Hoosier History Live

Even those who only dabble in Indiana's art history likely know about the Hoosier Group of painters, including T.C. Steele, who drew national fame. But another group of painters actually formed the state's first colony of artists.

The Richmond Group Artists formed in the late 19th century in far-eastern Indiana, traveling along the Whitewater River and painting on weekends. In 1898, they founded the Art Association of Richmond.

That evolved into the acclaimed Richmond Art Museum, which is generally considered to be the only independent art museum in the country that's housed in a public school: Richmond High School.

Earlier this month, the art museum and its executive director, Shaun Dingwerth, were named recipients of the Governor's Arts Awards. The awards are given by the Indiana Arts Commission and the office of the governor to honor outstanding contributions to the arts.

Once upon a historic time, a touring circus started spending the winter in the Indiana city of Peru. Circus performers, exotic animals (camels, tigers, ostriches, hippos and more) and equipment would "winter" and train in the town in Miami County.

Those beginnings in the late 1800s kick-started a heritage that flourishes, in a different way, to this day in Peru, which trumpets itself as the "Circus Capital of the World".

Every summer now, the Peru Amateur Circus showcases a youth program in which about 200 local young people from ages 7 to 21 practice and perform acts such as juggling, tumbling and flying on the trapeze under a permanent, three-ring "big top". It's part of the Circus City Festival's fanfare that also features one of the largest parades in Indiana.

To share insights about the deep circus heritage in Peru and how it was revived after the "wintering" of traveling circuses ended in the early 1940s, Nelson will be joined in studio by three guests. The guests, all from Miami County and board members of the Peru Amateur Circus, will be:

• Tim Bessignano, a circus historian who also has served for 33 years on the Circus City Festival's board. He oversees the circus wagon shop and the acquisition of horses for the parade.

• Kathi Greene, who has been immersed in the circus heritage in Peru for 51 years, starting when she was one of the original youth performers. She has been a rigger, clown and trainer; her grandchildren are the fourth-generation of her family to be involved in the circus.

• And Matt Barnett, a history teacher at Maconaquah Middle School.

Even though a couple from the town of Auburn in far-northeastern Indiana married after World War II, their letters included in a new book, "Army Guy, Red Cross Gal", are not love letters. Because they weren't even dating each other before they went overseas, their descriptive letters were not written to each other.

Instead, the "Army guy", who became a military police lieutenant with Gen. George Patton's Third Army, wrote to his Indiana family members about his wartime experiences, including becoming ensnared in the historic Battle of the Bulge and witnessing the horrors at the Buchenwald concentration camp.

Meanwhile, the "Red Cross gal", wrote to her family about her experiences, which involved being stationed in Italy and working at a sprawling sports complex that Fascist dictator Mussolini had built.

To discuss the lives and letters of the couple, another resident of Auburn, the co-author of "Army Guy, Red Cross Gal", will be Nelson's guest. Barbara Olenyik Morrow is the author of seven books, most focusing on Indiana history. In "Army Guy, Red Cross Gal", she inserts narrative passages between the letters that illuminate a range of episodes during World War II. She notes that nearly 12,000 people from Indiana were killed during the war, including nearly 100 from DeKalb County, where Auburn is the county seat.

Roadhouses, saloons and gambling were part of the wildness during the late 1800s and early 1900s at Brighton Beach, a long-forgotten, notorious area just west of downtown Indianapolis. Newspapers in the 1890s called Brighton Beach (where enticements included "chuck-a-luck", a game of chance played with dice) "one of the toughest places in town".

Ed Fujawa, an Indianapolis attorney and founder of Class900 Indy, a blog about city history, has researched some bygone rowdy pockets of Marion County, including Brighton Beach, which was located north of W. 16th Street and west of today's I-65. The area now primarily consists of infrastructure for the Indianapolis Water Company.

"The infamous reputation of the Beach, and its saloons and roadhouses, continued to grow (during the 1880s), as did a criminal element", Ed Fujawa wrote in a recent blog post. "Reports of crime were frequent. Robberies, assaults, stabbings, even murders, were reported."

Strike up the band. But not necessarily a marching band.

For this Hoosier History Live show exploring Indiana's music heritage during what is known as the "vinyl era" (generally defined as 1950 to 1990), the most appropriate band probably would be one that played "rock and roll", as the music was called during its early decades. Histories of other genres during the vinyl era also are being included in a new initiative launched by the Indiana Entertainment Foundation.

The foundation's initiative, called the Indiana Music History Project, is spotlighting the 40-year vinyl records era with various endeavors. They include a new gallery with artifacts such as a recreation of an Indianapolis radio station during the 1960s or '70s; a Wikipedia-type online resource documenting music history during the vinyl era (including entries about Indiana-based businesses, venues and musicians), and a streaming radio service that plays music by all-Indiana singers and bands.

