for The New Yorker as its Paris correspondent. Her conversational dispatches, packaged as her"Letter from Paris," were eagerly awaited by thousands of devoted readers and included profiles of such cultural icons (and personal friends) as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Charles de Gaulle and Albert Camus.
Nelson’s studio guests will be Flanner’s cousin, Scott Keller, the former city-county councilman in Indy, and Chris Connolly, a local expert about her life and career. A well-known appraiser of antiques, fine art and collectibles, Scott always champions the impact of his colorful cousin, whose dispatches chronicled the “Lost Generation” in post-World War I Europe that included Flanner’s pals Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein.
Before her astonishing career overseas, Flanner served as the first movie critic for The Indianapolis Star in 1916. According to some accounts, she was one of the first film critics (reviewing silent flicks, of course) in the entire country. Chris, an Indianapolis businessman, is writing a play about Flanner. Incidentally, in this Youtube video, you can watch Flanner hold her own in a live television scuffle between Gore Vidal and Normal Mailer; it's from a 1971 Dick Cavett show.
Known as a "writer's writer," Janet Flanner once said, "I act as a sponge. I soak it up and squeeze it out in ink every two weeks." Flanner attended Tudor Hall School for Girls (where she was president of her class in 1905) and, like Vonnegut, had a turbulent relationship with her hometown. Her father, Indianapolis philanthropist Frank Flanner, committed suicide in 1912. He had co-founded the mortuary business with his brother-in-law, Charles Buchanan. (Frank Flanner also had founded a nonprofit organization, the Flanner Guild, to assist low-income people. It was the forerunner of today’s Flanner House.)
Scott's crusade to make certain that his distinguished relative is remembered in their hometown has included donating the building that houses the Phoenix Theatre in her memory. A pioneer in the renovation of downtown houses and other properties in the 1980s, Scott has won awards from the Riley Area Development Corp. and other organizations for his urban trailblazing.
Some fast facts:
While based in Europe, Janet Flanner wrote articles on Hitler’s rise to power; after World War II, she covered the Nuremberg trials. Her profile subjects ranged from Queen Mary of England to French artist Henry Matisse.
Since her death, Flanner has been the subject of several well-received biographies. They include Genet: A Biography of Janet Flanner by Brenda Wineapple (University of Nebraska Press) and Janet, My Mother and Me by William Murray (Simon & Schuster).
In the Genet bio, author Wineapple writes that Janet Flanner "consistently described Indiana as a hateful place, with its bourgeois standards, its lack of beauty, and its elongated flat spaces." However, esteemed journalist Lawrence "Bo" Connor, who interviewed Flanner as a cub reporter for The Indianapolis Star while visiting Paris in 1952, recalled in a recent Traces magazine piece that "she had no harsh words for the city."
When Flanner died in 1978, Vonnegut was so worried that the death of the world-renowned literary figure would not receive appropriate attention in their mutual hometown that he phoned The Star to lobby for a thorough obituary. He recounted this effort in his autobiographical book Palm Sunday (1981), writing that he considered Flanner "the most deft and charming literary stylist Indianapolis has so far produced."
History Mystery question
In addition to Janet Flanner, several other women who were native Hoosiers became famous writers during the mid-20th century. They included a woman who was born in Muncie during the 1890s. Known for her light-hearted humor, she was the co-author of a book about her youthful trip to Europe that became a national bestseller in 1942. Then it was turned into a hit movie in 1944. Before that, she had carved out a successful career as a journalist, serving as managing editor of Ladies' Home Journal magazine. After her 1942 bestseller, she wrote more than a dozen other books. Like Janet Flanner, she also wrote regularly for The New Yorker magazine. She died in 1989.
Question: Name the famous Hoosier writer.
Answer: Emily Kimbrough. Born in Muncie in 1898, she is best remembered for her 1942 bestseller, Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, a witty reminiscence. Written with her best friend, actress Cornelia Otis Skinner, the book recounts their youthful adventures during the early 1920s on an ocean liner and a vacation in Europe. Eventually, Emily Kimbrough wrote 14 books, including a sequel, We Followed Our Hearts to Hollywood, and an exuberant account of life in Muncie at the turn of the last century, How Dear toMy Heart. She also wrote several popular books about international travel during the 1940s and '50s. Emily Kimbrough's girlhood home in Muncie, which has been restored, is open for tours by appointment.
Roadtripper
Our Roadtripper, Chris Gahl of the ICVA, called in with a surprise Indiana travel pick from a sub-tropical clime - checking in with those of us shivering up north.
Fletcher Place neighborhood history
(Dec. 19, 2009) - Among the earliest movers and shakers in Indianapolis history, probably no name looms larger than Calvin Fletcher. An entrepreneur, lawyer and banker who kept extensive, detailed diaries, Fletcher also owned a sprawling farm south of the Mile Square. In the 1850s, the Fletcher farm was divided into lots, and the Fletcher Place neighborhood eventually began to blossom. Today it’s in the midst of a revival, along with nearby Fountain Square to the south, making Fletcher Place ideal as the next focus of our rotating series exploring Indy neighborhoods.
Nelson was joined in studio by Jeff Miller and Mary Jo Showley, both of whom are longtime residents of the historic Southeastside neighborhood. Jeff, the president of the Fletcher Place Neighborhood Association, renovated an Italianate home built in 1874 that, he says, had been dubbed "one of the three ugly stepsisters" because of its once-dilapidated condition. It's now home sweet home for Jeff, his wife and their 3-year-old son. Mary Jo, a Realtor, arts patron and former choral conductor at the long-closed Harry Wood High School, once taught students who lived in Fletcher Place and Fountain Square. There's much turf to cover with them, including everything from economic development initiatives to a proposed "bark park."
Fletcher Place generally is defined as east of East Street, west of I-65/I-70, south of Lord Street and north of I-70. Jeff likes to tout part of the neighborhood group’s mission statement that calls for "preservation, revitalization, and the promotion of the neighborhood as a walkable community ... with the goal of creating a total urban community while maintaining a respect for the past."
Some fun facts:
Almost from the beginning, Fletcher Place has been a neighborhood of mixed ethnicities and socioeconomics. In the late 1850s, German and Irish immigrants began to settle there. Spacious houses were built on Fletcher Avenue, while smaller cottages for workers and craftsmen were constructed elsewhere in the neighborhood. In the late 1800s, families of Italian, Jewish and Central European immigrants settled in Fletcher Place. In the 1900s, residents came from Appalachian regions of this country.
A deeply religious man, Calvin Fletcher (1798-1866) donated money for the building of nearly all of the early churches in Indianapolis. By the 1860s, he was one of the largest landowners in Marion County.
The neighborhood now is home to many residents active in citywide civic affairs, such as Mary Jo and Jeff. She is past president of the Contemporary Art Society at the IMA. He is former board member of Southeast Neighborhood Development (SEND).
Some of the Fletcher Place homes were designed in the 19th century by noted architect Francis Costigan, who also designed several of the historic homes in Madison, Ind. Architectural styles in Fletcher Place range from Italianate and Federal to Gothic Revival and Queen Anne.
History Mystery question
Question: During the Victorian era in Indianapolis, the oldest restaurant in the city (that's still operating today) opened. Name the restaurant. Note that this is a sit-down restaurant, not an establishment that's primarily a tavern. Hint: The answer is not St. Elmo's, which was an incorrect guess from a listener in the previous week's show, from which this question is a carry-over because no correct answer was received. St. Elmo's opened in 1902, six years after the city's oldest continuously operating restaurant began serving patrons.
Answer: The Rathskeller, in the basement of the Athenaeum, 401 E. Michigan St. Specializing in German food, the Rathskeller was established in 1894 along with the opening of the Athenaeum, the German cultural and social center that was then known as Das Deutsche Haus. (The building’s name was changed because of anti-German sentiment during World War I.) The heritage of the Rathskeller was discussed during a recent Hoosier History Live! show about Athenaeum and German history in Indy.
The prize for the correct answer was a pair of tickets to the Indiana State Museum, courtesy of the ICVA.
Sponsorship news - Lucas Oil
(Nov. 19, 2009) - We thank Charlotte Lucas, executive vice president of Lucas Oil, for her one-year sponsorship commitment to Hoosier History Live! Charlotte is a native of Dubois County in southern Indiana, and she and husband Forrest, CEO of Lucas Oil, believe that Hoosier History Live! "makes the grade" as the nation's only live, call-in radio talk show about history.
Forrest and his three younger sisters were guests on a June 2008 edition of Hoosier History Live!, talking about their childhood in Elkinsville, a hamlet in southern Brown County. In the 1960s, the Lucases, and in fact all of the residents of Elkinsville, were forced to move in order to make way for the construction of Monroe Reservoir.
Fun fact: Forrest's sister Carol, who lives in Columbus, Indiana, is married to Larry Cummins, who is the nephew of the creator of the Cummins engine, Clessie Cummins.
Read more in Clessie's book My Days with the Diesel. This is quite an automotive family.
Thanks to Monomedia
Speaking of sponsors, our new "look" on our website and in our e-newsletter is courtesy of Richard Sullivan of Monomedia.
Technical upgrades will lead to wider audience
Remember that we will be expanding the program on the Internet as podcasts, and on prx.org, so that our program will have a wider audience. If you are planning your marketing budget for '10, now is the time to make a year commitment. Contact Molly Head at (317) 927-9101 for information.
Hoosier History Live! in the news
Above article is from the July/August 2008 issue of INPerspective, the member newsletter of the Indiana
Historical Society.
Victorian-era dining
(Dec. 12, 2009) - Hold on to your hat. Indianapolis-based dietitian Kim Galeaz has hunted up Christmas Day menus from the 1890s in Indianapolis that featured oysters among the delicacies served. How could this be in the landlocked Hoosier state? Kim, the owner of Galeaz Food & Nutrition Communications, was Nelson’s guest and shared insights about what the Victorians ate, as well as their approach to meals and how they dined, including a look at some of their bygone dining ware. The Victorian era generally is defined as 1837 to 1901.
For a cover story in the December issue of Urban Times, Kim hunted up three Christmas menus from 1890s homes in Indianapolis that include food choices that are, as she puts it, "striking similar to ours today." For example, potato chips are listed on one of the Victorian-era menus. (Nelson inquired whether these chips of yore were similar to the munchies that tempt people today.) Other items served during Victorian-era meals would seldom be found in Hoosier homes of 2009, including venison and (gulp) opossum.
To put together the article for Urban Times, the newspaper that covers downtown Indy’s historic neighborhoods, Kim explored the kitchens and dining rooms of three home museums: the Morris-Butler House, the President Benjamin Harrison Home, and the James Whitcomb Riley Home. She found an unusual serving platter for venison and a specially designed dish with a swiveling base for oranges. Kim says the swiveling base allowed Victorians to drink the juice "and not waste one bit" of the precious citrus during our cold months.
Speaking of oranges, venison and opossum: Nelson asked Kim how the Victorians' menu choices compare to ours in terms of healthful eating. A culinary nutrition expert, Kim is a consultant to food and beverage companies, restaurants and supermarkets in Indy and Jacksonville, Fla. (Although her primary residence is in the historic Chatham Arch neighborhood, Kim joined Nelson by phone because she's at her Florida abode this week.)
Some fun facts:
Victorians had much different attitudes than today's families about how and where their children dined, according to Kim’s article. They also had different approaches to portion control and the pace of their meals. Tune in to learn the details.
Full breakfasts were daily occurrences during the Victorian era, which Kim says is a good thing. Apparently, their morning meals often included suet, which – well, Nelson will ask whether that was such a good thing. He'll also ask Kim to describe suet for those who have never partaken.
In addition to venison and potato chips, other items featured on Victorian-era holiday menus, as reported by Kim, include turnips, beef tongue, plum pudding and cranberry pie.
A frequent guest on TV and radio shows with her tips about healthy eating, Kim writes "Dining with the Dietitian" features for Urban Times; they can be savored at www.urbantimesonline.com.
History Mystery question
During the Victorian era in Indianapolis, the oldest restaurant in the city (that’s still operating today) opened.
Question: Name the restaurant. Note that this is a sit-down restaurant, not an establishment that’s primarily a tavern.
The prize for the correct answer was a pair of tickets to the Indiana State Museum, courtesy of the ICVA. Additional prizes were available at the Fireside Chats group at the Central Library for those with the correct answer. (Editor's note: No one called in with the correct answer, so the question was asked again in the following week's show.)
Speaking of the History Mystery, at least five of you came up to Nelson in person at the Dec. 5 Holiday Author Fair and whispered the words "Natalie Wood" in his ear. Well, Nelson was quite excited, as "Natalie Wood" was the answer to that week's History Mystery! Some of the other authors thought this was a little bizarre, but we had to have the History Mystery answered in a different way because we didn't have telephone call-in to the show that week.
Roadtripper
Chris Gahl of the ICVA told us about the city's upcoming12 Free Days of Indy Christmas. Is there that special Central Indiana attraction that you've never quite made it to? Are holiday financial woes getting your attention? It's time to be carefree and celebrate Indianapolis! From Dec. 13 to 24, you can take a special Roadtrip each day that is FREE and open to the public. From the Harrison Home to the Eiteljorg, from Conner Prairie to Morris-Butler House, our Roadtripper told us about this very special holiday journey.
Steve McQueen, roots tracing, steel-town pix and politicos
Live from the Holiday Author Fair
(Dec. 5, 2009) - For the second year, Hoosier History Live! was broadcast from a remote (non-studio) location: the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, which bustled and abounded with captivating interviewees, as nearly 90 authors with ties to Indiana gathered for the 7th Annual Holiday Author Fair. Nelson conducted round-robin chats with fellow authors who have a range of Hoosier expertise.
Our show featured the following authors:
Film historian Wes Gehring of Ball State, whose new biography focuses on a native of Beech Grove who went on to become one of the top movie stars of the 1960s and '70s. Steve McQueen: The Great Escape(Indiana Historical Society Press) explores the troubled youth as well as the Hollywood stardom of Steve McQueen, who was born into a dysfunctional family in 1930 and died while undergoing unorthodox treatment for cancer in 1980.
As Wes describes in his book, McQueen was the son of an alcoholic, teenage mother and a barnstorming pilot who abandoned the family soon after the boy's birth. McQueen spent his early childhood and adolescence shuttling between his mother in the Indianapolis area and extended family members in Missouri. As Wes puts it, McQueen "fell into a life of gangs and petty crime" in the Hoosier capital. Eventually, he ended up in a California school for neglected and troubled boys, which he credited with turning his life around. McQueen went on to star in movies, including The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963) and The Sand Pebbles (1966). In addition to his book on McQueen, Wes has written biographies of other screen legends with Hoosier roots such as Red Skelton, Irene Dunne and James Dean.
Stephen McShane, co-author of Steel Giants (Indiana University Press), a book of historic photos of steel mills, towns and residents of northwest Indiana from 1906 through the 1960s. In addition to extensive photos showing the construction of the mills in Gary and other cities, Steel Giants also features dozens of vintage photos of the region's schoolchildren, crane operators, bathing beaches, homes and company recreational teams, including a women's softball team in 1945. With co-author Gary Wilk, Steve also includes explanations of the "open hearth" process at the steel mills and a description of how and why five major steel companies built along Indiana's northern coastline.
Teresa Baer, co-editor of Finding Indiana Ancestors: A Guide to Historical Research(IHS Press), which offers tips for first-time researchers as well as experienced genealogists. Teresa's book is a guide that focuses on Indiana-specific sources for ancestor hunting. Nelson asked if there are special challenges with roots-tracing in counties where early courthouses were destroyed by fire or damaged by floods.
And Fort Wayne civic leader Geoff Paddock, author of Indiana Political Heroes(IHS Press). Tune in to see if you agree with Geoff's choices. He's a former school board president in Fort Wayne and a self-described political junkie. Geoff says he attempted to salute Hoosier politicians who risked their popularity to do what they considered to be the right thing.
History Mystery question - Steve McQueen's co-star
No call-ins to the show this week. Winners needed to appear in person at the Holiday Author Fair to find Nelson (he was the effervescent blond guy running around talking to authors) and give him the answer. The fair was free, and it took place Saturday, Dec. 5, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick History Center at 450 W. Ohio St. There is a free parking lot directly north of the History Center. A great opportunity to meet and mingle with all of our wonderful Hoosier writers!
Steve McQueen, who was born in Beech Grove in 1930, often portrayed rebellious or misunderstood characters in films. So did movie icon James Dean, who was born in 1931 and grew up on a farm near Fairmount.
Question: Name the movie actress who co-starred with James Dean and, about eight years later, with Steve McQueen. Hint: She was NOT a Hoosier.
Answer: Natalie Wood. She was James Dean's co-star in Rebel Without a Cause, which was released shortly after his death in 1955. Both received Oscar nominations for their performances, although neither won. In 1963, Natalie Wood co-starred with Steve McQueen in Love With the Proper Stranger. Once again, she was nominated for an Academy Award (although McQueen was not), but she did not win.
More than one winner was selected. Prizes included a pair of tickets to Handel's The Messiah on Dec. 12 and 13, courtesy of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, tickets to the Eiteljorg, the Indiana State Museum, the Children's Museum and the Indianapolis Zoo, all courtesy of the ICVA.
