Hoosier History Live

First off, it should be noted that Native Americans lived in the dense forests and marshlands of the land that became  Marion County  before any settlers of European heritage arrived. In particular, the  Lenape  tribe of Indians (called the Delaware by white settlers) had established villages in the central Indiana region. Then other people began to filter into the wilderness of Marion County circ...

During the 1950s and '60s, a Hoosier from  Crawfordsville  could not tell people where he worked. His employer was the  Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) , which  Benjamin Evans  only could reveal beginning in 1970 when he was named executive secretary of the agency and no longer undercover. Before that, his assignments included a post in Cuba during the rise of Fidel Castro. And in the aftermath...

"I traveled from the time I was 14 until I was 18. The moment the idea hit to go somewhere, and it always did in the spring, I was off. St. Louis, Denver, Chicago, Dodge City, Cincinnati . . . anywhere the next freight train happened to be going." So said perhaps the most unlikely Hoosier to become an international business tycoon. His name endures because he created an unusual small town that's s...

Bears at  Riverside Park  in Indianapolis? Not for the last century. But for nearly two decades beginning in 1899, a  bear pit  was among the most popular attractions at the park near the  White River . Consisting of a fenced, circular pen with two arched doorways that allowed the bears to enter a sheltered den, the bear pit at Riverside was featured on thousands of postcards that have become coll...

After decades of being mostly forgotten, there have been recent rediscoveries, thanks to history detective work, of a symphonic music composer from  Carmel  and a painter from the  Noblesville  area who became the patriarch of a group of  Hamilton County artists. No photos, not even head shots of either composer  Frederick Hunt  or painter  Granville Bishop  have been unearthed yet, but that doesn...

This show will follow up previous Hoosier History Live programs in two ways. We showcased the founding and evolution of the legendary Indianapolis-based department store  L.S. Ayres & Co.  during a show in  2013 . And just last week, we focused on Jewish immigration to Indiana from 1840 through the 1920s. Our follow-up show will spotlight the two department stores that rivaled Ayres for about 100...

From the small city of  Ligonier  in northeastern Indiana to major cities including  Indianapolis  and  South Bend , waves of Jewish immigration had, in a range of ways, an impact between 1840 and the 1920s on their communities. Immigrants came to the Hoosier state from various homelands, with a Jewish teenager who fled the  Austro-Hungarian empire  eventually becoming one of the founders of the ...

In  Seymour , she is known first and foremost for her outdoor mural of  John Mellencamp . The eye-catching mural in the rock star's hometown is 35 feet tall and 52 feet wide. In  Greenfield , artist  Pamela Bliss  has drawn attention for "Tall Tales", a mural that also is 35 feet tall. As a salute to the agricultural heritage of  Hancock County , the mural depicts three generations of Hoosiers at...

As Hoosier History Live salutes  Women's History Month , our spotlight will be on one of the state's best-known contemporary novelists. She's almost equally well known for nurturing generations of aspiring writers ranging from high school students and young children to residents of retirement communities and prisoners at the  Indiana Women's Prison . Barbara Shoup , the former executive director o...

Amid the build up to the  Academy Awards  ceremony, Hoosier History Live will delve into a range of Hoosiers, from stars and directors to cinematographers and composers â€" who have been nominated for (and, in some cases, won) Oscars since the awards began in the late 1920s. In fact, one of the nominees for Best Actress at the first Oscar ceremony in 1929 was a veteran performer born in Evansville...

As Hoosier History Live salutes  Black History Month , we will explore several places, people and events in Indianapolis that had a significant impact during the 19th century on African American life in the Hoosier capital. Nelson's guest will be Indianapolis-based historian  David Leander William s , the author of a new book, " African Americans in Indianapolis ". The book covers more than 200 ye...

On the birthday of  Abraham Lincoln , and during a show when our host, Nelson Price, is joined by a co-host known for his fascination with the 16th president, you might assume some Lincoln anecdotes will be among the topics. But when Indiana historian and author  Al Hunter  participates in our periodic series in which listeners are invited to call in throughout the program with any questions about...

