Hoosier History Live

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 Madison, along with Albert Gallatin, who was secretary of the treasury in both of their administrations. Gallatin corresponded with John Badollet, secretary of the Indiana Territory; their letters document the push for the National Road and the challenges involved.

The Indiana National Road Association celebrates the heritage of the road, both during the 19th century and its U.S. 40 era.

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 of a pharmacy in 1876 on Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Indy.

The captivating history of these competitors, which included Hook's becoming the country's 12th largest drugstore chain, and the two brothers who founded Haag being accused of bootlegging during Prohibition will be the focus of our show. Although both the Haag and Hook's names had vanished from retailing by the mid-1990s, the legacy of the latter is celebrated at the Hook's Drug Store Museum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Nelson's guest will be Indianapolis civic leader David Steele, a board member of the museum. David has crusaded for a historic marker that will be dedicated later this year on the site of the first Hook's store at South East and Prospect streets.

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, who was an Indiana University student and a model before her selection as the official pin-up girl (that's the phrase used then for her designation), also had other distinctions. In addition to touring in World War II bond drives and USO shows, she became one of the first American civilians to enter Berlin after Germany's surrender. Stewart (1919-2012) also had small roles in Hollywood movies.

She is among the World War II connections to Wabash County in northeastern Indiana that we will explore during our show. Others will include an engineer who got his start at an early truck assembly plant in Wabash before being hired by the Chinese government to launch their auto and truck industry in the late 1920s. During World War II, he remained in China, which then was an ally of the U.S., before returning to Wabash.

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 in appearance because the monument's design was still evolving.

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 with causing the popularity of bees to boom.

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", Hoosier History Live will explore them with a popular guide for Indiana history tours. Sampson Levingston of Through2Eyes will be Nelson's guest to share insights about the impact of The Green Book and about the Indiana sites, many of them long gone.

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 families" seriously ill beginning in 1839. Two of Indiana's first ladies died in the posh house, which had replaced a never-occupied governor's residence built at the center of what became Monument Circle.

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, perishing in January 1967 during one of the worst accidents of the space program.

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.