Greensburg town history
(Nov. 28, 2009) - What other burg in Indiana – or town anywhere – has a tree growing out of its courthouse? The tree atop the Decatur County Courthouse may be the biggest claim to fame of Greensburg, but there's plenty of other fascinating folklore and fodder to explore as well. For a show in our rotating series about town histories that already has featured two other "Greens" in the Hoosier state – Greenfield and Greencastle – Nelson was joined in studio by a proud native son of Greensburg. His guest was John Pratt, a history teacher at North Decatur High School who is reviving Chautauqua-style events in his hometown. (See flier for Dec. 1 Chautauqua 1 in Greensburg.)
According to John, Chautauqua guests in Greensburg decades ago included Helen Keller, John Phillips Sousa, hypnotists and comedians. John's father once owned the Taylor Hotel, considered one of the premier Midwestern hotels.
Of course, Greensburg has made recent headlines with the opening of a Honda assembly plant for Civics, so we will explore the impact on the town of the $550 million facility. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Greensburg has a population of 10,260. The town, which is located 47 miles southeast of Indianapolis, generally is considered to be half-way between the Hoosier capital and Cincinnati.
Other fun facts:
During the Civil War, Greensburg resident Elizabeth Finnern was determined to fight for the Union cause alongside her husband. She cross-dressed as a soldier and served in the military for a year until her secret was discovered. Even then, she remained with her husband's unit as a nurse. John will share the intriguing details.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway founder Carl Fisher was born in Greensburg in 1874. Located just a stone's throw from the courthouse square, the boyhood home still stands. The colorful life of Fisher, an entrepreneur who was a pioneer in auto sales and development, was the focus of a Hoosier History Live! show in May. He amassed a fortune and, in addition to launching the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911, founded the resort of Miami Beach, Fla. Despite all of that, Fisher was nearly penniless when he died in 1939.
In 1890, Greensburg was the center of the U.S. population, John says. By then, a tree had been growing in the courthouse tower for nearly 20 years. According to John, the current tree in the courthouse is its 13th.
The origins of the first tree remain a mystery, but it's no wonder the town is nicknamed “Tree City.” A history major in college, John wrote his first major paper about his hometown. It was titled A Tree Grows in Greensburg.
John, 46, was born Jan. 2, 1963, making him the first baby born in Decatur County that year. ("I still have the silver spoon to prove it," he says.)
In June, the city celebrated its 150th birthday.
Incidentally, our guest also has an extensive collection of beer cans, license plates, baseball cards and family memorabilia, all housed in the barn behind his home in Greensburg (he says the barn used to be a feed store and it's very large). Watch The Collector's Collector, from WFYI's Across Indiana archives; his segment is about 18 minutes in.
History Mystery question - Letter from Helen Keller
Decades before Helen Keller visited Greensburg on the Chautauqua circuit, she wrote a letter to a famous woman from Indiana. In 1892, when Helen Keller was 12 years old, she learned that the distinguished Hoosier was ill, so she sent her a kind letter wishing her a recovery.
Question: Who was the famous Hoosier woman who received a letter from young Helen Keller?
Answer: First Lady Caroline Scott Harrison.
In the fall of 1892, Mrs. Harrison, who was married to President Benjamin Harrison, was battling tuberculosis while living in the White House. Feeling sorry for the First Lady, 12-year-old Helen Keller sent her a letter of sympathy. Sadly, Mrs. Harrison died in the White House in late October, just two weeks before her husband lost his bid for re-election. Thousands of Indianapolis residents watched her funeral procession to Crown Hill Cemetery.
The letter from young Helen Keller is on permanent display at the President Benjamin Harrison Home, 1230 N. Delaware St. According to the home's director, Phyllis Geeslin, the letter invariably fascinates hundreds of school children every year during their visits.
The prize for the correct answer was a pair of tickets to Handel's The Messiah on Dec. 12 and 13, courtesy of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and a pair of tickets to the Indiana State Museum, courtesy of the ICVA.
Birds of Indiana
(Nov. 21, 2009) - We talked turkey – wild turkeys, that is – along with a flock of other bird-related topics guaranteed to intrigue anyone with even a fleeting interest in our feathered friends. Nelson was joined in studio byDonGorney, president of the Amos W. Butler Audubon Society, which serves Central Indiana. A volunteer naturalist at Fort Harrison State Park who leads bird hikes throughout the year, Don shared insights about wild turkeys, which once were extirpated from Indiana but have recently rebounded greatly. He also chatted about cardinals (our state bird, of course), which have expanded their range and are more common in northern Indiana.
Do you assume birding is hopeless during Indiana's cold months? Hummingbirds and other species still can be seen, according to Don. Alas, though, he also shared insights about species that have become extinct in the Hoosier state, including the Greater Prairie Chicken, the passenger pigeon and the Carolina Parakeet.
Don is leading Lights Out Indy, a crusade to reduce the nighttime deaths of migratory birds because of "building strikes."
"The combination of lights, glass and reflexivity is deadly to birds," he says. "Tens of thousands of birds die each year in the Indianapolis area because of building strikes. ... Most birds migrate at night, and urban lighting interferes with their ability to navigate."
Lights Out Indy encourages the reduction of unnecessary lighting at night to help reduce bird mortalities.
At the other extreme, various species of birds have been "introduced" to Indiana – and, perhaps unfortunately, are becoming better known than our native birds, Don says. Introduced species include rock pigeons, house sparrows and European starlings.
Some other fun facts:
Bald eagles are more common in the state than many Hoosiers realize. According to Don, there have been more than 100 nesting pairs in 2009, including two in Marion County. He recommends Parke County as a destination to see bald eagles in winter.
Don has worked as a naturalist for the DNR at Chain O' Lakes State Park and for the butterfly exhibit at the Indiana State Fair. He has the distinction of being one of the few "birders" to have seen more than 300 species in the state during one year.
In Indiana, 415 species of birds have been recorded.
History Mystery question
Hoosier author and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter probably is best remembered for her novel A Girl of the Limberlost, published in 1909. But she also was a prolific magazine writer and nature photographer, often taking pictures of - and writing about - birds in the swamps and meadows of northeastern Indiana. In fact, Gene Stratton-Porter wrote a book in 1903 about a bird that is stalked by a hunter. The bird lives near the Limberlost swamp in Geneva, Indiana.
Question: Name the species of bird that's the focus of her 1903 best-selling novel.
Answer: The cardinal.
The prize for the correct answer was a pair of tickets to the Indianapolis Zoo, courtesy of the ICVA. Coming up, Christmas at the Zoo, and the new 4D adventure, The Polar Express.
Johnny Appleseed: The facts and myths
(Nov. 14, 2009) - His real name was John Chapman. He probably died in 1845 in Allen County, where the largest city, Fort Wayne, celebrates a popular Johnny Appleseed Festival every autumn. Did he wear a saucepan on his head, as depicted in Walt Disney cartoons? What were the facts, and what were the myths or embellishments, about the folk hero of the Indiana frontier known as Johnny Appleseed?
To enlighten us, one of the country's foremost experts on Johnny Appleseed will join Nelson in studio. His guest will be Indianapolis-based re-enactor and playwright Hank Fincken, who has spent decades researching Appleseed/Chapman. Hank portrays colorful, eccentric Johnny Appleseed at schools, festivals, fairs and special events; his website is at hankfincken.com.
According to most accounts, John Chapman was born in New England in 1774. He was a pacifist and a vegetarian who befriended many Native Americans – all cause for many other pioneers to regard him as a bit of an oddball, although they were grateful for his gifts of apple seedlings as they settled in the frontier. The wanderlust of Chapman/Appleseed is said to have been motivated in part by his spiritual beliefs. In addition to apple seedlings, he distributed scriptures across the Indiana wilderness in the 1830s and '40s.
Before that, Chapman was a true hero during the War of 1812 and helped save the lives of massacre survivors trapped in Mansfield, Ohio, according to Hank. The author of Three Midwest History Plays and Then Some (1997), Hank also portrays such historical figures as Christopher Columbus, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Francisco Pizarro. Here's his motto about his one-man shows: "If history were to repeat itself, it would be like this!"
Some fun facts:
Hank has had encounters with people who are descended from the extended Chapman family. (Not directly from Chapman himself, though. He never married.)
In several regions of Indiana, particularly northern counties, residents have long been convinced that various trees are descended from seeds planted by Johnny. Is this possible? And how far west did he travel? Tune in to get the scoop on Appleseed.
Hank is a former Peace Corps volunteer in Peru and Costa Rica.
Along with other Hoosier authors, Nelson will be signing and selling books Saturday (Nov. 14) at the annual Christmas Gift & Hobby Show. Catch him from 3 to 7 p.m. at the 60th annual show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
History Mystery question - Voice role in The Jungle Book
Not only did Disney feature Johnny Appleseed in the animated movie Melody Time, the movie studio hired a famous Indiana native as the voice of a character in The Jungle Book in 1967. The Hoosier-born performer, who had been a popular bandleader and radio personality, won a new generation of young fans thanks to his character in The Jungle Book, who sings a song that was nominated for an Academy Award.
Question: Name the Hoosier-born entertainer who voiced a character in Disney's The Jungle Book AND the Oscar-nominated tune that the character sang.
Answer: Phil Harris, who was born in Linton, Ind., and the song The Bare Necessities. After a long career as a bandleader and as Jack Benny's sidekick on radio, Harris, who was born in 1904, enjoyed a career revival as the voice of Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book. An extensive collection of memorabilia that belonged to Phil Harris and his glamorous wife Alice Faye, the star of Hollywood musicals, is exhibited in Linton. Harris and Faye died in the 1990s.
Roadtripper - Florence Henderson three-night show
Chris Gahl of the ICVA was back with us this week to suggest that we Roadtrip to the Hilbert Circle Theatre to see Indiana native Florence Henderson. She's host of a special three-night show there starting Friday, Nov. 20, through Sunday, Nov. 22. Her performance will take audiences down memory lane as she sings Broadway hits and other popular songs that were highlights in her career.
She was born in Dale, Indiana but left at 17 to study at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Shortly after, she landed her first Broadway appearance in the musical Wish You Were Here. Of course, Henderson is best known as "America's Favorite Mom" on The Brady Bunch, though she also starred in productions of Oklahoma, The Sound Of Music, The King and I and many more.
St. Elmo history with Craig Huse
(Nov. 7, 2009) - When the St. Elmo Steakhouse opened at 127 S. Illinois St. in downtown Indianapolis in 1902, it consisted of only a barroom and one small dining room, which now serves as its kitchen. Its turn-of-the-last-century Chicago saloon décor has changed little since its opening.
In 1904, the opening of the Indianapolis Traction Terminal spilled thousands of businessmen from interurban lines out into the intersection of Market and Illinois, contributing to St. Elmo's success. And yes, we say business "men" because St. Elmo's historically had been one of those "male bastions" of politicking, dealmaking, and celebrating. Although, of course, times have changed, and now even business "men" eat sushi. Though you won't find that on the St. Elmo menu.
With Nelson out on assignment, our live in-studio was guest host and Central Indiana broadcaster Daina Chamness, who also makes hand-crafted pies when not orchestrating the activities of her seven children. No, she's doesn't live in a shoe, but she does have her fingers in many pies and is constantly busy. She chatted with guest Craig Huse, owner of St. Elmo since 1997, about the restaurant's illustrious history, tales about St. Elmo during the Prohibition years, the betting in the back of the house during the 1920s, JFK's visit, and the impact of the opening of the Circle Centre Mall in 1996.
Did you know that St. Elmo's doors open only to the street and not to the inside of the Circle Centre Mall, even though all the other restaurants have access to both?
Image of St. Elmo Steakhouse from Bass Photo Co. Collection, Indiana Historical Society.
History Mystery question
Two famous Indy race car drivers are buried near one another in Vernon Cemetery in Jennings County.
Question: Name the two famous drivers. Hint: One of them is credited with being instrumental in the revival of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after World War II.
Answer: Wilbur Shaw and Pat O'Connor.
The prize was a gift certificate to St. Elmo Steakhouse, courtesy of our guest, Craig Huse.
Roadtripper - My Indiana: 101 More Places to See
Filling in for Chris Gahl, who also is out on assignment, was his colleague, Amy Lamb, media relations manager for the Indiana Historical Society. In addition to having welcomed her son, Leo Robert, into the world on June 7 of this year, Amy also let us know that the Stardust Terrace Café and Basile History Market are now officially open at the Indiana History Center.
Amy featured a Roadtrip from one of our beloved Hoosier authors who died this September, Earl Conn of Muncie. Her pick was from Earl's most recent book, My Indiana: 101 More Places to See. By the way, Earl Conn appeared on the December 2008 Holiday Author Fair show with Nelson Price, which was done as a live remote from the Indiana History Center.
Mike Ahern on The House of Blue Lights
"Only the brave would dare go there - that's what everyone said about it."
-- A member of Shortridge High School's class of '62
(Oct. 31, 2009) - For nearly 50 years, The
House of Blue Lights was regarded as the creepiest place in Indianapolis. Sneaking around the secluded estate of eccentric millionaire Skiles E. Test became a Halloween-season rite of passage for thousands of high school and college students from the 1920s through the1960s.
The hordes of frightened gawkers hoped to glimpse the corpse of Mr. Test's beautiful, dead wife, which they suspected he enclosed in a glass coffin. According to the urban legend that captivated six generations of Hoosiers, Mr. Test bathed the glass casket in eerie blue lights and sat in a rocking chair next to her embalmed, perfectly preserved body every night. Rocking in sorrow, or so the story went, he kept a lonely vigil at his estate near Fall Creek Road and Shadeland Avenue.
The thousands of Hoosier teenagers who crept around the House of Blue Lights and the surrounding, heavily wooded property included a member of Cathedral High School's class of '56 who would grow up to become famous in local broadcasting. Mike Ahern not only ventured up to the estate night after night with his Cathedral buddies, he went on to cover the demolition of The House of Blue Lights in 1978 during his record-setting, 37-year stint as the news anchor at WISH-TV/Channel 8.
As a Halloween Day treat, Mike (who retired amid statewide accolades in 2004) will return to the air to join Nelson, who for years has written feature stories and columns about The House of Blue Lights that have included rare interviews with Skiles Test's anguished relatives. The fascinating story - which became perhaps the biggest urban legend in state history - involved everything from a pet cemetery to an unusual swimming pool to an amateur inventor-architect from a wealthy family who, sadly, eventually felt terrorized to spend the night in his sprawling home because of the throngs of trespassers.
Myths, facts, distortions and exaggerations - or combinations of them - fueled folklore about the mysterious house, which Mr. Test (1889-1964) inherited in 1913.
But was there a dead wife? What was the real source of the blue glow that emanated from Mr. Test's hilly estate? Was the property guarded by vicious Dobermans as per the urban legend, or were Mr. Test's dogs a very different breed?
Tune in as Mike and Nelson sort truth from myth about the spooky folklore. It so captivated teenagers that, according to a member of Howe High School's class of '50 whom Nelson once interviewed, "Night after night, there were always kids lurking around the property. Chatard kids, Lawrence Central kids, North Central kids, Cathedral guys, Ladywood girls - there would almost be traffic jams, particularly around Halloween."
Here's how a North Central grad once described the scene that involved piling into a car with his classmates: "We would keep daring each other, 'C'mon, let's go further up the driveway. Further, further, further.' "
The House of Blue Lights even developed an unlikely reputation as a lovers' lane. High school boys would drive at night with their girlfriends to the locked gates on Mr. Test's property. The couples would swap stories about the place. Boys hoped girls would get so terrified they would want to cuddle.
Some fun facts:
Many of the stories passed from generation to generation concerned the Olympic-sized swimming pool and bathhouse that Mr. Test built on his property. If you believed some versions of the folklore, the three-story bathhouse had been hastily constructed for a grand party to celebrate the opening of the pool. In the haste, every detail wasn't checked, and the railing on the staircase wasn't secured. So when Mr. Test's wife descended the stairs, the railing gave way and she plummeted to her death. But did it really happen that way? Mike and Nelson will explain.
Born to a prominent Indianapolis family, Skiles Test grew up in Woodruff Place. An heir to the Indianapolis Chain Works (later Diamond Chain) fortune, he was part-owner of the Test Building that still stands on Monument Circle.
The hordes of nighttime visitors in the 1950s included Nelson's mother and her sorority sisters at Butler University.
An auction on Test's estate after his death lasted three days and drew more than 50,000 souvenir seekers. Police compared the congestion to the Indiana State Fair.
Part of the estate eventually became Skiles Test Park. Mr. Test also donated land to Lawrence Township Schools. Today, that parcel is the site of Skiles Test Elementary School.
In 2008, Mike Ahern was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.
www.houseofbluelights.com - This website is owned and operated by the Louellen Test Hesse family and is dedicated to the memory of Skiles Test. It includes pictures of Test's cats and dogs, underground tunnels, swimming pool, pet cemetery, and a 1937 aerial view of the property.
History Mystery question - Decorative towers on residences
Question: What is the name for a small tower that projects vertically from a house or building, usually a structure of a historic nature? This type of tower is attached to the house and often contains a staircase. Such decorative towers can be seen adorning Victorian- or Edwardian-era homes in the Herron-Morton Place and Woodruff Place neighborhoods.
