Talking Hoosier History

Rufus Cantrell was a lot of things in his life: A driver. A porter. A clerk. An undertaker. In 1902, he added a new title to that list: The King of Ghouls. Cantrell, along with approximately seven other men, ran one of the most successful body-snatching syndicates in the city of Indianapolis. This is the story of his downfall.

In this installment of Giving Voice, host Lindsey Beckley speaks with Susan Hall Dotson and Kisha Tandy about the suffrage movement in the African American communities at the state and national level. The discussion touches on issues of inclusion, storytelling, and the importance of telling a richer version of the suffrage story than what is often heard. 

See transcripts and show notes here. 

In this, the second of a two-part series covering the women's suffrage movement in Indiana, we follow the women who dedicated their lives to the fight for enfranchisement to its end - the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Find a transcript and show notes here.

On this installment of Giving Voice, we talk with Nadia E. Brown, a University Faculty Scholar and Associate Professor of Political Science and African American Studies at Purdue University. We talk about intersectionality, political representation, and how representation in our country is shifting at this very moment.

You can find transcripts and show notes for this episode here. 

In this episode, we meet the diverse suffragists who led Hoosier women's fight for the vote during the re-invigoration of the movement starting around 1911. We follow them as they organize, educate, lobby, protest, and march in the streets.

Thank you to Lt. Governor Suzanne Crouch and director of the Propylaeum Liz Ellis for lending their voices to this episode. Learn more about the celebration of the centennial of women's suffrage here.

See the transcript and show notes for this episode here.

In the last episode of Talking Hoosier History, we discussed the Black Market Firebombing and the people's park which was erected in its place. On this installment of Giving Voice, Host Lindsey Beckley talks to Professor of American History and people's park scholar Kera Lovell about the history and legacy of the People's Park Movement of the 1960s and 70s. 

On December 26, 1968, the quiet was ripped away from Bloomington, Indiana when a Molotov Cocktail was thrown through the window of a small shop on the corner of Kirkwood Avenue and Dunn Street. But this was no random act of violence - it was a targeted attack. On this episode, we discuss the revolutionary spirit of 1968 on Indiana University's campus, the racist backlash, and the repercussions that continue to echo from that backlash. Find show notes at blog.history.in.gov.

For this installment of Giving Voice, we had the pleasure of talking with Chief Ben Barnes of the Shawnee Tribe about the Shawnee nation in Indiana. 

See a full transcript and show notes here. 

In this second part of a two-part series, we follow Tenskwatawa, also known as "The Prophet," as he gains power, eventually becoming the leader of the largest population center in the present-day midwest. We then examine the many factors contributing to his downfall.

See a full transcript and show notes here.

On the most recent episode of Talking Hoosier History, we explored the History Relevance Campaign and how different institutions from around the nation are creating innovative programming using its guidance. In this Giving Voice, we speak with Erin Carlson Mast, CEO and Executive Director of President Lincoln's Cottage in Washington DC, which is a stand out in the field when it comes to making history relevant to their visitors. 

See a transcript and show notes here.