Hoosier History Live

(August 24, 2019) In the early years of  Prohibition , nearly 35 percent of all of the illegal liquor in the country was controlled by a teetotaler, a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur who owned a chain of distilleries and pharmacies across nine states. Known as the "Bootleg King" during the early 1920s,  George Remus  was based in Cincinnati but had several connections to Indiana, including one of his t...

(August 17, 2019) If the decades seem to have zipped by with the speed of a competitive cyclist, brace yourselves: The movie  Breaking Away , filmed in and around  Bloomington , opened in theaters across the country 40 years ago this summer. The film became an unexpected hit in 1979 and won an Academy Award for its screenwriter,  Indiana University  graduate  Steve Tesich , who drew inspiration fr...

(August 10, 2019) Has there been an ardent  Indianapolis Indians  fan since the 1950s who has not known the name  Max Schumacher ? Often called "Mr. Indianapolis Baseball," Max worked for the minor-league baseball franchise for more than 60 years, in positions ranging from ticket manager all the way up to president. Not only did he spearhead the effort to build  Victory Field  in downtown Indy in...

(August 3, 2019) Shortly after the  Civil War , a notorious crime spree unfolded across the Midwest that included the country's first robbery of a moving train. The perpetrators were bandits in a gang organized by brothers who grew up on a farm near  Seymour , Ind., in  Jackson County . The outlaws also pulled off what may have been the first peacetime train robbery in U.S. history. The notorious ...

(July 27, 2019) With midsummer upon us, it's time to pour a glass of iced tea, sit on the porch and soak up some of the history that grows in the lush gardens of Indiana. Guest host  Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp , AKA the  Hoosier Gardener , explores the rich horticultural heritage of the Hoosier state. First stop on Jo Ellen's tour of Indiana's garden history:  Zionsville . Turns out that the historic v...

(July 13, 2019) During the 1820s, it was a key factor in determining the site of the new city of  Indianapolis . But there was a major misconception that became obvious when a steamboat got stuck and became the object of ridicule. Soon it became an aquatic dumping ground, with complaints about pollution surfacing by the 1880s in both  Marion  and  Hamilton Counties . During the early 1900s, it was...

(July 6, 2019) Because of the attention focused on the  Electoral College  in the 2016 presidential race - in which the winner did not gain the most popular votes - it may not be surprising that  a similar situation unfolded in 1888 . Can you imagine a scenario, though, in which neither major party's presidential candidate actively campaigned? That's what happened in 1892 - in sharp distinction to...

(June 29, 2019) It's a suburban boomtown continually in the spotlight because of developments like the opening in 2017 of the first  Ikea  store in the state. So who today would guess that  Fishers , located in  Hamilton County , had a reputation for lawlessness, gun fights, grave robberies and drunken brawls in the years after it was founded during the 1870s? To explore the violent early history...

(June 22, 2019 ) Earlier this year, the  Indiana Dunes  made national news with the announcement that the distinctive shoreline on  Lake Michigan  would be a new national park, the first one in the state. But does its designation as  Indiana Dunes National Park  - rather than the former Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore - make a substantive difference? In this show, Hoosier History Live explores th...

(June 15, 2019 ) One year from now, in June 2020, the city of  Indianapolis  plans to kick off its  Bicentennial  celebrations. An initial event in the 200th birthday jubilee - which will extend through May 2021 - is expected to be at a site near the  White River , where the cabin of pioneer  John McCormick , generally considered to have been the first settler of the city, was located. In fact, in...

(June 8, 2019) During the 19th century, Germans became the largest European ethnic heritage group in Indiana. In 1870, immigrants and German-Americans in the state's capital - including some of its most influential residents - formed the  Freethinker Society of Indianapolis . The immigrants, who included political refugees from a failed revolution in Germany in 1848, had a history in their homelan...

(May 25, 2019 ) For nine years beginning in 1980,  Mark Kesling  was director of science for the renowned  Children's Museum of Indianapolis . From 1993 to 2006, Mark was the academic director at  Orchard School , a private school on the northside of  Indianapolis . Not only did both institutions date back to the 1920s, Mark noticed, but they were initiated by the same group of visionary women. "I...