Answer: A turret. According to historians, turrets became widespread during the Middle Ages with the construction of castles in Europe. They had a military purpose then, providing cover for defenders of a castle while they hurled weapons at the enemy. After their military use declined, turrets were modified for decorative purposes.
Roadtripper - Cabaret Poe at the Irvington Masonic Lodge
Chris Gahl of the ICVA caledl in with a Roadtripper report on the culminating weekend for Cabaret Poe at the Irvington Masonic Lodge. A Broadway-style musical featuring the works of Edgar Allan Poe was timed with Poe's 200th birthday. Some of the pieces re-imagined for the musical are The Fall of the House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Black Cat and, of course, The Raven.
As many of our listeners know, Irvington was the birthplace and home to the only historic art movement in Central Indiana named for a specific place, the Irvington Group. In the early 1900s, this group of artists lived, met, practiced and exhibited art in Irvington.
James Still on Lincoln, grief and emancipation
(Oct. 24, 2009) - During
this Year of Lincoln, celebrating the bicentennial of the Great
Emancipator's birth in 1809, Hoosier History Live! continued our
periodic, special programming by tapping the insights of the Indiana Repertory Theatre's
acclaimed playwright-in-residence, James Still. His play The Heavens Are Hung in Black, on stage at the IRT through Oct. 25, was commissioned by Ford's Theatre in
Washington DC., where it premiered last February and was seen by the
Obamas as well as other political leaders.
Nelson talked with James about the complicated character of Abraham Lincoln and the agonizing decisions that confronted him during the era depicted in the play. It's set during the spring and summer of 1862, when the Civil War was raging (with an uncertain outcome) and the Lincolns were mourning the death in the White House of their beloved son Willie. During the play, President Lincoln reflects on his nighttime habit of staring at the stars "when I was a boy in Indiana"; as Hoosier history lovers know, he lived here from age 8 through 21. In James' play, Lincoln interacts, in fictionalized sequences, with famous 19th-century figures such as poet Walt Whitman, Confederate leader Jefferson Davis, abolitionist John Brown, civil rights icon Dred Scott, political rival Stephen Douglas, and actor Edwin Booth.
According to James, the title for The Heavens Are Hung in Black is taken from one of Lincoln's speeches. Nelson plans to ask the playwright about the challenges in writing about an iconic figure, his creative choices, how and why he has reshaped the play for the IRT after its performance at Ford's Theatre, and his historic research. (FYI: Some of James's groupies from Indiana even trekked to the nation's capital last February to catch the play in its premiere run.)
"One thing that was quickly apparent: The cult of celebrity existed in the 19th century just as it does now," James writes in an ongoing blog about the play that he's been contributing to irtlive.com. Then as now, James writes, people attempted to "cash in" on their relationships with a charismatic president, meaning whenever James uncovered a compelling anecdote, he always sought verification from a second source.
Although he grew up in Kansas, where his father was a high-school history teacher, James is based primarily on the west coast these days. He escaped to Italy to write the Lincoln play. James has been an influential figure on the central Indiana art scene for more than a decade. Now in his 11th year as the IRT's playwright-in-residence, he frequently tackles topics with Hoosier connections. For example, he was our studio guest in May during the run of Interpreting William, a play that analyzed the character of pioneer entrepreneur William Conner, of Conner Prairie fame. This time 'round, James was Nelson's guest by long-distance phone, although he continually makes trips to Indy during the reshaping of (and rehearsals for) The Heavens Are Hung in Black. As James notes in his blog, the play premiered just two weeks after Barack Obama was inaugurated "with his hand on Abraham Lincoln's Bible."
Even aside from the Year of Lincoln, 2009 was quite a year for James, who in August received a national award in a ceremony at New York's fabled Sardi's Restaurant. Standing in front of the rows of caricatures of theatrical legends that adorn Sardi's walls, he received the Medallion of the Children's Theatre Foundation of America.
History Mystery question - Abe Lincoln as a Hoosier in the South
When Abraham Lincoln was a 19-year-old Hoosier in 1828, he was hired, along with a friend, to take a cargo of goods on a flatboat to a city in the Deep South. Abe Lincoln and his friend, Allen Gentry, embarked on the flatboat trip from Rockport, Indiana. The three-month adventure was said to be eye-opening for young Abe, who for the first time witnessed slavery in the Deep South city that was his destination.
Question: Name the Southern city where Abraham Lincoln and Allen Gentry took the goods on the 65-foot long flatboat. The prize was a pair of tickets to the Eiteljorg Museum, plus a pair of tickets to Conner Prairie, courtesy of the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association.
Hoosier history facts
Fort Wayne native Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard, born as Jane Alice Peters on Oct. 6,
1908, lived with her parents and two brothers in a two-story
house on Rockhill Street in Fort Wayne. (The historic house, located
near the St. Mary's River, is still there.) She moved to California
with her mother and brothers, breaking into the movies during the
1920s. In the 1930s, Carole Lombard became hugely popular in
sophisticated comedies such as “My Man Godfrey” (1936) and “Nothing
Sacred” (1937); at one point, she was Hollywood's highest-paid
actress.
She had been married to the “King” of Hollywood, Clark Gable, for
about three years when she returned to Indiana in January 1942
during the early months of World War II. Lombard set records selling
war bonds at rallies in Indianapolis, but was killed (along with her
mother) when her return flight crashed en route to southern
California. Carole Lombard and Clark Gable are buried next to each
other in Forrest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles.
T.C. Steele - "Hoosier Group" artwork
The painting, titled “Daisy at the Piano”
depicts T.C. Steele's daughter Daisy. It sold for $246,000 during an
auction in 2004. The painting was purchased by Lafayette residents
Bill and Ellie Haan, who own an extensive collection of “Hoosier
Group” artwork. The “Hoosier Group” consisted of Steele and four
other Indiana artists who won national acclaim at the turn of the
20th century. T.C. Steele was the most famous artist of the “Hoosier Group”
and the painting sold for
a record amount. Steele created it in 1893. Although T.C. Steele primarily was
known for his landscape paintings of Brown County, the record amount
was fetched for this painting.
Corydon & historic African-American schools
A
wooden, one-room schoolhouse called the Corydon Colored School opened in 1891 for the education of
black children and teenagers in southern Indiana. Today, the
restored Leora Brown School one of Indiana's oldest buildings used
to educate African-Americans, is the setting for tours as well as
discussions about segregation, slavery and historic preservation.
The key figure who
organized a community-wide restoration of the historic school is
Maxine Brown the great-niece of Leora Brown. Maxine, whose ancestors
settled in far-southern Indiana during the early 1800s, named the
restored school after her great-aunt, who attended the Corydon
Colored School as a girl, obtained a college education, and then
returned to teach at the segregated school for 26 years until it
closed in 1950.
"Blue Chips" and Frankfort Hot Dogs
basketball team
The Frankfort High gymnasium, which seats 6,000
spectators, was featured in the 1994 movie “Blue Chips”. It starred
Nick Nolte as a college basketball coach modeled after Bobby Knight,
who has a cameo role in the film. Frankfort is located in Clinton County
and was founded in
1830 by brothers whose grandparents had lived in Frankfurt, Germany.
As noted in Hoosiers All, the town always has had fun with its name.
“Every July, during the dog days of summer, the annual Frankfort Hot
Dog Festival is held.” The Frankfort Hot Dogs basketball team won
four state championships between 1925 and 1939.
Plainfield, Indiana & former President
Martin Van Buren
In the 1840s, national attention focused on
Indiana town Plainfield located on the National Road because of a
rather shocking incident. Residents of the town, who were angry at
former U.S. President Martin Van Buren for having vetoed a bill to improve the National
Road, overturned his stage coach. After purposefully being tipped
over, the carriage spilled the former President into the mud on the
road. The intent was to show him fist-hand the need for road
improvements.The incident occurred in 1842, when Van Buren was traveling through
the town two years after his term as President. At that point, he
was considered running for the White House again. (In Plainfield, the
National Road (U.S. 40) is Main Street.)
The episode involving Van Buren's stage coach has become a major
part of Plainfield's history and folklore. A school built near the
site of the episode is named Van Buren Elementary School, and a
massive tree at the site became known as the Van Buren Elm.
U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar - Decatur
Township
Decatur Township, located in the
southwestern corner of Marion County, includes a family farm of more
than 600 acres. It's a corn, soybean and walnut tree farm that was
established by the ancestors of a currently famous Hoosier. Since
the mid-1950s, this famous Hoosier has managed the farm in Decatur
Township he inherited.Long
before he entered politics, Dick Lugar began managing the 604-acre
family farm in Decatur Township following the death of his father,
Marvin Lugar, in 1956.
Marvin Lugar had grown up in Decatur Township and graduated from the
former Valley Mills High School, where his father – the grandfather
of Sen. Lugar – coached the basketball team. In 1930, Valley Mills
High School burned to the ground. At that point, high schools in the
township were consolidated, resulting in the formation of Decatur
Central High School. The Lugar family still owns the corn, soybean
and walnut tree farm.
Hollywood and the Indy 500
Forty years ago – in 1969 – Hollywood
released a major movie that was partially filmed at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway. “Winning,” which starred Paul Newman and his
real-life wife, Joanne Woodward, focused on an ambitious race driver
determined to win the Indianapolis 500. Many
scenes in the movie were filmed at the Speedway during May 1968.
Several long, tracking shots in the movie depict the thousands of
spectators at the infield during the race. In
addition to Newman (who would go on to co-own racing teams) and
Woodward, “Winning” starred Richard Thomas, soon to become more
famous as “John Boy” on "The Waltons” TV series. Several real-life
racing figures – including the Speedway's owner, Tony Hulman, and
race driver Bobby Unser – portray themselves in the movie.
Indianapolis artists - The Hoosier Group
In the 1870s and ‘80s, several distinguished
Indiana painters who were members of the Hoosier Group, including
T.C. Steele, traveled overseas to study art in Munich, Germany. By the1880s,
T.C. Steele was establishing a reputation as a prominent portrait
painter in Indianapolis. Impressed with Steele's talent, wealthy
Hoosier benefactors, including Herman Lieber and members of the
Fletcher family, offered to send Steele and his family to Munich to
study for two years. The Steeles, who enjoyed Munich, ended up
staying for five years before returning to Indianapolis in 1885. In addition to Steele, Hoosier Group artists William Forsyth, Ottis Adams, and Otto Stark also studied about the same time in the
this major European city with master artists there.
Oldest Indianapolis city park - Garfield
Park
Garfield
Park on the Southside generally is considered to be the oldest park
in the Indianapolis park system, but it initially had a different
name. Garfield Park traces its beginnings to 1873, when the city
purchased the land – then totaling 98 acres -- from civic leaders
who had created a harness racetrack on the site. The park initially
was known by the name used for the racetrack, but was it renamed in
tribute to President James A. Garfield after his assassination in
1881. The initial name of Garfield Park was Southern Park. In the
decades after its renaming, Garfield Park became popular for its
pagoda, which served as the focal point for dances, as well as for
its sunken gardens, which opened in 1916, and its conservatory.
Today, Garfield Park also includes the MacAllister Center for the
Performing Arts.
Polk's Best Jersey Milk - Milk
Bottles
In 1905, a major milk company,
Polk's Best Jersey Milk, based
in Indianapolis built a very unusual-looking headquarters and
bottling plant on the near-Northside. The corners of the company's
entrance were shaped like giant milk bottles and was located at E. 15th Street and Lewis Street. Founded by Civil War veteran James Polk,
the company had a slogan – “Polk's milk – always ahead” – that was
framed around a cow's head. Although Polk's became the state's'
largest milk company, it began experiencing financial problems
during the 1950s because of competition from large food chains. The
bottling plant was torn down in the 1960s, but the milk company's
old stables still stand. The stable building, where Polk kept its
delivery horses are now are part of a maintenance complex for
Indianapolis Public Schools. This made the building
an eye-catching landmark for more than 55 years, until it finally
met the wrecking ball in the 1960s. The company had been founded in
1893 by a Greenwood resident who was a Civil War veteran.
Rev. Jim Jones, founder of the Peoples
Temple
Today, there is a vacant lot at the corner of 10th and Delaware
streets. However, in 1899 the esteemed architectural firm of
Vonnegut & Bohn built a synagogue on the site for the Indianapolis
Hebrew Congregation. After the congregation moved farther north, the
former synagogue building became a very different house of worship
in the late 1950s and early '60s. Its preacher--Rev. Jim Jones,
founder of the Peoples Temple--eventually became a
household name after moving from Indianapolis.
In the late 1950s and early ‘60s, Rev. Jones oversaw a racially
integrated Christian congregation in the former synagogue building
at 10th and Alabama. He also began a social ministry, operating a
soup kitchen and providing nursing care for the elderly. Jones, who
had been born in 1932 in Lynn, Indiana, eventually cast himself as a
prophet and convinced more than 140 church members to resettle in
California. In the 1970s, he established Jonestown, a commune in
Guyana, where he convinced his followers to join him in drinking
cyanide-laced Kool-Aid in a mass ritual. Jones became notorious for overseeing
the 1978
mass murder-suicide in Guyana, South America, during which more than
900 of his followers died, including several who had begun attending
his services in Indianapolis.
The Conner brothers - Hoosier Pioneers
William Conner and his older brother John
were Hoosier pioneers. Like William, John was born in Ohio, grew
up in Michigan and began trading furs with Native Americans in the
Indiana wilderness. While William Conner of Conner Prairie fame, set up a trading post and
cabin on the White River near what became the town of Noblesville,
John Conner went on to plan a town elsewhere in Indiana, Connersville, a town
named in John Conner's honor. He headed southeast in the Indiana
Territory while his brother William settled in what became Hamilton
County. According to a story told by John Conner's granddaughter, he
was building his cabin – it didn't even have a roof or floors yet –
when a wagon of immigrants drew up and asked to be directed to
Connersville. Laughing, Conner replied, “My friend, you are right in
the heart of town.”
Like his brother, John Conner seized business opportunities. In the
1820s, as the new state capital of Indianapolis was being developed,
he opened a dry goods store here. He died a few years later in 1826.
Serious consideration given to abandoning
the 500 Mile Race
When the Indianapolis 500 was suspended
during World War II, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway greatly
deteriorated due to neglect. After the war ended, weeds were growing
in the racetrack. Serious consideration was given to abandoning the
500 Mile Race and converting the Speedway into a housing
subdivision. However, a famous Hoosier convinced Terre Haute
millionaire Tony Hulman to buy the Speedway in 1945, and the
Indianapolis 500 went on to even greater glory than before the war.Race driver Wilbur Shaw, a three-time winner of the Indianapolis
500 persuaded Tony Hulman to
buy the Speedway. Wilbur Shaw, who was born in Shelbyville in 1902, started out as a teenage errand-boy in Gasoline
Alley. As a driver, he won the race in 1937, 1939, and 1940, making
him the first to earn back-to-back wins. Shaw almost captured a
fourth 500 victory in 1941, the final race before World War II. He
was in the lead when a wheel hub broke off on his Masuerati, causing
an accident.EventuallyWilbur Shaw became American's
premiere racing promoter. He was killed in 1954 in a private plane
crash in northeastern Indiana.
Hoosier songwriter John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp was so captivated by "HUD"
(1963), a movie starring Paul Newman, that he named one of his children after
the actor's character.Mellencamp, who was born in Seymour
and lives near Bloomington, has said the dialogue in the movie, for
which Newman was nominated for an Academy Award, influenced the
lyrics of several
of his songs. Mellencamp and his wife, Elaine, gave the name “Hud”
to their oldest son. Fourteen-year-old Hud Mellencamp recently made
headlines by winning a division title in the Indiana Golden Gloves
boxing tournament. The match featuring Hud, who boxes for the Indy
Police Athletic League, was held at the Tyndall Armory in
Indianapolis.
Barack Obama's Hoosier ancestry and Tipton County farmhouse
The Victorian-era home, known as the Dunham House, was built
on land homesteaded by Jacob Dunham (1795-1865), whose descendants
eventually settled in Kansas, where Ann Dunham grew up. Obama – accompanied by wife
Michelle and their daughters Malia and Sasha – visited last May
during the presidential primary campaign. The last Dunham to live
in the farmhouse, Hazel, died in 1969. Jacob Dunham was Obama's
great-great-great-great-grandfather.
'The Lady in Red' - Anna Sage and John
Dillinger
In July 1934, authorities caught up with –
and killed – “Public Enemy No. 1”, Hoosier-born bank robber John
Dillinger, when he emerged with two women friends from a movie
theater in Chicago. One of the women, Anna Sage of East Chicago,
Ind., had tipped off federal agents they would be watching a movie
at the Biograph Theatre. When Dillinger and his companions emerged
from the Biograph, a shoot-out ensued in the 101-degree heat, and
the outlaw was killed. Anna Sage became known as “The Lady in Red”,
but she always claimed she was not wearing a red skirt that
fateful night.
Anna Sage, a
Romanian immigrant, was a former brothel owner in East Chicago. She
had two reasons for tipping off federal agents about Dillinger: She
wanted the $10,000 reward, and she also hoped to ingratiate herself
with authorities because she was about to be deported as an
undesirable alien. Anna Sage always claimed that she wore an orange
skirt on the night Dillinger was killed, even though she has gone
down in history as “The Lady in Red.” Anna Sage eventually received
only about half of the $10,000 reward, and authorities did deport
her to Romania. She died in Europe after World War II.