Our guide for this exploration will be music historian and record collector Rick Wilkerson, executive director of the Indiana Entertainment Foundation and the Indiana Music Heritage Project. Rick, who once owned popular vinyl records stores in Indianapolis, will be Nelson's studio guest to share insights about the new initiative and our state's impact during the 1950-1990 music era.

Almost ever since the city of Indianapolis was platted in 1821, a site along the White River has been distinctive for various reasons. It started as a burial site, then multiple graveyards that became known collectively as Greenlawn Cemetery, where thousands of early residents were buried.

Beginning in 1917, Diamond Chain had a manufacturing plant on the site just southwest of downtown that employed hundreds of Hoosiers. Now the site on White River is planned to be the location of a new stadium for the Indy Eleven pro soccer team.

So Hoosier History Live will do a deep dive into the history of Greenlawn, the burial site of initial settlers and subsequent residents, including civic leaders, early African American residents (in segregated parcels), infants, impoverished Hoosiers and a vast range of other Hoosiers. Because of various factors, including the fact that Greenlawn was prone to flooding, the cemetery was closed in 1890.

They explored and advocated for the protection of a range of aspects of Indiana's natural heritage, from birds and other wildlife to flowers and plants, including ferns. In many cases, they lived during eras (including the late 1800s and early 1900s) before the word "environmentalist" even was used. Some of them were called "conservationists".

They were often self-taught in our natural heritage, with true "in-field" experience. Even though Frank Wallace (1878-1968) didn't have a high school diploma, his expertise meant that he served as an Indiana state entomologist for more than 40 years. Jane Brooks Hine (1831-1916) of DeKalb County in northeastern Indiana became known as the "Bird Woman of Indiana" while documenting hundreds of sightings for the federal government. A former teacher and mother of six, she wrote for various publications and served on the Indiana Academy of Science.

During a later era, John Gottschalk (1912-1999), a native of Berne, Ind., rose to become a top federal official as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. On a local level, Maurice McClue (1878-1957), who loved wildflowers, trees and wildlife, donated more than 80 acres of his family's farm to "the citizens of Steuben County" in an era before land trusts.

To spotlight seven diverse Hoosiers who, amid great personal sacrifices, served in World War I, Hoosier History Live will feature as guests the Bloomington-based director and a producer of a new documentary that features them.

Six soldiers and a nurse from Indiana are the focus of "Over There: Hoosier Heroes of the Great War", which is expected to be shown on various PBS-TV stations across Indiana by the end of the year. The Hoosiers featured in the documentary by Blue Ace Media include some who were killed on battlefields in France, often amid acts of outstanding bravery.

Maj. Samuel Woodfill (1883-1951), who was born on a farm near Madison, Ind., received multiple accolades for his heroism, including the Medal of Honor, and likely would have become a nationally known public figure but, as a shy and modest man, did not like attention. Lottie May Berry (1888-1917) left a comfortable life in Indianapolis to become a nurse overseas for the American Red Cross; she died shortly after arriving in France. Lt. Aaron Fisher (1892-1985), who grew up in the historic African American community of Lyles Station, Ind., was acclaimed for multiple acts of courage in an infantry regiment in the U.S. Army, which was segregated during World War I.

Before the dust settles on last month's Indianapolis 500, Hoosier History Live will explore historic medical treatment, advances in care and safety issues at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Last year, we explored the first infield hospital at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and other medical developments and challenges by time traveling to the opening of the world-famous racetrack in 1909. But we only covered the first 50 years, stopping in 1959.

Now we are roaring back with a sequel that will begin in 1960 with the appointment of a new medical director at the Speedway. Dr. Thomas Hanna, who would serve in that capacity for 21 years, received a baptism by fire in 1960 because his first year involved a spectacular tragedy during the Indianapolis 500. In the infield, privately constructed scaffolding collapsed, killing two spectators and injuring 76 others.

As by far the biggest of the Indiana Dunes on Lake Michigan, the legendary Hoosier Slide was a national tourist attraction. Sometimes likened to a sandy version of a Swiss Alp, the massive Hoosier Slide near Michigan City, Ind., stood 18.5 stories high and was the setting for wedding ceremonies, picnics and endless frolicking, with climbers and gawkers traveling by train or ferry to the towering dune during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

By 1920, though, the Hoosier Slide had disappeared.

Hoosier History Live will explore the heyday of the Hoosier Slide, the reasons it vanished from the landscape and the flourishing of Michigan City as a lakeside resort during the era that the huge dune captivated so many tourists. In particular, visitors from Chicago enjoyed spectacular views from atop the Hoosier Slide of Lake Michigan as well as Michigan City's vast lumberyards.

Nelson's studio guest will be Christopher Taelman, who lives in Granger, which is a few miles north of the University of Notre Dame, near Indiana's state line with Michigan. Chris serves as chief development officer of the Hospice Foundation based in Mishawaka.