Hoosier History Live

Nelson Price

A lively, live discussion of fascinating topics from the rich history of the state of Indiana. Host Nelson Price, the "connoisseur of all things Hoosier," engages guests in a lively, live conversation about high-interest issues relating to Indiana history.

  1. 08/02/2024

    Vinyl era of Indiana music: a follow-up

    Rock and roll icon Chuck Berry was the headliner at a concert at Bush Stadium in 1972, the first of a long-forgotten series of music festivals at the former baseball stadium in Indianapolis. A poster for that 1972 concert is now part of the collection of the Indiana Music History Project. So are rare vinyl LP's and 45's featuring Indiana musicians. And so are four Indiana University yearbooks from each year that Hoagy Carmichael was a student in the 1920s, although the music history project generally focuses on the "vinyl era"; that's usually defined as stretching from 1950 to 1990. The 1972 poster, vinyl LP's and yearbooks are among more than 5,000 pieces of memorabilia, ranging from a record player, photos and cassettes to flyers for concerts, that have been donated during the last year to the music history project, an initiative of the Indiana Entertainment Foundation. So Rick Wilkerson, the executive director of both the entertainment foundation and the music history project, will return to share updates since he was Nelson's guest last July about the vinyl era of Indiana music. Rick, who formerly owned vinyl record stores in Indianapolis, attended the Chuck Berry concert in 1972, although the poster was donated by musician and photographer Neil Sharrow.

    57 min

  2. 07/25/2024

    D-Day and Hoosiers: 80 years later

    As Hoosier History Live salutes the recent 80th anniversary of D-Day, a milestone during World War II, we will explore the Indiana connections to the largest amphibious invasion ever undertaken. Our guest, World War II historian Ron May, an author and chaplain, interviewed Hoosiers involved in various ways with D-Day, which was June 6, 1944. He also has researched the lives of those who did not make it home. In addition, Ron has visited American cemeteries in Normandy, France, and Luxembourg. So we also will discuss Hoosiers who are buried at the graveyards, including a pacifist from Indianapolis who served in a medical detachment and voluntarily walked into a minefield to come to the aid of two wounded comrades. William McGee, who was 21 years old when he was killed in March 1945, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the military's highest decoration. Ron May, who is based in Carmel, has been a frequent Hoosier History Live guest when we have explored World War II history, most recently on a show in 2023 in connection with his book titled "World War II: Indiana Landmarks".

    58 min

  3. 07/18/2024

    Madge Oberholtzer: A follow-up about the woman who helped bring down the KKK

    New information continues to emerge about a woman whose deathbed testimony in 1925 helped end the stranglehold of the notorious Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. And there are multiple, new efforts underway to spotlight the legacy of Madge Oberholtzer, the victim of a lurid crime by KKK leader, D.C. Stephenson, her neighbor in the Irvington neighborhood of Indianapolis. So Hoosier History Live will follow up a show from 2021 with Charlotte Ottinger, the author of a trail-blazing biography titled Madge: The Life and Times of Madge Oberholtzer published by the Irvington Historical Society. A registered nurse who also lives in Irvington, Charlotte will return as Nelson's guest to share more insights about Madge, who was brutally raped by Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of the KKK, during a train trip to Chicago with him and one of his associates. After being brought back to her family's home, Madge courageously recounted details of Stephenson's physical and sexual assault. Her statements resulted in his eventual conviction of second-degree murder in a sensational trial that helped end the clout of Stephenson, who had intimidated Indiana political and civic leaders.

    56 min

  4. 07/11/2024

    Busting myths about historic houses

    Maybe you have heard some of these comments about houses built in the 1800s and early 1900s: "They never had closets." "Anything that sticks out of the house – like a wing -- was a subsequent addition." "Their only light was from candles or kerosene lamps." These are widespread misconceptions that our distinguished guest, Indianapolis-based architectural historian Benjamin L. Ross of RATIO Architects, plans to dispel when he joins Nelson in-studio. For more than 15 years, Ben Ross has been involved in analyzing, interpreting and planning for the future of historic sites in Indiana and across the country, including well-known historic houses. Some myths about historic houses are so pervasive that they even are repeated to visitors by well-intentioned docents at the sites, Ben says. They include: "The back part of the house is shorter and simpler, so it must be older." "Almost everyone was a homeowner." "Many people lived in one place their entire lives." In some cases, Ben says, the myths distort social history and the way people lived in the 1800s and early 1900s.