Purdue University - 'The mother of
astronauts'
Almost all of the native Hoosiers who have
become astronauts – from Gus Grissom to David Wolf – have attended
Purdue University, which bills itself “The Mother of Astronauts.”
Joe Allen,who was
born in Crawfordsville in 1937 and graduated from Crawfordsville
High School, was the only Hoosier astronaut who did not attend
Purdue. After his years at DePauw and Yale, he was chosen by
NASA as an astronaut-scientist in 1967, the same year that Gus
Grissom was killed. As an astronaut, Joe Allen flew on two space
missions, including a spectacular salvage mission in 1984 during
which he rescued a stranded satellite by flying over to it with a
jet backpack. After 18 years with NASA, Joe Allen left the space
agency in 1985 to become CEO of a private business based in Houston,
Texas, that deals with space exploration.
Caroline Scott Harrison, First Lady from
Indiana
Caroline Scott Harrison, the only First Lady
from Indiana, started
the china collection for the White House, which continues to this
day.
Mrs. Harrison began the collection during the presidency of her
husband, Benjamin Harrison, who was elected in 1888. As a tribute,
the portrait painting of her is displayed near the China Room in the
White House.
Mrs. Harrison died in the White House of tuberculosis in 1892, two
weeks before her husband lost his bid for re-election. Thousands of
Hoosiers watched the First Lady's funeral procession to Crown Hill
Cemetery.
Pioneer Hoosier automaker Elwood Haynes
Elwood Haynes, still remembered today as a
pioneer in the auto industry, was born in Portland, Indiana in 1857,
but moved to Kokomo during the area's natural gas boom in the early
1890s. The Hoosier inventor is credited
with creating one of the very first gasoline-powered cars in
America. During a test run in 1894, the “horseless carriage”
reached a top speed of about 7 miles per hour. To avoid scaring
horses on city streets, the test run was conducted in a rural area
near Kokomo, which was the inventor's adopted hometown. He built
automobiles in Kokomo until the 1920s. His pioneer auto is on
permanent display at he Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.
For a variety of reasons – including Haynes' refusal to budge from
the luxury car market – his auto company went bankrupt in 1924,
throwing 400 workers out of jobs. Haynes died the next year.
Local roots for Academy-nominated actor
Greg Kinnear
Greg Kinnear was an Oscar
nominee for his performance in “As Good As It Gets” (1997), a movie
that won lead acting Academy Awards for Jack Nicholson and Helen
Hunt. His family owned a vending business in Logansport, where
he was born in 1963. When the future actor was 9 years old, his
father became a diplomat and the family moved overseas.
Greg's
teenage years were spent in Beirut, Lebanon, and Athens, Greece. He
launched his career as a TV personality, hosting cable and
late-night talk shows. Then, Sydney Pollack cast him as Harrison
Ford's kid brother in the remake of “Sabrina” in 1995. Greg Kinnear's other movies have included “You've Got Mail” (1998) with
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan; “Auto Focus” (2002), and “Little Miss
Sunshine” (2006).
Largest natural lakes in Indiana
The largest natural lake in Indiana is Lake
Wawasee, which is located near the town of Syracuse in northeastern
Indiana. A spring-fed lake, Lake Wawasee is 3,060 acres in size.
The second-largest natural lake in Indiana is Lake Maxinkuckee, near Culver
in north-central Indiana. With a name from the Potawatomi Indians who once were the
predominant tribe in northern Indiana, Lake Maxinkuckee covers1,864
acres. During the winter, residents of Marshall County and visitors
frequently ice-fish at the lake, where the most common catch is
blue-gill. The campus of Culver Military Academy is located on the
lake, which has an average depth of 24 feet.
The largest man-made lake in the state is Lake Monroe, near
Bloomington.
Lincoln stops in Indianapolis on the way
to his inauguration
When he was en route to Washington D.C. for
his inauguration in 1861, President-elect Abraham Lincoln delivered
a speech in Indianapolis that made national headlines. Speaking from
a balcony at the Bates House hotel, Lincoln spoke out in definitive
terms about the need to preserve the Union as hundreds of Hoosiers
cheered. His speech had a national impact because it was Lincoln's
first major policy statement as a president-elect. The Bates House,
which was built in the early 1850s, was considered the city's finest
hotel, as befit the president-elect. The hotel stood at the
northwest corner of Washington and Illinois streets until 1901, when
it was razed.
The Claypool Hotel replaced
the Bates House at the NW corner of Washington and Illinois – a
location that, interestingly, has been a hotel site for most of city
history. When the posh Claypool Hotel opened in 1903, some accounts
described its lobby as the largest in the country. For decades, the
Claypool was regarded as one of the most elegant hotels in the
Midwest, with a dazzling array of distinguished, overnight guests
who included Eleanor Roosevelt, Gene Autry and Jack Benny. It closed
two years after a fire in 1967.
Today, the NW corner of Washington and Illinois is the site of the
Embassy Suites and Claypool Grille.
Major Taylor (Velodrome, a world-class
bicycling track)
Hoosier native Major Taylor became an
American and world champion bicycle racer, dominating the sport
during its first peak in popularity 100 years ago.
Throughout his life, Major Taylor
refused to compete on Sundays because of a promise to his mother “to
lead an upright Christian life.” For example, in 1899 – after
winning the world sprint championship – Major Taylor turned down a
$10,000 offer to race in Europe because the competitions were to be
on a Sunday. Two years later, though, he toured Europe with the
promise there would be no Sunday racing. “The Ebony Streak” became
hugely popular, particularly in France.
Major Taylor met kings and queens of Europe, but his wealth and fame
were fleeting. Because of the abrupt decline in the popularity of
bicycle racing – along with financial mistakes and other problems --
Major Taylor was poverty-stricken when he died in 1932 and buried in
an unmarked pauper's grave in Chicago. Years later, the Schwinn
Bicycle Company paid for a bronze monument and organized a belated
memorial service attended by many of the country's top athletes.
Indiana's oldest continuously operating tavern, located on its
original site
Founded in 1850, the Slippery Noodle has endured many name changes
and scandals. It was built on South Meridian Street as a roadhouse
called The Tremont House. Before the Civil War, it may have been a
stop on the Underground Railroad.
In the 1860s, its name was changed to the Concordia House, then to
the German House. Because of anti-German sentiment during World War
I, the German House became Beck's Saloon. During the Great
Depression in the 1930s, it was known as Moore's Beer House; that's
when gangster John Dillinger patronized the bar with his cronies.
Eventually, a bordello operated upstairs. After two patrons
quarreled over a woman – one patron pulled a knife and stabbed the
other to death -- the place shut down.
Its reputation was restored in 1963 when it was purchased by the
parents of current owner Hal Yeagy; they christened it The Slippery
Noodle. Today, the Noodle is a tavern and restaurant that's
nationally known for blues music.
Indianapolis, our state's capital
In 1820, a group of Hoosier power brokers met
to hash out a new location for our state capital. Corydon, which had
been serving as the capital since Indiana achieved statehood in
1816, was judged to be too far south for statewide convenience. They eventually settled on the undeveloped lowlands and
swamps that became the city of Indianapolis, chosen for its location
smack in the center of the state.
The
site of the meeting
was the log cabin of William Conner of
Conner Prairie fame, where he lived in 1820, and was
located on the White River near Noblesville. The group of state leaders, including the
governor, also met under a tree on Conner's property. Conner hoped
the state capital would be in the Noblesville area. However,
surveyors advised the powerbrokers that the future Indianapolis site
was precisely in the Hoosier state's center.
Kentucky Fried
Chicken
Even
though he named his fabulously successful business Colonel Harland Sanders actually was born in Clark
County, Indiana.
Crest toothpaste
In 1956, Crest hit the market of a
product used every morning in homes across the country. The new
brand became enormously popular – and remains so today. It's made by
Proctor and Gamble, which is not based in Indiana.
However, the Proctor and Gamble product contains ingredients – or
compounds – patented by three researchers at Indiana University.
Jewish history in Indiana
The legendary Gimbels department store based
in Manhattan had its roots with merchant Adam Gimbel of Vincennes.
Vera Bradley bags
Vera Bradley, which designs and makes
cotton-quilted handbags, travel bags and an expanding array of other
products. The business was founded by two neighbors in 1982 in Fort
Wayne, Pat Miler and Barbara Baekgaard, who named the business after
Barbara's mother in 1982. Within three years, sales of Vera Bradley
products had reached $1 million.
Later this month, Pat Miller and Barbara Baekgaard will be named
Living Legends by the Indiana Historical Society.
Hoosier Hysteria begins
In Crawfordsville at a YMCA in 1894 the
first basketball game in Indiana was played. The Crawfordsville team
beat a team from Lafayette by the score of 45 to 21. Basketball
quickly became popular across Indiana.
The very first official basketball game ever
was played two years earlier, in 1892, at a YMCA in Springfield,
Mass. The inventor, James Naismith, set up a peach basket in which
players scored points with their shots.
Indianapolis 500
There's a fascinating “flaw” in the 1969 official photo of
front-row qualifiers for the Indianapolis 500 The “flaw” in the
photo concerns Mario Andretti, who went on to win the 500-Mile Race
that year.
It's actually not Mario in the official
photo of front-row qualifiers for the 1969 race. Instead, his
identical twin brother, Aldo Andretti, posed as Mario for the photo.
Also, who left racing to become an Indianapolis businessman (as well
as the father of current driver John Andretti), didn't want to pose
as his twin. But Mario insisted.
A few days before the photo session, Mario
had endured a fiery crash. He was burned on his upper lip and didn't
want to be photographed that way. So he prevailed on his twin
brother to pose alongside the two other front-row drivers for the
official photo. The ruse was kept a secret initially, but word
eventually leaked out to racing enthusiasts.
Celebrity marriages in Indiana
In June 1993, the city of Marion, Indiana, found itself in the
national news because of an unexpected event that occurred there.
Movie star Julia Roberts married singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett at
St. James Lutheran Church in Marion, Indiana, after a three-week
courtship. They eloped and married in Marion because Lyle Lovett was
on a concert tour; his next performance was at then-Deer Creek Music
Center near Noblesville. Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett announced
their divorce less than two years later, in March 1995.
Hoosier Civil War history
During the Civil War, a greater percentage of young men and
teenagers of military age from Indiana fought in “Mr. Lincoln's
Army,” the Union Army, than any other state except one. Delaware was
the only state that had a greater percentage of young men in the
Union Army.
Listen to some of our past shows
Hoosier History Live! is proud to offer samples of our groundbreaking radio show for your listening pleasure.
Old National Road - U.S. 40
(Show length 30:39)
(Aug. 1, 2009) - It's been called “the government's first highway project” – and it
stretched east-west across Indiana. Created beginning in Maryland in
1811, the old National Road was intended to be the first road funded by
the federal government to span the country. Constructed in stages,
the National Road was open across Indiana by the late 1830s and
brought thousands of settlers from the East Coast across the state,
often traveling with Conestoga wagons, horses and buggies, and
produce wagons. “Many new settlements sprang up along the Indiana
route to provide stops for the travelers,” James Glass wrote
in one of his recent “Culture Watch” columns for The Indianapolis
Star. Among the Hoosier communities that sprang up: Cambridge
City, Knightstown, Greenfield, Plainfield, and Brazil. Jim, the
director of Historic Preservation and Archaeology for the state's DNR,
was Nelson's studio guest and explored the impact of the fabled
road that paved the way – but also had its ups and downs.
The Indianapolis portion of the
National Road became Washington Street, which was built as
the widest downtown thoroughfare to accommodate the traffic. The
National Road's importance dipped with the railroad boom in the
1850s, but revived with the advent of the car; the old National Road
then became a portion of U.S. 40. Every May in recent years, 825
miles of the highway across Indiana (actually, the stretch from
Maryland to Illinois) serve as the National Road Yard Sale,
attracting thousands of bargain hunters. Finally, there is the
website for a recent Ball State documentary about the Road at www.moversandstakers.com
Indianapolis Motor Speedway founder Carl Fisher's colorful life
(Show length 29:42)
(May 16, 2009) - Amid
the hoopla about the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway Hoosier History Live! explored the life
of flamboyant entrepreneur Carl Fisher, who led a group of partners that developed the racetrack in 1909 as
a way to spotlight the automobile, then in its infancy. A master
showman, Fisher (1874-1939) even competed in the first race at the
Speedway, a hot air balloon competition in which Fisher piloted an
entry titled “Indiana.”
Nelson was joined in studio by public
historian Glory-June Greiff, an expert on sculptures and
monuments across the state (they are the subject of her book Remembrance, Faith & Fancy published by the Indiana Historical
Society Press), as well as the roller-coaster career of Carl Fisher,
who opened one of the state's first auto showrooms and co-founded
Prest-O-Lite Storage Battery Company. His influence stretched far beyond founding
the Speedway. From his beginnings as a teenage bicycle salesman
(despite being half-blind since birth, Fisher undertook high-wire
stunts in downtown Indy to promote his merchandise), he eventually
transformed a Florida mangrove swamp into one of the Sunshine
State's first resorts, Miami
Beach. Glory-June and Nelson also discussed Fisher's
lavish mansion, now a landmark on the Marian College campus;
his marriage to a much-younger woman who sought his help when her
house caught fire, and his role as an organizer of the Lincoln
Highway. Along the way, Carl Fisher made a fortune – and had
lost almost all of it by the time he died.
Winter survival skills of pioneers and Native Americans
(Show length 28:53)
(Jan. 10, 2009) - Snowstorms, ice, sleet, howling winds and long, dark nights. With all of that, winter in Indiana can be a major challenge in the 21st century. Ever wonder how the early Hoosier pioneers and Native Americans made it through? Nelson’s studio guest, Jim Willaert, now general manager of guest experience at Conner Prairie, tackled a blizzard of questions about how folks survived harsh winters in the Indiana wilderness of the 1820s and '30s.
Jim, whose various responsibilities at Conner Prairie have included serving as the experience manager of the Lenape Village and Conner Homestead, proved to be a fountain of information.
Where and how did white settlers and Native Americans store their food during the long winter? Without access to fresh fruit, why didn't everyone here in the 1830s get scurvy? What about drinking water? And was it ever truly comfortable in the lean-tos and wooden cabins of the pioneers or the Native Americans' wigwams?
Those are just a sampling of the questions that Jim tackled. He even shared some advantages that the cold months brought to the pioneers and Native Americans here. FYI: The predominant Native American tribe in Central Indiana during the 1820s and '30s was the Delaware (Hoosier History Live! explored the Delaware in our Feb. 16, 2008 show), also called the Lenape. According to Jim, they lived in wigwams or log cabins similar to the white settlers. Obviously, no one enjoyed furnaces, snow plows, plumbing and refrigerators.
During the show, Jim explains:
Where and how white settlers and Native Americans stored their food for the long winters. Tune in to find out how they managed even in small, cramped cabins.
How drinking water was obtained when many nearby ponds, creeks and rivers froze.
How our ancestors spent their time with only nine or so hours of daylight in Indiana during the shortest days of the year.
Why settlers in the early 1800s chose to live in the Midwest with its brutal winters rather than in the South, where winter survival would seem so much easier.
Jim recently suggested the following websites to learn more about modern winter survival skills:
For a more "old time" approach to winter survival, he suggests looking up the oldFoxfire book series, which have a wide variety of information on simple or country living topics.
As hard as it may be to imagine for those who hate winter, Jim also shares some advantages that the cold months brought for pioneers and Native Americans.
Indy's crown jewel, the Circle Theatre
(Clip length 3:53)
(Aug. 16, 2008) - Did you know the Circle Theatre on Monument
Circle was considered one of the most lavish silent movie palaces
west of New York when it opened in 1916? Listen to three generations
discuss Indy's crown jewel, The Circle Theatre, on our August 16,
2008 show.
Dave L. Smith, former host of WISH-TV's popular When Movies Were Movies series, Chris Gahl, our "Roadtripper" and Nelson Price talk about
the impact of the Circle Theatre on the Circle City.
Sears kit homes
(Clip length 1:33)
(April 5, 2008) - Listen to our April 5, 2008 Sears Kit Homes show with Guest Paul Diebold of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Caller shares with our guest Paul about a kit home with an indoor/outdoor fish pool.
A town under water: Elkinsville
(Show length 27:47)
(June 7, 2008) - For more than a century, Elkinsville, Ind., was a small, peaceful farming town nestled amid the rolling hills of southwestern Brown County. Because of the construction of Lake Monroe in the 1960s, all of the residents of Elkinsville were forced to move. Among the families who moved were Raymond and Marie Lucas, along with their four children, Forrest, Carol, Connie and Brenda. Both "in studio" and via telephone, the Lucas siblings tell the story of their early years in Elkinsville. Forrest, the eldest, went on to become the CEO of Lucas Oil.
There's treasure buried everywhere in the Hoosier History Live! website ...
In the Elkinsville show audiocast, you can hear the thunder and lightning in the background. It was recorded at 11:30 a.m. to noon on the day of the June 6, 2008 flood. The basement of Brenda (youngest sister) was flooded when she came up from Columbus, Ind., to Indy to do the show — although, as she later said, it would have flooded anyway, whether she came to Indy or not. It took Carol and Brenda something like 10 hours to drive back to back to Columbus.