Without mountains, Indiana isn't known as a mecca for winter sports. So the state's historic connections with the Summer Olympics are much more extensive than with their winter counterparts. Even so, there have been links for more than 40 years, which Hoosier History Live will explore following the international hoopla with the opening ceremony tonight of the  2022 Beijing Olympics . A bobsledder...

Simply put, the National Road opened up settlement for the state, then considered part of the "West". Construction of the first part of the National Road in Cumberland, Md., which is on the Potomac River, began in 1811. That was five years before Indiana became a state. In addition to George Washington, key figures in the push for the National Road included presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Ma...

Does it seem like a CVS or a Walgreen's can be found on every street corner? In Indiana for much of the 1900s, the drug store scene was much different, and dominated by two locally-owned rivals. Hook's Drug Stores opened its first store in 1900 in Indianapolis in what's now the  Bates-Hendricks  neighborhood, then considered part of Fountain Square. Haag Drug began even earlier, with the opening o...

Did you know the official "pin-up girl" of the U.S. Army during  World War II  was a native Hoosier? Selected because of her wholesome image,  Margie Stewart , who grew up in  Wabash, Ind ., appeared on 12 different posters with a combined distribution of more than 90 million copies to soldiers (both overseas and in this country), potential recruits and civilians in the homeland. Margie Stewart, w...

Where do you start in describing a staggering collection of hundreds of rare items of Indianapolis memorabilia and ephemera? A private collection owned by antiques dealer Charles Alexander includes miniature models of iconic structures like the  Soldiers and Sailors Monument ; he owns two replicas created as the landmark was being constructed during the 1880s and '90s. The historic models differ i...

Could the  spelling bee craze  that swept the country beginning in the 19th century have been kicked off in  Greensburg , Indiana? The city in  Decatur County  claims to have hosted the first citywide spelling bee. And there's a direct link to " The Hoosier Schoolmaster ", a best-selling novel in 1871 that was set in the county and includes a riveting episode with a spelling match; it is credited...

The  Green Book  was an annual guidebook for African America motorists during an era of widespread discrimination. Published from the mid-1930s through the mid-1960s, the Green Book listed hotels, restaurants, gasoline stations and other sites that welcomed all travelers. Because sites across Indiana were included in most editions of the book that became known as the "bible of Black traveling", Ho...

Strange, but true: A clog dancer on the vaudeville circuit became mayor of  Indianapolis  in 1910.  Mayor Lew Shank  resigned three years later and returned to vaudeville as a humorist, paired with a trained horse. In 1922, he easily won re-election as mayor of the Hoosier capital. More strange, but true: The second governor's residence in Indianapolis was blamed for making the state's "first fami...

It's been 60 years since a native Hoosier became the second American to go up in space. His journey, which began amid much excitement in 1961, concluded in a disappointing manner. But  Gus Grissom  - one of the  original seven U.S. astronauts  selected by  NASA - went on to success after the  Liberty Bell 7  mission, becoming the first American to travel in space twice. He also encountered tragedy...

When Indianapolis based TV and radio personality Jimmy Mack  recently passed away at the  age of 99, many tributes referred to him as "Indy's own Dick Clark". That's because during the 1960s and late '50s, Jimmy Mack was the popular host of teen dance shows "Bandstand 13" and "Teen Twirl" that were modeled after  Dick Clark's   American Bandstand .

In 1907, a national "first" occurred in Indiana, but it wasn't for an achievement that would be regarded with historic pride. Indiana passed the first state  eugenics law  in the entire country, mandating the sterilization of some men and women in state custody.

Indiana history teacher matt Barnett gives hands on learning to his students. Matt, who lives in  Peru , Ind., will be Nelson's guest to share ways to spark interest in Indiana history among young people. In recognition of his inspirational teaching, he has won multiple honors and awards, including from the  Society of Indiana Pioneers . 

After the discovery that she had been embarking for years in the early1900s, on one of Indiana's most gruesome murder sprees, Belle Gunness has been considered among the most notorious female killers in U.S. history. Many aspects of the life and crimes of Belle, a Norwegian immigrant, remain a mystery, including the total number of her victims, who included men, women and children. Experts suspect...