Hoosier History Live

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 collectibles.

And the Riverside bear pit, although the longest-lasting and most significant local animal attraction during the era (it even sometimes was casually referred to as a "zoo"), wasn't the only collection of wildlife on display in Indianapolis parks.

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't mean they were insignificant. And both men were connected in very different ways, to nationally famous illustrator Franklin Booth, a Carmel native who moved to New York City. To share insights about Hunt (1906-1967), the classical music composer, Nelson will be joined by two guests.

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 years: William H. Block Co. and H.P. Wasson & Co., known conversationally by generations of Hoosier shoppers as "Block's" and "Wasson's". In addition, we will explore L. Strauss & Co., which also was based in downtown Indy and specialized in high-quality clothing. Jewish merchants founded or built all three retailers in the late 1800s, with multiple generations of Jewish families overseeing the businesses for much of the 1900s. (The Ayres family was Protestant.)

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 Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation and a brigadier general for the Union Army during the Civil War.

Our guide for a statewide exploration of Jewish immigration will be Michael J. Brown, executive director of the Indiana Jewish Historical Society. Michael is the host of IN-Jewish History Podcast, a series that delves into the Hoosier state's Jewish heritage. He has recently worked for Israeli start-ups and is a board member of Sinai Synagogue in South Bend.

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 a farm fence, with an older man in overalls gesturing as he shares a yarn with two younger listeners.

In downtown Indianapolis, Pamela is known for several outdoor murals. Her most recently completed artwork includes larger-than-life depictions of Reggie Miller, the former Indiana Pacer, and the late Eva Kor, the Holocaust survivor who crusaded for forgiveness during the final years of her life.

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 of the Indiana Writers Center, is the award-winning author of eight novels for adults and young adults, including several set in Indiana and some with teenage protagonists. Before her long tenure at the Indiana Writers Center, where she continues to be the "writer-at-large" she was a beloved teacher at the former Broad Ripple High School in its Center for Humanities and Performing Arts.

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 who has been mostly forgotten.

Because so much attention has focused on some stars in Indiana who became household names. like James Dean and Carole Lombard were both nominated for Oscars, we won't dwell on them during this show. We will make an exception in the case of Steve McQueen, who was born in Beech Grove and lived with his mother on the near-eastside of Indianapolis during his early childhood. Many listeners may not be aware that McQueen (1931-1980) was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in "The Sand Pebbles" in 1966.

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 Williams, the author of a new book, "African Americans in Indianapolis". The book covers more than 200 years of city history, but we will focus on the 1800s to explore influential episodes, people and places that have not been the focus of our previous shows about African American heritage.

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 Indiana's heritage, the anecdotes won't involve Lincoln's youth, when he lived in Indiana from ages 7 through 21.

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 from Indianapolis competed in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, then became a firefighter before his untimely death. A figure skater who grew up in Bloomington captured a bronze medal at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Also at those Winter Olympics in Calgary, a brother and sister from Marion, Ind., drew national attention because of their hard-luck story and their hometown's efforts to support their dreams.