    57 min

  5. 06/27/2024

    An acclaimed race driver and a sportswriter: two lives cut short

    A fan favorite even though he shunned publicity, hard-charging Bill Vukovich was the two-time defending champion at the Indianapolis 500 and on his way to a third consecutive victory in 1955 when he was killed during a horrific crash. One of his closest friends was a nationally acclaimed sportswriter, charismatic Angelo Angelopolous of the Indianapolis News, who chronicled Vukovich's rise from a hard-scrabble childhood (and a family tragedy) to his triumphs at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Angelopolous had completed an eagerly anticipated biography of his friend before the sportswriter died at age 43, probably as a result of radiation exposure he endured as a pilot in World War II by flying over atomic bomb sites in Japan. The manuscript of the biography of Vukovich went unpublished for nearly 65 years and remained in the closet of Angelopolous' nephew. But Vukovich never has been forgotten among Indy 500 history enthusiasts. A photo of the publicity-adverse driver covering his face in his Gasoline Alley garage after escaping crowds following his triumph in 1954 remains the bestseller in the Speedway's photoshop.

    59 min

  6. 06/20/2024

    Marquis de Lafayette, his farewell tour and Indiana

    All across the state, sites are named in his honor. The city of Lafayette, for example. In Indianapolis, there's Lafayette Road. In the city of Princeton in southwestern Indiana, there's a Lafayette Park. And the Marquis de Lafayette, hailed as a hero of both the American Revolution and the French Revolution, is the only individual to have two counties in Indiana with names associated with him: Fayette County and LaGrange County. LaGrange was the name of an estate in France owned by Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834). Now, admirers across the country, including Hoosiers, are preparing to spotlight the 200th anniversary of Gen. Lafayette's grand farewell tour of 1824-25, during which the distinguished "guest of the nation" returned to America after his triumphs in the Revolutionary War. He traveled 6,000 miles and visited all 24 states that comprised the country then, including Indiana. Lafayette's interactions with the Hoosier state were brief but eventful.

    1 hr

  7. 06/06/2024

    Deaths in the White House, including a First Lady

    Sure, the White House has been the setting for hundreds of joyous and celebratory events. But the historic home of U.S. presidents and their families also has been a setting for deaths, including that of the only First Lady from Indianapolis. Not only did Caroline Scott Harrison, the beloved wife of President Benjamin Harrison, die in the White House, so did his grandfather. William Henry Harrison, the shortest-serving president in history, had only held office for 31 days when he died in 1841 at age 68. He had been elected to the presidency as a resident of Ohio; beginning at age 27, though, he had served as the first governor of the Indiana Territory and lived in Vincennes. During our show, we will explore these deaths as well as others with connections to the presidency of Benjamin Harrison, a Republican who was elected in 1888 after having served as a U.S. Senator from Indiana; the deaths include tragedies involving two of his Cabinet members. Also, just one month after Caroline Scott Harrison succumbed to tuberculosis in 1892, her father, John Scott, a retired college professor and Presbyterian minister, died in the White House, where he had been living with the First Family. Nelson will be joined in studio by Jennifer Capps, the veteran curator at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis, where a current exhibit, Death in the White House explores these losses in the mansion of the country's chief executive. The exhibit includes displays about Victorian-era mourning customs, so Jennifer will share insights about them during our show.

    55 min

  8. 05/16/2024

    Hoosiers who claimed to witness Lincoln's assassination

    Nearly 160 years ago this month, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Washington D.C. Witnesses to the tragic event on April 14, 1865 may have included several Hoosiers who claimed to be at Ford's Theatre. In the decades following the shooting, residents of Indiana towns and cities including Dayton in Tippecanoe County, Ladoga in Montgomery County, Jonesboro in Grant County and Aurora on the Ohio River – as well as Indianapolis – were interviewed by newspapers about what they witnessed. Or claimed to have seen. During our show, we will explore these reports, including some involving Hoosiers who even said they helped carry the fatally injured president's body to a house across the street, where he was pronounced dead the following morning, April 15. We also will explore the reaction in the Hoosier state to the shocking news that the Great Emancipator, who lived in southern Indiana from ages 7 to 21, had been slain just after the Civil War ended.

    57 min
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About

A lively, live discussion of fascinating topics from the rich history of the state of Indiana. Host Nelson Price, the "connoisseur of all things Hoosier," engages guests in a lively, live conversation about high-interest issues relating to Indiana history.

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