The blizzard of 1978
(Jan. 16, 2008) - Listen to Survival Tales from the the Blizzard of January 1978 on its 30th anniversary, Jan. 16, 2008.
Craig Widener, former chief operating officer of the Indianapolis chapter of the American Red Cross, shares how the city opened its Red Cross Shelter to stranded Greyhound passengers:
(Clip length 6:27)
Caller talks about being stranded at O'Malia's grocery store in Carmel:
(Clip length 4:01)
Hoosier History Live! celebrates its first year on the air
Peggy Sabens of the Meridian Street Foundation, host Nelson Price, Chris "The
Roadtripper" Gahl and producer Molly Head blow out their first-year birthday cake candles presented to them by the Meridian Street
Foundation.
The party for Hoosier History
Live! at the Morris-Butler House was sponsored by the Historic Landmarks
Foundation of Indiana on Abe's 200th birthday, Feb. 12.
'Tis
prime season to explore Indiana-made antiques as well as to share a
potpourri of tips and advice about antiquing across Hoosierland.
Nelson was joined in studio by the ideal guest to weigh in:
antiques maven Lynn Hopper who writes the popular
“Antiques & Collectibles” column in The Indianapolis Star. Lynn chated about cherished Indiana-made collectibles, including
Wooten Desks, Hoosier Cabinets (regular listeners will recall that
their history was the focus of a recent Hoosier History Live! show), Greentown Glass (to left) and Uhl
Pottery (to right).
She also is
brimming with tips about antique-hunting, a passion for so many
Hoosiers. “Always Look on the Bottom!” is the title of an
advice-filled presentation that Lynn gives to fellow enthusiasts.
Please note that Lynn does not do appraisals, on or off the air.
This show came just in time to spotlight the 40th anniversary of
the Hoosier
Antiques Expo which returned to the Indiana State
Fairgrounds Sept. 11-13. “In the world of antiques, 40 years is a
long time – to stay in business,” Lynn wrote in a recent column. As Lynn also wrote in a recent column, “Antiques and history
go hand in hand.”
Donner Party tragedy, Indiana links and lessons learned
It's
been called one of the greatest tragedies in the history of Westward
migration. The Donner Party tragedy's most gruesome aspects occurred in the Sierra
Nevada mountains during the brutal winter or 1846-47, but there are
some Hoosier links with the ill-fated wagon train. Nelson's studio
guest not only explained the Indiana connection, he shared
lessons derived (in conflict resolution, leadership selection, and
group decision-making) from the tragedy that involved stranded,
California-bound pioneers, some of whom eventually resorted to
cannibalism. Although group leader George Donner was born
in North Carolina and, as a 62-year-old farmer, was based in
Springfield, Ill., when the expedition headed West, he had lived for
several years in Greensburg, Indiana. In fact, Nelson's guest,
Hoosier business consultant and speaker Karl Ahlrichs is a
descendant of George Donner, one of whose wives is buried in
Indiana. (A subsequent wife, Donner's third, accompanied the
California-bound group.) The “Donner” name not only is on sites in
California (including what is now known as Donner Pass, where some
of the more than 40 deaths occurred). It also is on parks and
buildings in southern Indiana because of the influence of the
extended family in this state. After researching what happened with
the Donner Party and why, Karl explained how he uses this
historic episode to enhance decision-making and critical thinking
skills. (Photo courtesy: Donner
Memorial State Park)
Underground Railroad heritage across Indiana: myths and reality
Oral
histories, diaries, notations in family Bibles, and letters. All of
those have been crucial in figuring out which historic homes, inns,
taverns, and other buildings may have been stops on the
Underground Railroad – and which ones probably were not,
according to Indiana
Freedom Trails, Inc. But exaggerations and misconceptions
abound. To hear some folks tell it, almost all 19th century homes
with cellars, attics or other hiding places were used in the crusade
to help African-Americans escape from slave owners in the South. How
do we separate myth from fact? How can you verify folklore about an
old building? And did you know that one of the nation's best-known
abolitionists and women's rights activists Sojourner Truth had connections to Indiana?
To
share insights on these and other aspects of the Underground
Railroad, historic researcher and genealogist Dona Stokes-Lucas
of Indianapolis joined Nelson in studio. Dona, who is on the
board of directors of Indiana Freedom Trails, Inc., helped organize a national Underground Railroad Conference 2009 set for Sept. 16-19 at
the Hilton Indianapolis North, 8181 N. Shadeland Ave. Indiana
Freedom Trails is a diverse group that seeks to identify, verify and
preserve Hoosier sites that were part of the Underground Railroad
network.
(Image of Sojourner Truth courtesy of Mathew Brady
Studio, albumen silver print c. 1864, National Portrait Gallery.)
High school hoops, mascots and history
Why
was West Baden High School's basketball team called The Sprudels?
What Hoosier teams, then or now, were known as the Epsom Salts, the
Pimento Peppers, and the Blue Jeans? And why are we doing a show
about Hoosier hoops in August? Well, it's because of a brand new
book, Hoosiers
All: Indiana High School Basketball Teams (Hawthorne
Publishing, $25), which is being touted as a definitive exploration
of all boys and girls high school basketball teams that ever
existed, including those at long-shuttered schools in small towns.
Nelson was joined in studio by Hoosiers All author Emerson Houck, a retired Eli Lilly & Co.
executive who also has headed up a hospital auditing firm and is a
trustee emeritus of Hanover College. His book – for which Emerson
spent years traveling to small towns across Indiana with his wife
Jane – was launched as part of a 2009 gala at the Indiana High School Basketball Hall
of Fame in New Castle. He says some mascot names are obvious
if you know local folklore: the Elnora Owls is a result of Elnora's
nickname as “owl town” because of an abundance of the birds in the
environs. But why are Vincennes teams known as the Alices? Expect us
also to explore the Banquo Ghosts, Bedford Stonecutters, and
Stinesville Quarry Lads. It also may surprise folks to learn many
Hoosier high schools had girls basketball teams during the 1920s.
We'll ask Emerson why the girls teams vanished for generations, only
to be revived with Title IX in the 1970s. This show was a slam-dunk.
It was enlightening, informative – and fun.
Greek history in Indiana
Hoopah! Don't you enjoy our rotating series about ethnic immigration
to the Hoosier state? Previous shows have explored our German
history and our Scottish heritage. Now, Hoosier History Live! turns to all things Greek in Indiana, including Holy Trinity Greek
Christian Orthodox Church. Georgia Gianakos Buchanan, who
joined Nelson in studio, is one of the best-known Hoosiers of Greek
heritage. A former
president of Indiana Special Olympics, an arts advocate, fund raiser
for charities, and a writer, Georgia is a first-generation
Greek-American whose parents emigrated here in the 1920s. Her father
opened a restaurant in a near-Westside neighborhood known as “The
District” that was home to many Greek families. Georgia is the
author of Paved With Gold, a new edition of her novel
about Greek-Americans that originally was published in 1979. She
was our guide as we explored why Greeks came to the Hoosier
state, where they settled, the jobs they undertook, and the culture
they have strived to preserve. Holy Trinity, which grew from a
handful of families at the parish's beginnings in 1910, now has more
than 2,000 members.
Fun facts: The church originally was
located on the site today of the Indiana History Center at West and
New York streets. (Check out the historical marker there.) In the
early 1960s, Holy Trinity moved to its long-time home at 40th and
Pennsylvania; now, the church is at an eye-catching, new building
with a Byzantine dome in western Carmel.
Al Green's, the Paramount, Eastgate and other bygone landmarks of Eastside Indy
Remember Al Green's
Famous Food, the once-wildly popular drive-in restaurant on
East Washington Street? Even though food service was so slow it
became a standing (or sitting) joke among motorist-customers, Al
Green's was packed for several generations and sported a towering,
neon sign that could be seen for miles at night. You also may fondly
remember the glorious heyday of Eastgate Shopping Center,
long before it devolved into being Eastgate Consumer Mall and
endured a prolonged demise. You probably DON'T remember
Wonderland Amusement Park, a sprawling entertainment center with
diving horses, a beer garden, “dream-like” architecture, and thrill
rides; the amusement park on East Washington Street had a fleeting
(but huge) heyday before burning to the ground in 1911. These and
other bygone landmarks on Eastside Indy will be our show's focus.
Nelson's guest, author Julie Young, whose new visual
history book, Eastside of Indianapolis: A Brief History (The
History Press), includes those warmly remembered landmarks. Also
featured are the Rivoli Theater (believe it or not, it once was a beloved, revival movie house), the
Paramount Music Palace (its pipe organ was stunning), and the
Eastwood, a movie theater with a massive, curved screen that
made it “the” place to see “Star Wars” in the 1970s. Julie grew up
on the Eastside, as did Nelson, who is quoted in the book.
1918 influenza epidemic and Indiana
Swine flu has been a big worry, with lots
of references to the devastation and dread associated with one of
the world's worst epidemics. It was the influenza virus of 1918,
which followed World War I and ravaged North America and Europe. But
what was the impact in Indiana? Were there ramifications here beyond
the loss of lives? Hoosier historian Bill Beckjoined
Nelson to share insights about the 1918 influenza epidemic, a “hot”
history topic now. In fact, just a few hours after our show on July
18th, Bill spoke about the 1918 epidemic in a program open to the
public at the Indiana Medical
History Museum, 3045 E. Vermont St. Here's one way the 1918 epidemic impacted
Indiana: According to Bill, the widespread deaths created a national
boom in sales of coffins made by Batesville
Casket Co. in southern Indiana.
Dillinger and Mooresville town history
Amid
the hype about outlaw John Dillinger and the new movie “Public Enemies” starring Johnny Depp, Nelson explored
the heritage of the Morgan County town where the bank robber spent
many of his formative years and first slid into a life of crime. Mooresville,
which is located ten miles southwest of Indianapolis, has a rich
heritage even aside from its association with the youthful
Dillinger; to share it, Hoosier History Live! lined up a
studio visit from a lifelong resident steeped in his hometown's
history and folklore. Don Adams is a retired history teacher at Mooresville High School. Don grew up
in a house once owned by one of Mooresville's other notable
residents: watercolor artist Paul Hadley the designer of the state flag of Indiana. Don and Nelson also
discussed how
Mooresville feels about its link with Dillinger, who moved there as
a teenager with his father and stepmother. This show is part of our rotating series of town histories; previous shows
have focused on Greencastle, Madison, Sheridan, Greenfield, and the
bygone town of Elkinsville.
Filming of movie about 1911 inaugural 500 Mile Race
Following
on the heels of our recent show about the colorful life of Indianapolis
Motor Speedway founder Carl Fisher Hoosier History Live! explored an exciting, current project about a
milestone in Indy city history. Nelson was joined in
studio by businessman and motor sports enthusiast Roger Brummett, who, as associate producer, is helping arrange the funding for a
major movie now in production about the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911, a race that was
extremely controversial. (Photo Courtesy:
Al Weatherburn). The $35 million movie is sparking a lot of excitement. The screenplay is by none other
than Angelo
Pizzo of Bloomington, who wrote Hoosiers (1986) and Rudy (1993), smash-hit movies about other Indiana sports
legends. A racetrack designed to resemble the Speedway of 1911 is
expected to be built in Newton County for the movie, which will
feature Carl Fisher as a major character.According to Donald
Davidson's Official History of the Indianapolis 500, the
winner of the inaugural 500, Ray Harroun,
always thought of himself more as an engineer and inventor than a
race driver. He's believed to have been the very first person to use
a rearview mirror when he installed one on his Marmon Wasp that won the first 500.
Artists who stayed here: their challenges in making it
The Indiana State Museum is touting a new exhibition as the
first major one ever to explore the challenges that have confronted
artists who opt to remain in the Midwest. According to fine arts
curator Rachel Perry, the exhibit, titled Making It in the Midwest: Artists Who Chose to Stay “brings together an important array of historical works, many of
which are in private collections and have not been seen publicly for
decades.”
Rachel is the author of a lavishly
illustrated book about some of the most illustrious artists who
stayed. Her book, T.C. Steele and the Society of Western Artists,
1896-1914(IU Press), examines the legendary Steele and his
painting techniques as well as his role as a catalyst for Brown
County's art colony. (Fun fact: Rachel knows that scenic turf well.
She's a longtime resident of rural Brown County.) The exhibit
features about 50 paintings from the Society of Western Artists,
which formed in the late 1800s to bring greater attention to works
created in the Midwest. They organized annual exhibitions that
attracted national notice. Even so, Rachel notes, “Hoosier artists
today continue to struggle to build their careers and sustain their
artistic passions while remaining in Indiana.” (Photo Courtesy: Indianapolis Museum of Art)
Digging up history: Madam Walker home, Ransom Place and two-story outhouse
What artifacts are buried at the site of Madam Walker's
long-demolished house? What about at the former sites of homes built
in the late 1800s in the near-Westside neighborhood known today as
Ransom Place? And what about a legendary (or notorious) two-story
outhouse that “serviced” low-income, multi-family dwellings as
recently as the 1940s? Every summer, an archaeological dig overseen
by Paul Mullins has tackled each of those questions. Paul, an
associate prof of anthropology and director of IUPUI's archaeology
field school was Nelson's studio guest and explored the
fascinating excavations into Hoosier history that his students
undertake.
This summer, Paul & crew are in the midst of a much-publicized dig
in the 600 block of N. West Street to find artifacts linked to the
home and office of Madam Walker. Experts think Madam Walker, who
died in 1919, may have been the first African-American woman to
become a millionaire as a result of her hair care and beauty
products. The daughter of former slaves, Madam Walker was born in
the Deep South in 1867, just two years after the Civil War. She
moved to Indianapolis in 1910 to launch her company; initially,
Madam and her husband, C.J. Walker, lived in a rental house. By May
1911, she had become sufficiently prosperous to buy a spacious,
two-story house that had been built in the 1870s by a white couple
from New Hampshire. (More than 150 guests attended the Walkers'
housewarming party. A harpist entertained, and the home was
decorated with palms.) Since May 2009, Paul and his IUPUI students have
been digging on the site of the Walker residence, which was razed in
the mid-1960s.
A few summers ago, Paul and his students excavated in the 900 block
of California Street, searching for artifacts related to homes built
in the 1870s for working-class, multi-ethnic families. Paul
emphasizes that, until about 1920, the near-Westside was much more
diverse than people realize, with many German, Irish and Greek
immigrants living in the neighborhood. Hundreds of these homes were
later demolished, particularly as IUPUI developed. Today, the Ransom
Place Historic District is, he says, “the only surviving remnant” of
what had been a densely populated residential area.
And then there's the two-story outhouse, a photo of which is
featured in many Indianapolis history books, including Nelson's Indianapolis Then and Now(thanks to his collaborator, photo
historian Joan Hostetler). Serving multi-family households living in
poverty and ignored by many city leaders, the unusual privy was
located on property that's now part of the IUPUI campus. The privy
stood in the 400 block of University Boulevard (it was called Agnes
Street until being renamed in the 1980s), today the site of IUPUI's
new Campus Center.
A few summers ago, well before the Campus Center construction, Paul
and his students went digging to find artifacts related to the
outhouse. He says determining the precise locations of outhouses is
relatively easy. That's because generations of people tended to use
privies as makeshift Dumpsters, tossing mounds of trash in them.
Paul & crew found everything from a “lucky” coin popular in the
1930s to Milk of Magnesia bottles, Jergens hand lotion, and animal
bones.
Nelson spoke to Paul about the insights these digs have revealed
about our culture from earlier eras as well as, including the amazing life of Madam Walker. By the way, she spent the final two
years of her life based in the New York City area, dividing her time
between a Harlem townhouse and an Irvington-on-Hudson mansion. (Her
home on West Street continued as her company's office for many
years.) Artifacts excavated this summer become the property of the
Madame Walker Theatre Center, which is located on Indiana Avenue
just north of the dig site. (Photos Courtesy of IUPUI Anthropology
Department)
At 90, P.E. MacAllister of MacAllister
Machinery Co. reflects on Indianapolis civic history
In July 90-year-old Indianapolis business leader and
philanthropist P.E. MacAllister was named a Living Legend by the Indiana Historical Society.
Mr. MacAllister will join an illustrious class of Legend inductees
that also will include Indiana Pacers commentator Bobby “Slick"
Leonard, who coached the team during its triumphant era in the
bygone ABA league; Olympics organizer Anita DeFrantz, a Shortridge
High School graduate who won a bronze medal as a rower in the 1976
Montreal Olympics, then became an attorney and rose to the top ranks
of the International Olympics Committee; and shopping mall magnates
Herb and Mel Simon. (Photo to the left: P.E. & Chris
MacAllister)
Anticipating the Living Legends gala
(for which Nelson serves on the selection/organizing committee), Mr.
MacAllister visited Hoosier History Live! to reflect on the state
where he's had a tremendous impact as a civic leader. Now
chairman of the board of MacAllister
Machinery Co., which was founded by his father in 1945
during the post-World War II business boom, Mr. MacAllister has
focused his civic interests on everything from the Indianapolis
Opera Company to public parks, hospitals, Scottish heritage
groups, and efforts to honor veterans. (Mr. MacAllister served in
the U.S. Army air Corps during World War II.) Nelson tapped into his insights on an array of civic and historical
topics from his vantage point of 90 years.
