Talking Hoosier History

Philo T. Farnsworth conceived of the idea for electronic television in the middle of an Idaho potato field at just 13 years old. At age 19, he produced the first functional prototype for his idea. For nearly three decades following that, he Farnsworth worked to bring his invention to the American home but was stymied every step of the way by financial, legal, and technological problems.

Transcript and show notes here.

In this episode of Giving Voice, IHB Deputy Director Michella Marino and IHB Historian Casey Pfeiffer talk with Dr. Cheryl Cooky, a professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Purdue University. Dr. Cooky is a member of the National Policy Advisory Board for the Women’s Sports Foundation. Following on the heels of IHB’s most recent Talking Hoosier History episode on the South Bend Blue Sox and All American Girls Professional Baseball League, their discussion considers the evolution of women’s sports over the last century, the impact Title IX has had on women’s athletics, and the important work that still needs to be done to achieve gender equality in sports.  

Find transcripts and show notes here: https://wp.me/p7f1qx-2c9

For twelve seasons (1943-1954), over 600 women competed in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The South Bend Blue Sox, one of four original teams, showcased the ballplayers' determination and athleticism during their 1952 season, when a player strike left the team with just 12 members days before the playoffs. This episode contextualizes the AAGPBL and Blue Sox within the larger history of women in sport, culminating in the Dutiful Dozen's stunning 1952 championship.

In this episode of Giving Voice, IHB historian Jill Weiss Simins talks to Adrianne Slash and Aaron Welcher, Indianapolis community leaders working on social justice issues. Slash serves on the board of the Civil Rights Commission and writes columns for the Indianapolis Business Journal and the Indianapolis Recorder. Welcher serves as the Programs & Communications Coordinator at the Jewish Community Relations Council and works to build coalitions of Jewish, Black, LGBTQ+, and other groups and faiths. Their important discussion in this episode considers how white Hoosiers can be allies for their Black neighbors in the ongoing struggle for civil rights, the responsibility of Jewish Hoosiers for continuing this work, and how people can get involved in the work that needs to be done in their own communities.

In 1965, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called for religious leaders representing all faiths to join him in Selma, Alabama, for a march responding to recent violence against peaceful protestors. Rabbi Maurice Davis of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation (IHC) answered this call, despite threats to his life. This episode looks at the work of Rabbi Davis to fight segregation and discrimination in Indianapolis, especially in housing and employment. It also considers why Jewish Americans joined the Black-led Civil Rights Movement in greater numbers than other groups and what lessons his work teaches us today about allyship and interfaith work for greater rights for all Americans. Current IHC Rabbi Brett Krichiver brings the words of his predecessor to life with music from IHC Cantor Aviva Marer. IHB historian Justin Clark hosts. Written and produced by IHB historian Jill Weiss Simins.

On this episode of Giving Voice, IHB historian Nicole Poletika talks with Karen Freeman-Wilson, the former mayor of Gary and current President of the Chicago Urban League. A follow up to the most recent Talking Hoosier History episode, "Tribe Come Home: The 1972 National Black Political Convention," their discussion centers on the ongoing effort for equal rights in Indiana, especially for Black women.

Thousands of Black Americans from around the country came to Gary, Indiana, for the 1972 Black National Political Convention to transform the Black Power Movement into the Black Political Power Movement. Leaders worked to channel collective outrage - caused by voter suppression and discrimination, as well as the assassinations of major Civil Rights leaders - into political reform.

On this installment of Giving Voice, we speak with Dr. James Madison, Professor Emeritus of History at Indiana University and the author of the new book Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland about the Klan in Indiana in the 1920s. In our discussion, we talk about who joined the Klan and why, how the Klan came to power, and the legacy left by the Klan today. 

See a transcript and show notes for this episode here. 

On May 24, 1924, the Ku Klux Klan attempted to hold a meeting in South Bend, Indiana. They were met with furious Notre Dame students and South Bend citizens, who banded together to drive the organization out of town. When the Klan used this confrontation as fodder for anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic propaganda, university administration needed to find a way to combat the smear campaign. They found their answer in a wildly successful Notre Dame football team.

Find a transcript and show notes here.

For this installment, we talk with Sarah Halter, the Executive Director of the Indiana Medical History Museum. In this episode, we talk about the history of the treatment of mental illness in Indiana, the development of the malarial syphilis treatment, and how the museum is working to humanize the specimens in their collection. 

See show notes and transcripts here.