Unbound: A Collection of Indiana Stories

This week on Unbound, Casey and Regan are going off the beaten path with this week’s episode. First, Regan explores the history of Indiana’s first brewers in New Harmony, IN. Casey will then tell you about the rise and fall of the Auburn Rubber Company whose toy empire stretched all over the country. 

Indiana's First Brewers: The Germans at New Harmony
Toys and Treasures: The Auburn Rubber Company

Further Information:
Robert Owen
Map of New Harmony
George Rapp

This week Casey and Regan dive into the stories of two trailblazing women from Indiana. First, Regan looks at the life of pioneer lumberwoman Helen Pike Utter who took over her father’s lumber company and grew it into an empire. Then, Casey explores the career of Valeska Suratt, an alluring vamp and self-proclaimed marginally talented performer.

Helen Pike Utter: Indiana's Pioneer Lumberwoman
Valeska Suratt: Indiana Vamp of the Stage and Screen

Welcome back for Season 3 of Unbound! We are excited to be back and to be bringing you brand new stories. This season will also be including new special episodes called, Unbound: Down the Rabbit Hole  where members of our collections staff share times where they have fallen down the research rabbit hole.

On this season premiere of Unbound, Casey and Regan explore science in Indiana. First exploring the life of Dr. Albert Beardsley and the building of Ruthmere. Then, Casey looks into the life and career of Hoosier hero Gus Grissom.

Further Information:

Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom
Gus Grissom and Neil Armstrong Footage
Grissom and Young Gemini Mission

Casey and Regan close out Season 2 on a high note by discussing the lives and careers of two Indiana musicians. First, we will discuss pianist and teacher Bertha Jasper Mehrlich. Then we will close out the season with music and film legend Phil Harris. 
Further Information:
Phil Harris
Phil Harris with friends
Phil Harris 1984

Recital for Two Pianos
Co-Operative Piano Teacher's Association
Scrapbook Page
Metropolitan School of Music, Sixty-first Pupils' Recital

On this Independence Day, Casey and Regan look at some other celebrations that occur throughout Indiana. First looking at a celebration of Mexican Independence Day called Fiestas Patrias which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year in Northwest Indiana. Then Regan tells us about the Indiana Black Expo which is an annual conference held in Indianapolis. 

Further Information:
Crowd at the Indiana Black Expo
Crowd at Black Expo, 1971
Indiana Black Expo Planning Committee

Fiestas Patrias Parade Float
Maria del Refugio Ramirez de Godinez, Fiestas Patrias Queen
El Amigo del Hogar, Vol. II No. 59, August 21, 1927

Join Casey and Regan as they explore two forms of protesting in Indiana. First we will look at Eugene V. Debs rail road union leader, and then we will look at the East Chicago Washington High School walk out.

Further Information:
Signed Debs Photo
Debs for President Poster
Free Debs Booth

Happy Pride Month from the Indiana Historical Society. This week we are delving into LGBTQ history in Indiana. Casey and Regan explore the stories of two queer Hoosiers, veteran Gerri Daniels and the Indianapolis icon from the 1980s Kenn E King. You might know him better as Nurse Safe Sexx. We want to thank Gerri and Kenn for telling their stories and allowing us at the Indiana Historical Society to tell them.  

The Indiana Historical Society is always collecting Indiana history and stories. If you have a story that you think would fit within our LGBTQ collecting initiative, please email us at [email protected].

Further Information:
Gerri Daniels Oral History Collection
Gerri Daniels Oral History Clip

Nurse Safe Sexx Poster Image
Nurse Safe Sexx Gone With the Wind Comic 
Nurse Safe Sexx Prince Comic
Nurse Safe Sexx Buddy Support Program

Mark A Lee LGBTQ Collection Guide

We’ve got civics on the brain today; Casey and Regan look at the long history of women practicing law and their fight for the right to practice law in Indiana. Then we look at Harry Truman’s famous whistle-stop campaign, which helped him win the presidency in a race he was predicted to lose. 

A Century of Change: Indiana's Women Lawyers
Fighting Chance: Harry Truman's Midwestern Whistlestop - Campaign

Further Information:

Harriette Bailey Conn
Law Student, Sherri Hayes
Mahala Ashley Dickerson, second African American woman admitted to the Indiana bar
Truman on the train
Crowd for the whistle-stop campaign

ALL ABOARD! Casey and Regan explore the story of the expansive interurban network that ran all through Indiana and beyond. Then they will examine a streetcar system which connected Terre Haute and became a source of recreation for those in the community. 

Trials and Tribulations: The Interurban in Indiana 

I Remember When: Riding the Rails in Terre Haute 

Further Information:

Image of the South Shore
Collage of Interurban Lines
Construction of Interurban Cars
Traction Terminal Building
Union Traction Co. Freight House
Indiana Railway Co. and Motormen
Electric streetcar, Terre Haute

The afterlife is explored in this death-defying episode of Unbound, Casey and Regan dive into the story of May Wright Sewall. A famous spiritualist from Indiana who wrote the book on spiritualism and how she used it to speak with her husband who had passed. Then we will look into the evolution of cemeteries to public green spaces. 

An Elegant Vision: Indiana’s Landscape Architecture
“The Last Enemy is Destroyed” May Wright Sewall and Spiritualism 

Further Information:
May Wright Sewall
Booth Tarkington
Riverside Park
Crown Hill Cemetery
Garfield Park
Brookside Park
Oldfields
Landon Wedding