(Photo to the right: father and
son, P.E. & E.W. MacAllister)
Kitchen history and the Hoosier cabinet
Pioneer kitchens. Indiana as a hub of furniture making in the 1800s
because of its dense hardwood forests. And the debut, marketing,
explosion in popularity, and eventual decline of the Hoosier
Cabinet, an innovative piece of furniture manufactured in Henry
County from the 1890s through the 1930s that “came to alter the
course of kitchen history”, as a new book puts it.
All
of these aspects of our heritage are explored in The Hoosier Cabinet in Kitchen History (IU Press)
written by Nancy Hiller, a Bloomington cabinetmaker. A social
historian and the owner of NR Hiller Design Inc.,
Nancy joined Nelson in studio to explore how settlers initially
arrived in the Indiana Territory – primarily on foot, with their
wagons filled with cooking pots and other supplies, unlike the
popular image, as her book puts it, of “a horse-drawn version of a
ride we might enjoy in an SUV on Interstate 70 today.” From there,
Nancy and Nelson will explore the development of kitchens and the
way women's work lives evolved, along with the marketing of the
Hoosier Cabinet as a revolutionary “step-saver”. According to
Nancy's book, more than 2 million had been sold by 1920, meaning
Hoosier Cabinets (which eventually were produced by non-Indiana
businesses as well as by the Hoosier Manufacturing Company based in
Albany and New Castle) could be found in one in ten American homes.
Their appeal rapidly declined in the 1930s – Nancy and Nelson will
discuss why – but Hoosier Cabinets remain treasures for collectors
and many kitchen lovers. Nancy still recalls her mother's delight at
discovering one in the Miami city dump in the 1960s.
St.
Joseph neighborhood in Indianapolis history
Following on the heels of our shows about other historic
Indianapolis neighborhoods -Woodruff Place,
Herron-Morton Place, and the North Meridian Mansions – is an
exploration of diverse, urban St. Joseph Neighborhood on downtown Indy's near-Northside.
Our
studio guests were two well-known leaders of the neighborhood,
both long involved in historic preservation: photographer Garry Chilluffo,
president of the St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood Association
(and, not so incidentally, Nelson's collaborator on the ever-popular Indianapolis Then and Now book), and artist Leah Orr, who has won many awards for her work as a social
activist and her historic research. An activist for the homeless, Leah has lived for nearly 30 years
in St. Joseph, which is roughly bounded by Fort Wayne
and Central avenues, Pennsylvania Street and I-65.
A mixed-use neighborhood that includes everything from Civil War-era
cottages, turn-of-the-last-century row houses, and historic
commercial buildings, St. Joseph has residential
architecture that spans almost the entire history of
Indianapolis, from Italianate and Queen Anne to Renaissance Revival.
As the neighborhood has pulled itself out of a decline in the
mid-20th Century, its colorful recent history has included crusades
for historic preservation. (Leah once stopped a bulldozer in
action!) Esteemed for his architectural and commercial photography,
Garry has visually documented much of the neighborhood he calls
home.
Playwright James Still on William Conner's legacy and interpreting history
The
dramatic story of Hoosier pioneer William Conner, of Conner Prairie fame, has been told in many ways, but which interpretation is
correct? And who gets to make the historic call, not only with
Conner's life but with the presentation of any slice of our past? We
at Hoosier History Live! were thrilled to be able to call in a big gun to
tackle these and other challenges about history, Indiana Repertory Theatre's playwright-in-residence James
Still, whose new drama, Interpreting William, runs through May 31 and grapples
with similar themes.
Although James didn't grow up in Indiana and
isn't based here full-time – he grew up in Kansas, where his dad was
a high school history teacher, and he now lives on the West Coast –
James certainly qualifies as an honorary Hoosier (and an Indiana
history expert!) by now. The central character in Interpreting
William is a contemporary historian on deadline who is
confronted by mysteries in the complicated personal life of Conner
(1777-1855). The play is James' ninth IRT production. Many of them,
including his acclaimed adaptation of Booth Tarkington's The
Gentleman from Indianaand last year's Looking Over
the President's Shoulder, have touched on Hoosier historical
figures.
Nelson spoke with James about the challenges in interpreting history, how
to capture an audience's interest in it, and his take on Conner, who
stayed here while his first wife (a Lenape, or Delaware, Indian) and
their six children were “re-settled” to the West. (Conner then
married a white woman, with whom he had 10 more children.) In Interpreting William, the historian character is confronted
with challenges after visiting Conner Prairie, the interactive
outdoor history park, which has partnered with the IRT for James'
play.
Bluegrass music heritage in Indiana
Even though Indiana may not be the primary state associated with
bluegrass, its heritage here has been rich, deep, and includes a
hugely popular annual festival that every June turns tiny Bean
Blossom in scenic Brown County into heaven for devotees of the
music. Who better to share folklore about the links between
Hoosiers, bluegrass music, and its legendary “father,” Bill
Monroe, than WICR-FM's own Cary Allen Fields, host of The Fields of Bluegrass
Radio Hour featured on the popular Friday Night Folk show,
and Col. James Peva, author of Bean Blossom: Its People and Its Music, a visual history
of the town that's been a site for bluegrass performances ever since
1940. Col. Peva also is the official historian for the Bill Monroe Music Park.
Cary is a guitarist/bassist/singer who writes for Bluegrass
Now magazine. They shared insights about Monroe
(1911-1996), whom Cary first met as a young boy.
The festival in Bean Blossom, the
longest continuously running bluegrass festival in the world, celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2006. Col. Peva, a
retired colonel for the Indiana State Police and an associate
professor emeritus at IU, has attended every festival since its
inception.
Befriending Bill Monroe when he hired
him to play at a pistol match banquet, Col. Peva originated the
campaign for a commemorative postage stamp honoring Monroe a few years
ago.
County courthouses with architect Jim Kienle
Nelson explored the architectural gems known as
“the magnificent 92”: the majestic courthouses that dominate
town squares across Indiana. His guest,
Indianapolis architect and historic preservationist ,Jim Kienle,
is known for his award-winning restoration work. Jim, president of James T. Kienle & Associates, is in the midst of restoring
the Orange County Courthouse in Paoli; built in 1850, it is the
state's second oldest courthouse in continuous use and is seen
annually by thousands of travelers who visit the nearby resort
hotels in French Lick and West Baden. As the lavishly illustrated book Magnificent 92 (IU Press, 1991) puts it, Hoosier towns
“seemed to compete with one another for splendor and expense” in
constructing their courthouses during the 1800s and early 1900s.
Wine and winery heritage in Indiana
Substituting as host (Nelson was out of
town) was the Wine Maven herself, Jill Ditmire. Jill is an Omnimedia Wine Specialist who shares her wine wit and
wisdom in print, radio and television. She is an AWS Certified Wine
Judge and owner of Mass Ave Wine Shoppe in downtown Indianapolis.
Her guests were Tia Agnew and Brett Canady, owners
of New Day Meadery in Elwood, Indiana, who make hand crafted honey
wines, as well as Jim Bulter, author of Indiana Wines: a History ( I.U. Press).
According to Jim's book, a Frenchman from Switzerland named James
Dufour arrived in America in 1796, looking for land for a colony of
'vinedressers.' The group first settled in Kentucky, but then
purchased land in the Indiana Territory on the north bank of the
Ohio River. In the town they called Vevay, the Swiss winegrowers
successfully produced America's first commercial wines.
Greencastle town history
On our rotating series of town histories – Hoosier History Live!
has explored Greenfield, Clark County, Madison, and Sheridan – on
this show Nelson was joined by Greencastle civic leader and
historian Jinsie Bingham, a seventh-generation Greencastle Putnam County resident, who is a broadcasting executive. Her parents inadvertently (and innocently!) figured in
John Dillinger's infamous robbery of a Greencastle bank in 1933
during which he escaped with the largest heist of his criminal
career.
The bank building still stands, along with
several other historic structures on or near Greencastle's town
square. Nelson spoke with Jinsie about early pioneer settlements
in the Greencastle area and the role of the National Road; the
town's great fire of 1874; the Putnam County Courthouse and its
distinctive sculpture of a World War I doughboy; the legendary
Monon Bell rivalry between DePauw in Greencastle and Wabash
College in Crawfordsville, and the area's extensive nature park.
There's also a new Putnam County Museum; Jinsie is a board member of
the museum as well as an inductee in the Indiana Broadcasters Hall
of Fame. She owns Radio Greencastle and served as the first woman
president of the Greencastle Rotary Club.
On
Greencastle's website is a free six-part “Our Town” video (a WTIU production)
Quirky characters from Indiana
The 19th state has produced its share of cult figures. We
explored two of them: Humorist/author/radio personality Jean Shepherd from Hammond (best remembered for the holiday movie favorite “A
Christmas Story”), and William
Dudley Pelley, a right-wing political extremist of the 1930s
and ‘40s (he founded a group known as the Silver Shirts) who also
became a well-known psychic and believer in the occult. Pelley spent
his final years in Noblesville and is buried there. What do Shepherd
and Pelley have in common, aside from being (to borrow a word used
by our studio guest) curmudgeons?
Well, our guest, IRT actor John
Guerrasio, is an expert in both of these quirky
characters. John grew up in New York City listening to Shepherd's
late-night radio monologues about his Hammond boyhood, tales that
are said to have influenced top humorists such as Jerry Seinfeld. A
Christmas Story (1983) was drawn from a bestselling book
titled “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash” by Shepherd,
who died in 1999 after years of semi-seclusion.
In
addition to researching Shepherd, John has spent years working on a
screenplay about Pelley (1890-1965), who sympathized with the
Nazis and served a stint in federal prison for sedition
during World War II. That prison stint interrupted his life in
Noblesville. After his release from prison, Pelley focused on his
enterprise as a psychic, conducted séances in his Noblesville
garage, and sent material about the occult to followers around the
country.
Hallie Bryant on Harlem Globetrotters history
This March, with the state in the midst of “March Madness,” Hoosier
History Live! took a fresh perspective on basketball history
courtesy of a studio guest who has been a star at just about every
level of the game, including high school (Attucks) and college (IU).
Recently honored by the Harlem Globetrotters as the 28th player to
be inducted into the team's Ring of Legends during a game at Conseco Fieldhouse, Hallie Bryant shared with us about the links between Hoosiers and
the world-famous team that combines athleticism with entertainment.
Amazingly, Hallie was one of four teammates
from Attucks High School's remarkable Class of '53 who ended
up touring the world as
Globetrotters. In Hallie's case, it meant traveling to 82
countries during 13 barnstorming seasons as a player and another 14
in public relations.
Launched on the Southside of Chicago
(despite the “Harlem” in the name) in the late 1920s, the
Globetrotters have had links to Hoosiers almost from the beginning.
Following Hallie's triumphs as a star player at IU (he co-captained
the team in 1957 and set what was then a school record for free
throws), the NBA offered limited opportunities, particularly for
black players – but the Globetrotters were a showcase.
Today, as he enjoys a series of accolades
(his jersey, along with those of other former stars from Attucks and
Washington high schools, was retired during half-time celebrations a
few weeks ago), Hallie is a popular motivational speaker,
businessman, and the author of Hallie's Comet:
Breaking the Code a self-help book that draws on his
rich experiences, including those that we will explore with the
Globetrotters.
Queen Victoria wasn't a Hoosier, but the way she reacted to the
death of Prince Albert in 1861 eventually affected Indiana
residents. She set the standard for strict guidelines of mourning
etiquette that dictated everything from the bereaved's apparel to
the way coffins were displayed – and how the deceased were
photographed.
Our studio, Sheila Riley,
an expert on Victorian-era mourning customs, who also is
director of collections at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis,
spoke with Nelson about all aspects of Victorian-era folklore about
death and mourning, from social behavior to jewelry.
For more information visit the National Museum of Funeral History in Houston, which Shelia says has an extraordinary collection of
artifacts related to mourning.
A political trailblazer for Hoosier women: Marge O'Laughlin
She began running for public office after leaving her husband
and taking their seven children with her. The youngest child was 2
years old. From those unlikely beginnings more than 40 years ago, Marge
O'Laughlin eventually rose in the 1980s to attain what was then
the highest-ranking political office ever for a woman in Indiana.
And when popular “Marge O” won re-election as State Treasurer in
1990, she was the top vote-getter on the state GOP ticket.
“Marge O” joined Nelson in studio to explore
the challenges, influences, and strategies for success that have
been part of her eventful life, from her days at Shortridge High
School in the late 1940s (she and future US Sen. Richard Lugar
were fellow cellists in the orchestra) to stints as a Northside
housewife, Marion County clerk, Supreme Court clerk, and,
eventually, the official in charge of state investments as Indiana's
treasurer. The political pioneer once told Nelson, “I'm a great one for the art of the possible.”
Oscars heritage and Indiana
Are you assuming there's no Hoosier connection to the
Academy Awards. To the contrary, there's a deep Oscar heritage with
Hoosiers, which we explored with two well-known movie experts: Jeff Sparks, president and founder of the widely praised Heartland Film
Festival, and Bonnie Britton, former movie critic for The Indianapolis Star. Their “Oscars & Indiana” fodder
included the 50th anniversary of the “Best Picture” winner of 1959, Ben Hur, which was based on the spectacularly
successful novel by Lew Wallace of Crawfordsville. Ben Hur won 11 Oscars, which set a
record then.
Bonnie, Jeff and Nelson also discussed
the parallels between the posthumous nomination for Heath Ledger and
those for Fairmount's James Dean, who had been killed in a car crash
before he was nominated for East of Eden and Giant.
Then there are the four Academy Awards won by the late filmmaker
Robert Wise, who grew up in Winchester and Connersville; he went
on to direct The Sound of Music, West Side Story, and
an astonishing array of other hits.
And speaking of anniversaries, it's been 30
years since the 1979 release of Breaking Away, which won an Academy Award for the late
screenwriter Steve Tesich, who grew up in East Chicago and
based the movie on his experiences as an IU student. Other previous
Oscar winners with Hoosier connections include actor Karl Malden,
composer Hoagy Carmichael, and actress Anne Baxter.
Fox Lake, one of the few resorts in the country for African-Americans during the 1930s and 1940s
During the 1930s and 1940s, an era when African-Americans were
prohibited from buying property at popular lakeside resorts in
northern Indiana and elsewhere, a group of Hoosiers decided to
create their own summer community near Angola in the state's
far-Northeastern corner. So began the fascinating story of tranquil
Fox Lake, one of the few resorts in the country then for
African-Americans. Fox Lake is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Nelson's studio guests, two
Indianapolis-area natives for whom Fox Lake became their summer home
throughout their childhood and teenage years, were Joanna Flowers,
an administrator for state government who now takes her
grandchildren to the family cottage that her parents built in 1948,
and Edwyna Ratcliff, whose family never owned property at Fox Lake,
but who began accompanying friends to the resort when the secluded
community didn't even have electricity yet. As Fox Lake grew,
attracting African-American residents from Chicago, Detroit and
various cities in Ohio, the resort eventually included a clubhouse
that featured dances and performances by well-known musicians, a
restaurant, a pier, and tennis courts.
Lincoln in Indiana: youth speak out
This is considered the “Year of Lincoln” across the
country because of his 200th birthday on February 12. To
highlight the character-shaping and life-impacting events that
happened during his often-overlooked years in the new Hoosier state
(Abe moved to the southern Indiana wilderness with his family in
1816, the same year we became a state), Nelson called on some young
people – and their well-known teacher -- who have been immersing
themselves in Lincoln and Indiana lore.
Nelson's guests were Andrea Neal,
his former colleague (and fellow Hoosier history lover) at The
Indianapolis Star, where she was editor of the editorial pages.
These days, Andrea is a history teacher at St. Richard's
Episcopal School in Indianapolis, which has been named one of
the state's “Lincoln Bicentennial Schools” by the federal bicentennial
commission for the 200th birthday. He spoke with Andrea and her two
students, who joined her in studio, about a candlelight vigil in
which they plan participate on the eve of the birthday. Mostly,
though Andrea and two eighth graders at St. Richard's, Courtney
Burke and Caroline Tucker, explored on the air young
Abe's eventful years as Hoosier (his family didn't move to Illinois
until he was 21), which included everything from the death of his
beloved mother, adjustments to a stepparents and step-siblings, as
well as his beginnings as a young speechmaker and his masterful use
of humor.
Vintage photos of African-American daily life
As Hoosier History Live! saluted Black
History Month, we focused on a treasure trove. More than
700,000 historic photos, many never seen in public, were
in the private collection of the late New York eye surgeon, Dr.
Stanley Burns.
