By Andrea Neal A wave of high-tech creativity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries cemented Fort Wayne’s reputation as the Silicon Valley of its day. Some innovation highlights: Jenney Arc Lights illuminated League Park in Fort Wayne in 1883 for one of the earliest baseball games … Read More
by Andrea Neal Though many might be tempted to confer the honor on Benjamin Harrison, Wendell L. Willkie is the only native Hoosier ever nominated for president by a major political party. Harrison was from North Bend, Ohio. Born and raised in Elwood, Willkie was the Republican standard … Read More
by Andrea Neal The city of Indianapolis will be forever linked to one of the worst naval disasters in history: the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in World War II. This was the 10,000-ton cruiser that delivered secret components for the atomic bomb to be used against Japan, … Read More
By ANDREA NEAL If Franklin Delano Roosevelt had not run for an unprecedented third term in 1940, there is a good possibility that Hoosier Paul Vories McNutt of Franklin would have become the 33rd President of the United States. One of the most powerful politicians Indiana has ever seen, … Read More
by Andrea Neal Dubbed the “colored cyclone” by newspaper reporters of the early 1900s, Hoosier Marshall W. “Major” Taylor was a champion cyclist whose speed was surpassed only by railway locomotives. Despite achieving international fame — and defying bigotry and Jim Crow segregationist practices — Taylor died penniless … Read More
By ANDREA NEAL From his pulpit at Plymouth Congregational Church in Indianapolis, the Rev. Oscar C. McCulloch missed no opportunity to push his congregation out of the pews and into the world. “Here lies our work,” he exhorted one Sunday, unveiling a vision of a church that educated, … Read More
By ANDREA NEAL During the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan took Indiana by storm. Ninety years later, Hoosiers still struggle to grasp why. The secretive brotherhood launched its Indiana recruitment efforts in Evansville in 1920. Within four years, Hoosier Klansmen numbered 250,000 and represented every corner of the … Read More
By ANDREA NEAL The date was July 4, 1894. The location was Pumpkinvine Pike 3 miles east of Kokomo. Elwood Haynes had hauled his newfangled carriage — a horseless one no less — to the edge of the city for a test drive. He unhitched the horses that … Read More
By ANDREA NEAL Although few Hoosiers know his name, James Bethel Gresham, Evansville, earned a place in the history books for his role in World War I. Corporal Gresham, of the 1st Division’s 16th Infantry, was reportedly first to die in the service of the American Expeditionary Forces. A … Read More
By Andrea Neal In 1916, Indiana celebrated its 100th birthday with pageants, parades and a presidential visit and gave the best gift imaginable to future generations of Hoosiers: a statewide parks system. The planning began in 1915 when lawmakers created the Indiana Historical Commission — today the Historical … Read More
By ANDREA NEAL In 1897, an assistant attorney general made a legal error that cost the Miami Nation of Indiana its federal recognition as a tribe. They’ve been fighting ever since to win it back. “Our people are as upset now as they were 100 years ago,” declares … Read More
By ANDREA NEAL Although his name does not show up on lists of greatest presidents, Benjamin Harrison did more during his one term in office than some better-known presidents accomplished in two. Consider the following: He expanded the U.S. Navy to both coasts and strengthened its fleet, which … Read More
By ANDREA NEAL In an era of declining church membership for most Christian denominations, one group of believers is experiencing healthy, unprecedented growth. In 2014, the estimated Amish population in Indiana exceeded 50,000, according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. That’s bigger … Read More
By ANDREA NEAL It was Indiana’s version of the Gold Rush. In the 1880s, the discovery of a massive natural gas field in east central Indiana launched a gas boom of historic proportion. The news spread fast — as it did with California gold — and folks poured … Read More
By ANDREA NEAL The most poignant moments in Indiana history have taken place under its dome and on its front steps. Suffragettes lobbied for the right to vote. Mourners filed past the casket of President Benjamin Harrison to pay last respects. Actress Carole Lombard raised the American flag … Read More
By ANDREA NEAL James Sidney Hinton, a Union Army veteran and Republican Party orator, was a 19th century torchbearer for civil rights who became the first African-American elected to the Indiana General Assembly. Hinton achieved this distinction during an era of sweeping social and political change — and … Read More