(June 1, 2019) During the 1890s on the  Indianapolis  campus of what was then called  Central State Hospital for the Insane , brain research was undertaken in the brick building that came to be known as the  Old Pathology Building . The research - considered groundbreaking for its era - occurred in three clinical laboratories in the structure. It also had an autopsy room and an amphitheater where...

(May 18, 2019) In our quest to explore all aspects of our heritage, even the unsavory and notorious, this edition of Hoosier History Live delves into a seldom-examined topic:  Red-light districts  and prostitutes in  Indianapolis  at the turn of the last century. To examine these aspects of the Hoosier state capital's social history, Nelson's studio guest on this encore show (originally broadcast...

(May 11, 2019) "The crowd went crazy," historian  Donald Davidson  recalls in  a video about milestones at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway . "It was a truly historic moment." He's referring to the electrifying moment on May 19, 1991 when, at the last possible opportunity,  Willy T. Ribbs  became the first African-American driver to qualify for the  Indianapolis 500 . An earlier qualification attem...

(May 4, 2019)  Lake James  has been an enticing vacation and weekend destination for residents of northeast Indiana since the early 1900s, when those seeking rest and relaxation would take a train to the nearby town of  Angola , then make their way to the scenic lake. By the 1920s, two dance halls and cottages had been built on the resort lake in  Steuben County . In  LaPorte County ,  Hudson Lake...

(April 27, 2019) Who is the only person to participate, as a musician at an Indiana high school, in the  Spectacle of the Bands at the  Indianapolis Motor Speedway , then eventually compete as a race driver in the  Indianapolis 500 ? How did  Purdue University  begin their role as "host band" for the opening ceremonies at the racetrack - and how big is one of the band's most recognizable symbols,...

(April 20, 2019) Among distinguished Hoosiers in public life, few have been associated with historic preservation more closely - or longer - than former  Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randy Shepard . A trustee for 11 years for the  National Trust for Historic Preservation  and a former board chair (and current honorary chair) of  Indiana Landmarks , Justice Shepard grew up in  Evansville . I...

(April 13, 2019) It may seem remarkable that his abstract artwork often reflected harmony and balance, given the struggles he faced in establishing himself as a prominent artist. Indianapolis native  Felrath Hines , who became the first African-American conservator of the  Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery , worked during the  Great Depression  in a segregated company of the  Civilian Conserva...

(April 6, 2019) A rare octagon-shaped house was built for a widow with 12 children in a rural part of  Hancock County  in 1879. She saved silver dollars until she accumulated more than $2,300, enough for construction of the distinctive house for her large brood. Now known as the  Jane Ross Reeves Octagon House , the historic residence had deteriorated alarmingly and almost burned in a firefighter...

(March 30, 2019) The origins of his nickname, Sinky, are unknown. And you may never have heard of  Belford "Sinky" Hendricks  (1909-1977), a native of  Evansville  who worked as one of that city's first African-American mail carriers during the 1930s before his career flourished as a composer, pianist, arranger and conductor. Undoubtedly, though, you have heard some of the songs Sinky composed: "...

(March 23, 2019) With the announcement that downtown  Indianapolis  will get a new high-rise hotel that, according to news accounts, will "change the city's skyline," Hoosier History Live will explore two grand hotels that were rivals for most of the early and mid-20th century. When the elegant  Claypool Hotel  opened in 1903 at Washington and Illinois Streets, its lobby was touted as one of the l...

(March 16, 2019) Periodically on Hoosier History Live, we open the phone lines so listeners can inquire about any aspect of our state's heritage. This time around, our host  Nelson Price  is joined by  Indianapolis  civic leader  Jeff Sparks , who founded the  Heartland Film Festival  in the early 1990s to celebrate "life-affirming" movies and oversaw its evolution into a major cultural event. Dur...

(March 9, 2019) It's the largest engineered structure humans have ever built, covering a land mass the size of the state of Delaware. Along with the  Great Wall of China , it's one of the few human creations that can be seen from space. In its entire length, it stretches 46,876 miles. And you probably use it on a regular, if not daily, basis. It's the  Interstate highway system , and Indiana, true...

(March 2, 2019) Women from Indiana became pioneers in sciences ranging from physics to home economics during the early and mid-1900s. But they confronted myriad challenges, and their trailblazing efforts often have been ignored. Hoosier History Live strives to fill in this historical void as we salute  Women's History Month  with this encore broadcast ( original air date: March 11, 2017 ) of a sho...