Nelson's studio guest
Modupe Labode
an assistant professor of museum studies and history at IUPUI was
assigned to sift through these thousands of images to create the
exhibit “Shadows and Substance: African-American Photographs from the Burns
Archive” that opened January 19, 2009 at the
Indiana State Museum,and covers African-American life from the
1840s through the 1960s. The Burns Archive Website: www.burnsarchive.com
Town history of Madison, Indiana
Hoosier History Live! focused on the heritage of the scenic town
on the Ohio River that was the Hoosier state's leading city for much
of the first half of the 1800s. Our guide was studio guest
Wayne Sanford a Madison enthusiast who frequently gives lively
presentations about various aspects of the town, including its
famous Lanier Mansion as well as the impact of railroads on the
city, where the downtown area (a grand total of 133 blocks) has been
designated one of the largest national historic landmarks in the
entire country. Expect to see the spotlight shine a lot in upcoming
months on the town that's a historic gem. Madison incorporated in
1809, meaning next year is its 200th anniversary; celebrations
galore are planned. www.historicmadisoninc.com
Jewish history in Indiana
Trent Pendley, president of the Indiana Jewish Historical
Society, a Porter County writer,
jeweler and historian, talked about the various waves of Jewish
immigration to the state, including Indiana's firsts Jewish
settlers, as well as areas in the state where Jews were forbidden to
buy property. According to Peopling Indiana: The Ethnic
Experience (Indiana Historical Society Press, 1996), about 80
percent of the state's Jewish population today lives in the
Indianapolis metro area, the northwest Indiana metro area, South
Bend, Fort Wayne, and Evansville, in that order. But did you know
that smaller Wabash, Indiana, once had a thriving Jewish community?
According to The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis (IU Press,
1994)Jews have comprised about 2 percent of the Hoosier capital's
population for most of the city's history. Trent, an IU grad, is the
author of an in-depth article, “Jewish History of Indiana Dunes
County, 1830-1950,” featured in the Indiana Jewish History journal from the Indiana Jewish Historical Society.
Cemetery history in Indiana
Cemeteries have a rich history in
Indiana and have been in
the news recently with the move of tombstones and human remains from
a mid-1800s cemetery in the Castleton area of Indianapolis to Crown Hill
Cemetery to allow for the widening of I-69 near its
interchange with I-465. Our studio guest, Jeannie Regan-Dinius of the Indiana
Division of Natural Resources helped oversee the reburial.
Nelson spoke with Jeannie about the history of Crown Hill
(the country's third largest cemetery) and its predecessor, Greenlawn Cemetery, which was located near White River and prone to
flooding. We also discussed magnificent Green Hill Cemetery near Bedford
that has unforgettable, personalized monuments created by
generations of stone cutters in the community.
Scottish heritage in Indiana
Dr. Lee
Cloe, a charter member – and secretary emeritus – of the Scottish Society of Indianapolis, was our guide, as we explored why
Scots immigrated to Indiana, where they settled, the jobs they
undertook, and their contributions to Hoosier culture.
Silent-movie stars and theaters in Indiana
Circle
Theatre on Monument Circle was considered one of the first
silent movie palaces west of New York when it opened in 1916. One of the top stars of the silent screen, Monte
Blue, grew up in an orphanage in Knightstown, Indiana and that Rudolph
Valentino's leading lady in the movie that shot him to stardom was a
native of Vincennes.
David L.
Smith, a Ball State Professor Emeritus, former host of WISH-TV's
popular “When Movies Were Movies” series, and author of the
definitive book Hoosiers in Hollywood (2006, Indiana Historical Society Press) explored Hoosier
connections to silent movie stars and theaters. You can visit Dave's website at www.whenmoviesweremovies.com
Bush Stadium history
When Bush Stadium was built on W. 16th Street in 1931, it was
considered one of the country's best minor-league baseball parks.
As the longtime home of the Indianapolis Indians, as well as
various teams in the old Negro leagues, Bush became much loved
and served as the historic setting for the movie Eight Men Out (1988), which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana has placed the
empty stadium on its list of 10 Most Endangered Places in the
state. Mark
Dollase, Landmark's vice president of preservation services, said Bush barely escaped demolition by a potential developer last
year.
Elvis's last concert
Among the Hoosiers who attended Elvis Presley's final
concert on June 26, 1977 – 31 years ago this month – were
two reviewers Zach Dunkin
who pioneered local rock n' roll coverage with his Rock
Pile column in the old Indianapolis News (he gave The
King's concert at Market Square Arena a devastating review), and
Rita Rose who then was a concert reviewer for The
Indianapolis Star. After Elvis' performance in a gold and white
jumpsuit at MSA he stopped touring and died two months later.
For months Zach (who now is a travel
writer for The Star) received hate mail for his blistering
review, although he helped organize the group that lobbied for the
display commemorating the final Elvis concert at the site of MSA,
which was imploded in 2001.
Rita, who retired from The Star last year, now has written a cover story for The Indiana Historical
Society's Publication Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History that
includes interviews with an assortment of the 18,000 people in the
audience that fateful night. Their reactions to The King may vary,
but, as Rita puts it in her retrospective, “one thing is abundantly
clear; Elvis will never leave the building. Even if the building ... is no longer standing.”
Read Rita Rose's cover story published by
The Indiana Historical Society's magazine Traces of Indiana and
Midwestern History in the spring 2008 issue here
On
May 3, Nelson's guest Speedway native Chuck Bennett, a teacher at
Speedway High School steered us through Speedway's heritage. He
lives in a historic house that once was the home of the city's
original platter. In a strange twist of fate, Mr. Bennett's front
door even came from the Allison Mansion, the home of International
Motor Speedway co-founder James Allison.
Speedway's was as a “horseless” town after
the first 500-Mile Race was launched in 1911. The first competitive
race at the track occurred two years earlier in 1909. That race
involved hot air balloons, not cars, with Speedway co-founder Carl
Fisher among the contestants.
Last year, Mr. Bennett taught history at
Speedway Junior High School and supervised his students as they set
up a Website about the town's historical neighborhood. To see aerial
photos of the town taken decades ago as well as photos of historic
homes as they look today, click here
Mr. Bennett suggests the following Websites
for exploring the heritage of the town and racetrack:
Although James Dean had a long list of credits in live television shows, as well as a few small movie roles at the start of his career, he had starred in only three films before his death in a car crash in 1955. The three movies were East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant.
(Aug. 21, 2010) - Colorful history, welcoming porches, towering trees and a diverse assortment of homeowners are distinctive aspects of the next neighborhood to be featured in our rotating series. Many of the homes in the historic 
It's well-known that before the area became residential, it served as the site of 
At the epicenter of all this was political commando 
Except for the top of the ticket (Lyndon B. Johnson had been the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry Indiana), Hoosiers have a long history of ballot-splitting. And it may seem like ancient history now - with Evan Bayh's announcement earlier this year that he will not run for re-election - but speculation he could have been Obama's running mate hung over much of the '08 campaign here, according to Kip's book. Before that, Bayh and several of his closest colleagues aligned themselves with Hillary Clinton in the primary battle, meaning Kip and his crew became their opposition.
When Obama was preparing for his TV debate with John McCain, Kip worked furiously to arrange for the French Lick Springs Hotel to be the site of his debate prep, with an event that would feature Larry Bird playing hoops with the candidate. Kip writes that the failure of this to happen - in part because Bird decided he didn't want to get involved in the presidential race - "was one of the biggest disappointments of the campaign personally for me because . . . (it) would have been a nice little piece of Indiana history."
A popular Republican congressman from Indiana - who later would become vice president of the United States - is thought to have been the last public figure to shake Abraham Lincoln's hand before the president's assassination in 1865. The Hoosier congressman had been invited to accompany President and Mrs. Lincoln to Ford's Theatre that fateful evening in April, but he declined.
The performance took place in the Athenaeum's Biergarten and is the final concert in their popular Summer Concert Series.
(July 31, 2010) - In 1934, an 8-year-old boy who lived in Irvington - and who would grow up to become one of the best-known TV news anchors in Indianapolis history - patronized a theater for the first time. It was Loew's Palace at 35 N. Pennsylvania St., where young 
Howard joined Nelson in studio to delve into the colorful history that kicked off in September 1858 when the Metropolitan, the city's first theater, opened at 148 W. Washington St. with a seating capacity of more than 1,700. The Metropolitan later became known as the Park, then as the Capitol when it was a burlesque house as it declined before closing in the 1930s.
The new movie theater became one of the city's first to be air conditioned. For decades, it was considered among the city's finest movie theaters, but by the early 1970s it had declined and even was showing adult movies, some rated X.
Hollywood director, writer and producer Rob Reiner attended the premiere, along with the movie's stars Anthony Edwards, John Mahoney and Penelope Ann Miller.
Stepping in this week for ever-busy Chris Gahl was our Roadtripper-ess, Amy Lamb of the Indiana Historical Society.
Born in 1900, he became known as "Mr. Earlham" in much the way Herman B Wells was regarded as "Mr. IU."
Chris Gahl of the 
After that, some patrons referred to them as diners, although they did not have stainless-steel exteriors. But the small chain specialized in food often served in diners, including milkshakes, catfish and beef Manhattans.
In a first for Hoosier History Live!, our guest holds the title of Commander of the British Empire. That honor, bestowed by the Queen of England, is merely one of many high notes in the remarkable life and career of 
What's more, Leppard returned to the podium at the Hilbert Circle Theatre last September when his musical successor, Mario Venzago, left the ISO after contract negotiations failed. The ISO reached out to its conductor laureate and asked him to lead the orchestra for its season opener.
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1930 and played its first concert at Shortridge High School. Since then, three venues have served for long periods as the concert hall for the ISO. The second venue was Clowes Hall, which opened in 1963. The ISO moved to Circle Theatre on Monument Circle with its initial renovation in 1984.
Roadtripper Chris Gahl of the 
Founded in the early 1970s, Spirit of America began as a hometown marching band and now tours the country to teach of the about the United States and the history of our country. This group has toured Europe, Africa, Canada and even Australia. Be sure to make the easy Roadtrip to Manual High School this Thursday!
(June 26, 2010) - Everyone loves Indiana county courthouses. Those architectural gems known as "the magnificent 92," the majestic courthouses that dominate town squares across Indiana, will be the focus of our show. Nelson's distinguished guest is Indianapolis architect and historic preservationist Jim Kienle, of Moody Nolan, who is known for his award-winning restoration work.
Magnificent 92 quotes a 19th-century historian as rhapsodizing: "A man might sooner be the architect of that edifice than be President of the United States or King of England." By the way, most of the "calendar girls" were in their 80s; the eldest was nearly 94 years old. (They posed behind discreetly placed miniature replicas of the beloved courthouse.)
Jim and Nelson also will discuss bygone courthouses, including the ornate 
The Wabash County Courthouse received international attention soon after opening in the 1870s because it was the site of an early experiment in electricity. Thousands of spectators watched electricity jump from one lamp to another in the dome of the hilltop courthouse. (Regular listeners of Hoosier History Live! will recall a previous Trivia Mystery question about this event.)
Spring and summertime are fishin' time, and Hoosier History Live! reeled in a catch as a guest. To offer tips about prime fishing spots across Indiana, share advice about techniques and maybe tell a whopper fish story or two, the "Outdoors" columnist for The Indianapolis Star, veteran journalist Skip Hess, joined Nelson in studio.
They also discussed artificial baits, including ones manufacturers say are "guaranteed" to catch fish, as well as various "gimmicks" (Skip's word) that he says to avoid. Conceding that he can't resist eavesdropping on conversations in fishing-gear departments, Skip shared insights from his stealth work.
According to 
(June 12, 2010) - With a heritage that includes mineral waters renowned for their supposed curative powers, an atrium with one of largest free-standing domes anywhere (it was touted as the "Eighth Wonder of the World"), a series of colorful owners and a roster of distinguished guests for more than 100 years, the two lavishly restored hotels in 
Jim Fadely, widely regarded as the ultimate expert on flamboyant Tom Taggart, the former Indianapolis mayor who purchased the French Lick hotel in the early 1900s and made it an international showplace.
At the rival West Baden Springs Hotel, mineral water was marketed as Sprudel Water.
Both hotels in recent years have undergone stunning restorations spearheaded by Bloomington-based historic preservationists Bill and Gayle Cook; Indiana Landmarks Foundation initiated the renovation of West Baden, which had been closed as a hotel since the Great Depression. (During the intervening years, West Baden Springs had served as a Jesuit seminary, then as a branch of Northwood Institute, a college that offered instruction in the culinary arts and other fields.)
The family of Irish immigrant-turned-Indianapolis mayor and French Lick Springs Hotel owner Thomas Taggart endured tragedies, just like the Kennedy family. (Both families owned homes in the resort of Hyannis Port, Mass.) The eldest of Tom Taggart's six children, a daughter named Florence, died at age 20 in a tragic yacht accident near New Orleans in 1899. However, one of Taggart's other daughters became a renowned artist. She studied art in New York City and had studios in the Taggart family homes, both in Indianapolis and Hyannis Port. In the 1930s, she also began teaching at what was then called the 
Tucked 65 miles southeast of Indianapolis is the charming town of 
(June 5, 2010) - Journey with us to an era of rural schoolhouses heated by pot-bellied stoves, "party line" telephones with eavesdropping neighbors, chicken thieves, and kerosene lanterns used for nighttime walks to the hen house. Folks used slang and phrases that would perplex many of us today. Do you know what a "dewberry" is? And what kind of farm bird is a pullet?
Mary Elizabeth's classmates often were felled by whooping cough; they also were among the first waves of children to receive the smallpox vaccine. And during the devastating influenza epidemic of 1918, Mary Elizabeth's mother became ill (she was pregnant at the time) during the Christmas holiday; she was so sick, according to Mary Elizabeth's account, that the doctor came to their home daily - sometimes twice per day. Eventually, young Mary Elizabeth also was stricken with the dreaded 
Chris Gahl of the 
Chris Gahl of the 
(May 22, 2010) - This show, one in our rotating series about town, neighborhood and county histories, is a look at the heritage of a county just southeast of Indianapolis that the 
Earlier, he had been named "Mr. Indiana Basketball" as an outstanding player for Shelbyville High School in 1947.
The History Mystery was a carry-over from two weeks ago, when there was no correct answer. The mystery concerns one of Indiana's state parks, which became the site of the first annual 
Chris Gahl of the 
Nelson's studio guest not only will explain the Indiana connection, he will share lessons derived (in conflict resolution, leadership selection and group decision-making) from the tragedy that involved stranded, California-bound pioneers, some of whom eventually resorted to cannibalism.
The "Donner" name not only is on sites in California (including what is now known as 
(May 8, 2010) - With nature in full bloom, Indiana's state parks not only beckon as serene retreats, they practically beg to be the focus of a Hoosier History Live! show. Responding to the call, we will explore their history, covering as much turf as possible with Nelson's guest, public historian Glory-June Greiff, author of 
In the 1950s, family camping boomed, as did the clamor for the creation of more state parks.
At 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 25, 1779, British Lt. Gov. Henry Hamilton surrendered to the Americans and French Canadians after a siege at 
(May 1, 2010) - In our popular series about ethnic immigration and heritage, we explored the legacy of 
Did you know marble cutters from Italy who settled in Indiana often went on to use their talents with limestone in the construction during the 1930s of cathedrals, monuments and private buildings across the country? (Carol's ancestor's handiwork graces Julian Chapel at Duke University, the National Archives and the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh.)
Hoosier History Live! is dedicated to covering all aspects of Indiana's past, including those we wish had not happened. Certainly the political and cultural dominance of the notorious 
During a sensational trial in 1925, Stephenson was found guilt of second-degree murder. The trial was in Noblesville, which drew national attention again decades later when a local building contractor discovered Klan 
Professor Safianow also has analyzed the KKK's impact during the 1920s in other parts of the state, including Tipton and Kokomo, said to be the site in 1923 of the largest conclave (called a "Konclave") ever held in the United States.
He also notes that the unraveling of – and infighting among – the Klan in Indiana had begun even before Stephenson's trial. In the aftermath, confidential files were released that described corruption and Klan ties to the administration of 
Professor Safianow, a New Jersey native educated at Rutgers and Cornell, moved to Indiana in the early 1970s to join the faculty at 
World-celebrated artist Nancy Noël invited all to experience her Spring Open House, on Saturday, May 1, and Sunday, May 2, at 
(April 17, 2010) - With so much focus recently on the Detroit-based auto industry, does anyone remember that before the Great Depression of the 1930s, Indy almost rivaled Detroit as the car-making capital? During the Roaring '20s, three of the most elegant American cars were designed and manufactured in Indy: 
Thrilled at the notion of a 500-mile race, Stutz frantically built a race car in only five weeks for the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. The Stutz car finished 11th, but that was considered a triumph because nearly half of the field dropped out during the grueling competition, which took seven hours to complete. For several years, the Stutz was advertised as "The Car That Made Good in A Day."
A Hoosier inventor born in 1857 is credited with creating one of the very first gasoline-powered cars in America. During a test run in 1894, the "horseless carriage" reached a top speed of about 7 miles per hour. To avoid scaring horses on city streets, the test run was conducted in a rural area near Kokomo, which was the inventor's adopted hometown. He built automobiles in Kokomo until the 1920s.
In the Elkinsville show audiocast (in bold above), you can hear the thunder and lightning in the background. It was recorded from 11:30 a.m. to noon on the day of the 
(April 10, 2010) - For four months in 1944, a Hoosier was the lead flying ace in the entire U.S. Navy. His biographer, 
DePauw University and learned to fly during his college years.
Eventually, the Hoosier earned the title of "ace" (achieved by downing five enemy aircraft in aerial combat), doing so while piloting one of the famous F6F Hellcat fighter planes. The Hellcats, Ray writes, "helped turn the tide for the Americans" in the aerial war against the Japanese. 
As a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps, this native of northern Indiana was reported missing in action and was given up for dead twice during the war. Both times, he survived terrifying ordeals. After World War II, he became a pioneer sportscaster in the early days of television.
Proudly two years
(April 3, 2010) - 
Built in 1922, the theater has been a venue for Indiana entertainment for more than 80 years.
Jane and Rick guide us through the heritage of a once-isolated county that, as they put it, attracted generations of photographers, painters and potters, as well as a mix of lifelong locals, including "hardworking 'hill' people sometimes just eking out a living."
The Hoosier History Trivia Mystery is part of our salute to Women's History Month. In 1999, a "first" for women occurred in the campaign for Indianapolis mayor. A major political party nominated a woman in the race. Although she lost the mayoral election, she previously had made Indiana history by serving as the state's first female secretary of state, from 1994 to 2003.
Although many accounts focus on Mrs. Harrison's gentle nature and tragic illness – she died of tuberculosis in the White House in 1892, throwing the country (and her adopted hometown of Indianapolis) into deep mourning – Mrs. Harrison initiated many accomplishments and often stood firmly on principle, sometimes on issues particularly appropriate for exploration during Women's History Month.
At the White House, Mrs. Harrison started the china collection that continues to this day. (A stunning, nearly life-sized portrait painting of Mrs. Harrison hangs today near the 
The Harrisons were the first family to live in the White House with electricity, beginning in 1890. They also were the first family to have a decorated Christmas tree on the premises. (Previous generations typically adorned their holiday trees only with candles.)
New this season will be "Grandparents Day," happening each Wednesday — special programming for grandparents and grandchildren. Also, each Thursday will feature "Taste the Past," where you can sample authentic foods from Indiana's Prairietown residents.
One grew up along the banks of the White River picking up Indian artifacts, and the other is an oft-canoeist of many rivers in Indiana. Per writer 
Beyond the Native American connection to the river, Jim took us through the progression of European settlers arriving in flatboats. He told us a bit about the 
(March 6, 2010) - On Good Friday of 1948, the town was devastated by a tornado that flattened almost everything in its path. By that time, the Hendricks County town of 
Find out more during this show, one in our rotating series about Indiana towns that already has explored Fort Wayne, Greensburg, Greenfield, Sheridan and many others. Nelson was joined in studio by Danville lawyer and civic leader Jeff Baldwin, the author of 
There were no dorms or fraternity houses, so most students roomed with local families. That meant the construction of spacious homes with multiple entrances – and, as Jeff puts it, "a lifestyle that we now would call upscale" for many Danville residents until the college closed in 1951. (At the turn of the last century, Central Normal had trained more teachers than IU, Purdue, and the forerunners of Ball State and Indiana State combined, according to Jeff's book.)
(Feb. 27, 2010) - It opened as the 
To guide us through the dramatic history of the institution that became known to generations of Hoosiers as simply "Central State," Nelson is joined in studio by Chuck Hazelrigg, a dentist and pharmacist who worked at Central State for 15 years beginning in 1970.
During the show, Chuck shares insights about the history of buildings, including the original structure (which eventually became known as the "men’s building"), the women's building and what was known as the Sick Hospital. Central State’s pathology building now houses the 
This person chaired the psychology department at Indiana University for several years during and after World War II and recruited several like-minded psychologists and researchers to join the faculty. This psychologist also conducted behavioral experiments with pigeons and rats while in the Hoosier state. In 1948, this psychologist left IU to teach at Harvard University.
(Feb. 20, 2010) - As Hoosier History Live! saluted Black History Month, we explored the waves of African-American migration here, which began even before Indiana became a state in 1816. Nelson was joined in studio by Wilma Moore, senior archivist for African-American history at the 
Early communities of African Americans in the 1800s included the 
Eventually, several orthopedic businesses and suppliers were founded in – or chose to move to 
and radio sets just beginning to “pre-empt” entertainment. Through vignettes of individual residents’ stories – ranging from a local teacher and a fashion editor to a boxer, a chicken plucker and an inn keep – his book also depicts disturbing aspects of Terre Haute life in 1927. Those include the segregation of blacks into a neighborhood derisively called “Baghdad” and the disdain for destitute residents of an institution known as the County Poor Farm in an era before Social Security and worker’s comp.
An extensive mass transit system during the 1920s included electric trolleys that carried about 30,000 passengers daily in Terre Haute.
originally on Feb. 2, 2008, and Mark talked about Colts history in Indianapolis, and the history of the RCA (formerly Hoosier) Dome. This show aired while the RCA Dome was still standing, and before the construction of Lucas Oil Stadium.
(Jan. 30, 2010) - We don’t stretch historic truths, particularly if "Honest Abe" is involved. So it’s no overstatement to predict an upcoming unveiling of the Lincoln treasures newly acquired by the 
(Abe Lincoln, along with his father, stepmother and other family members, moved to Illinois when the future president was 21 years old.)
Even top-level figure skating arenas and coaches were not abundant here when Wayne and Kim (who are 46 and 44. respectively) began chasing their dream as kids. Not only did the Seybolds live in a trailer during most of their years of training, they received donations from residents and businesses of Marion (think bake sales and car washes), which put their hometown in the spotlight during ABC Sports coverage of the 
Roadtripper
(Jan. 16, 2010) - On the heels of our 100th show, the sport intertwined with Indiana culture is about to celebrate a centennial. The high school basketball season will culminate with the 100th state tournament, the perfect opportunity for Hoosier History Live! to explore the chaotic and colorful early years of hoops here. With the "100 Years in 100 Days" celebration of Hoosier Hysteria under way – it will culminate with a parade in downtown Indy in March – Nelson was joined in studio by 
Hoops enthusiasts know basketball wasn’t invented by a Hoosier. That distinction goes to 
During those Attucks victories, Ralph, our guest, was a young boy who idolized the state champs and dreamed of one day following in their sneakers. Ralph, Chris and Nelson shared details of the "100 Years in 100 Days" hoopla, which will involve a traveling exhibit – put together with the help of the Basketball Hall of Fame – that will visit high schools and towns across Indiana. The centennial celebrations are being organized by the Indiana High School Athletic Association.
Credited with helping start a group that saved Union Station from demolition in the 1970s, K.P. is a tireless advocate of historic preservation and is acclaimed for his architectural artwork of Hoosier landmarks, ranging from the Indianapolis City Market, Monument Circle and the Indiana Statehouse to the Vigo County Courthouse and the University of Notre Dame. He's also acclaimed for his artwork that depicts monuments in his homeland of India, as well as in Washington D.C., such as the Lincoln Memorial. Many of his drawings, as well as accompanying essays and poems, are featured in his book, The Art and Spirit of K.P. Singh (2003). He will share his personal journey as a Hoosier, along with details about the evolution of local Sikhs, whose temples are called "gurdwaras."
Our Roadtripper, Chris Gahl of the 
she was inducted posthumously into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.
Before her astonishing career overseas, Flanner served as the first movie critic for The Indianapolis Star in 1916. According to some accounts, she was one of the first film critics (reviewing silent flicks, of course) in the entire country. Chris, an Indianapolis businessman, is writing a play about Flanner. Incidentally, in this 
Nelson was joined in studio by Jeff Miller and Mary Jo Showley, both of whom are longtime residents of the historic Southeastside neighborhood. Jeff, the president of the Fletcher Place Neighborhood Association, renovated an Italianate home built in 1874 that, he says, had been dubbed "one of the three ugly stepsisters" because of its once-dilapidated condition. It's now home sweet home for Jeff, his wife and their 3-year-old son. Mary Jo, a Realtor, arts patron and former choral conductor at the long-closed Harry Wood High School, once taught students who lived in Fletcher Place and Fountain Square. There's much turf to cover with them, including everything from economic development initiatives to a proposed "bark park."
and in fact all of the residents of Elkinsville, were forced to move in order to make way for the construction of Monroe Reservoir.
For a cover story in the December issue of Urban Times, Kim hunted up three Christmas menus from 1890s homes in Indianapolis that include food choices that are, as she puts it, "striking similar to ours today." For example, potato chips are listed on one of the Victorian-era menus. (Nelson inquired whether these chips of yore were similar to the munchies that tempt people today.) Other items served during Victorian-era meals would seldom be found in Hoosier homes of 2009, including venison and (gulp) opossum.
Film historian Wes Gehring of Ball State, whose new biography focuses on a native of Beech Grove who went on to become one of the top movie stars of the 1960s and '70s. 
Stephen McShane, co-author of Steel Giants (Indiana University Press), a book of historic photos of steel mills, towns and residents of northwest Indiana from 1906 through the 1960s. In addition to extensive photos showing the construction of the mills in Gary and other cities, Steel Giants also features dozens of vintage photos of the region's schoolchildren, crane operators, bathing beaches, homes and company recreational teams, including a women's softball team in 1945. With co-author Gary Wilk, Steve also includes explanations of the "open hearth" process at the steel mills and a description of how and why five major steel companies built along Indiana's northern coastline. 
Teresa Baer, co-editor of 
Nelson asked if there are special challenges with roots-tracing in counties where early courthouses were destroyed by fire or damaged by floods.
(Nov. 28, 2009) - What other burg in Indiana – or town anywhere – has a tree growing out of its courthouse? The tree atop the Decatur County Courthouse may be the biggest claim to fame of 
Of course, Greensburg has made recent headlines with the opening of a 
Don Gorney, president of the 
Hoosier author and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter probably is best remembered for her novel A Girl of the Limberlost, published in 1909. But she also was a prolific magazine writer and nature photographer, often taking pictures of - and writing about - birds in the swamps and meadows of northeastern Indiana. In fact, Gene Stratton-Porter wrote a book in 1903 about a bird that is stalked by a hunter. The bird lives near the Limberlost swamp in Geneva, Indiana.
Question: Name the species of bird that's the focus of her 1903 best-selling novel.
Answer: Phil Harris, who was born in Linton, Ind., and the song The Bare Necessities. After a long career as a bandleader and as Jack Benny's sidekick on radio, Harris, who was born in 1904, enjoyed a career revival as the voice of Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book. An extensive collection of memorabilia that belonged to Phil Harris and his glamorous wife Alice Faye, the star of Hollywood musicals, is exhibited in Linton. Harris and Faye died in the 1990s.
the activities of her seven children. No, she's doesn't live in a shoe, but she does have her fingers in many pies and is constantly busy. She chatted with guest Craig Huse, owner of St. Elmo since 1997, about the restaurant's illustrious history, tales about St. Elmo during the Prohibition years, the betting in the back of the house during the 1920s, JFK's visit, and the impact of the opening of the Circle Centre Mall in 1996.
Filling in for Chris Gahl, who also is out on assignment, was his colleague, Amy Lamb, media relations manager for the Indiana Historical Society. In addition to having welcomed her son, Leo Robert, into the world on June 7 of this year, Amy also let us know that the Stardust Terrace Café and Basile History Market are now officially open at the Indiana History Center. 
(Oct. 31, 2009) - For nearly 50 years, 
Nelson talked with James about the complicated character of Abraham Lincoln and the agonizing decisions that confronted him during the era depicted in the play. It's set during the spring and summer of 1862, when the Civil War was raging (with an uncertain outcome) and the Lincolns were mourning the death in the White House of their beloved son Willie. During the play, President Lincoln reflects on his nighttime habit of staring at the stars "when I was a boy in Indiana"; as Hoosier history lovers know, he lived here from age 8 through 21. In James' play, Lincoln interacts, in fictionalized sequences, with famous 19th-century figures such as poet Walt Whitman, Confederate leader Jefferson Davis, abolitionist John Brown, civil rights icon Dred Scott, political rival Stephen Douglas, and actor Edwin Booth.
Garfield
Park on the Southside generally is considered to be the oldest park
in the Indianapolis park system, but it initially had a different
name. Garfield Park traces its beginnings to 1873, when the city
purchased the land – then totaling 98 acres -- from civic leaders
who had created a harness racetrack on the site. The park initially
was known by the name used for the racetrack, but was it renamed in
tribute to President James A. Garfield after his assassination in
1881. The initial name of Garfield Park was Southern Park. In the
decades after its renaming, Garfield Park became popular for its
pagoda, which served as the focal point for dances, as well as for
its sunken gardens, which opened in 1916, and its conservatory.
Today, Garfield Park also includes the MacAllister Center for the
Performing Arts. 
In 1905, a major milk company,
Polk's Best Jersey Milk, based
in Indianapolis built a very unusual-looking headquarters and
bottling plant on the near-Northside. The corners of the company's
entrance were shaped like giant milk bottles and was located at E. 15th Street and Lewis Street. Founded by Civil War veteran James Polk,
the company had a slogan – “Polk's milk – always ahead” – that was
framed around a cow's head. Although Polk's became the state's'
largest milk company, it began experiencing financial problems
during the 1950s because of competition from large food chains. The
bottling plant was torn down in the 1960s, but the milk company's
old stables still stand. The stable building, where Polk kept its
delivery horses are now are part of a maintenance complex for
Indianapolis Public Schools. This made the building
an eye-catching landmark for more than 55 years, until it finally
met the wrecking ball in the 1960s. The company had been founded in
1893 by a Greenwood resident who was a Civil War veteran.
The Victorian-era home, known as the 
Amid
the hoopla about the 100th anniversary of the opening of the 
Nelson’s studio guest, Jim Willaert, now general manager of guest experience at 
During the show, Jim explains:
Gahl and producer Molly Head blow out their first-year birthday cake candles presented to them by the Meridian Street
Foundation.
'Tis
prime season to explore Indiana-made antiques as well as to share a
potpourri of tips and advice about antiquing across Hoosierland.
Nelson was joined in studio by the ideal guest to weigh in:
antiques maven Lynn Hopper who writes the popular
“Antiques & Collectibles” column in The Indianapolis Star. Lynn chated about cherished Indiana-made collectibles, including
Wooten Desks, Hoosier Cabinets (regular listeners will recall that
their history was the focus of a recent Hoosier History Live! show), 
It's
been called one of the greatest tragedies in the history of Westward
migration. The 
Oral
histories, diaries, notations in family Bibles, and letters. All of
those have been crucial in figuring out which historic homes, inns,
taverns, and other buildings may have been stops on the
Underground Railroad – and which ones probably were not,
according to 
To
share insights on these and other aspects of the Underground
Railroad, historic researcher and genealogist Dona Stokes-Lucas
of Indianapolis joined Nelson in studio. Dona, who is on the
board of directors of Indiana Freedom Trails, Inc., helped organize a national 
Why
was West Baden High School's basketball team called The Sprudels?
What Hoosier teams, then or now, were known as the Epsom Salts, the
Pimento Peppers, and the Blue Jeans? And why are we doing a show
about Hoosier hoops in August? Well, it's because of a brand new
book, 
Amid
the hype about outlaw 
Following
on the heels of our recent show about the colorful life of 
The Indiana State Museum is touting a new exhibition as the
first major one ever to explore the challenges that have confronted
artists who opt to remain in the Midwest. According to fine arts
curator Rachel Perry, the exhibit, titled 
A few summers ago, Paul and his students excavated in the 900 block
of California Street, searching for artifacts related to homes built
in the 1870s for working-class, multi-ethnic families. Paul
emphasizes that, until about 1920, the near-Westside was much more
diverse than people realize, with many German, Irish and Greek
immigrants living in the neighborhood. Hundreds of these homes were
later demolished, particularly as IUPUI developed. Today, the 
was named a Living Legend by the 
Now
chairman of the board of 
All
of these aspects of our heritage are explored in 
Our
studio guests were two well-known leaders of the neighborhood,
both long involved in historic preservation: photographer 
A mixed-use neighborhood that includes everything from Civil War-era
cottages, turn-of-the-last-century row houses, and historic
commercial buildings, St. Joseph has residential
architecture that spans almost the entire history of
Indianapolis, from Italianate and Queen Anne to Renaissance Revival.
As the neighborhood has pulled itself out of a decline in the
mid-20th Century, its colorful recent history has included crusades
for historic preservation. (Leah once stopped a bulldozer in
action!) Esteemed for his architectural and commercial photography,
Garry has visually documented much of the neighborhood he calls
home.
The
dramatic story of Hoosier pioneer William Conner, of 
Even though Indiana may not be the primary state associated with
bluegrass, its heritage here has been rich, deep, and includes a
hugely popular annual festival that every June turns tiny Bean
Blossom in scenic Brown County into heaven for devotees of the
music. Who better to share folklore about the links between
Hoosiers, bluegrass music, and its legendary “father,” Bill
Monroe, than WICR-FM's own Cary Allen Fields, host of 
Jill is an Omnimedia Wine Specialist who shares her wine wit and
wisdom in print, radio and television. She is an AWS Certified Wine
Judge and owner of Mass Ave Wine Shoppe in downtown Indianapolis.
Her guests were Tia Agnew and Brett Canady, owners
of New Day Meadery in Elwood, Indiana, who make hand crafted honey
wines, as well as Jim Bulter, author of 
In
addition to researching Shepherd, John has spent years working on a
screenplay about Pelley (1890-1965), who sympathized with the
Nazis and served a stint in federal prison for sedition
during World War II. That prison stint interrupted his life in
Noblesville. After his release from prison, Pelley focused on his
enterprise as a psychic, conducted séances in his Noblesville
garage, and sent material about the occult to followers around the
country.
Are you assuming there's no Hoosier connection to the
Academy Awards. To the contrary, there's a deep Oscar heritage with
Hoosiers, which we explored with two well-known movie experts: Jeff Sparks, president and founder of the widely praised 
