Moment of Indiana History
shows Archive
April 28, 2008
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Hickory Chic
A resurgence of interest in the Arts and Crafts movement in architecture and design has resulted in a renaissance, of sorts, for Indiana hickory furniture. Increasingly showcased in museum exhibitions and interior decorating schemes, the rustic pieces date to Indiana’s pioneer past.
April 21, 2008
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Howard Cadle
From Winona Lake’s Billy Sunday, whose exhortations helped pass Prohibition in 1919, to Jim Jones, whose Indianapolis People’s Temple came to its tragic end in 1978, Indiana has produced its share of charismatic preachers.
April 14, 2008
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Mail Pouch Barns
Ramshackle barns exhorting passers-by to “treat [themselves] to the best” have become a familiar element of road-trip vernacular. Those wandering down Indiana’s scenic routes, or browsing around the courthouse square in certain county seats are sure to encounter the fading call to action–“Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco”.
April 7, 2008
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Kennedy and King
Indiana’s Democratic leadership was not enthusiastic about Robert Kennedy’s presidential bid in 1968, which he had announced in mid-March, just before flying to Indianapolis to register for its May primary. The junior Senator from New York and erstwhile U.S. Attorney General who had long championed civil rights returned to stump across Indiana April 4 th.
March 31, 2008
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Ruth Lilly
The worlds of poetry and arts advocacy were astounded when, in late 2002, it was announced that the small Chicago publication, Poetry , and the Washington-based lobbying group Americans for the Arts were the beneficiaries of gifts of more than 100 million dollars apiece.
March 24, 2008
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Mary Jane Ward
The author of five previous novels—only two of which had been published—Mary Jane Ward was unprepared for the firestorm that surrounded The Snake Pit when it was released in 1946.
March 17, 2008
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Dr. Sarah Stockton
Addressing the Indiana State Medical Society in 1885, Doctor Mary Thomas reminded the gathering, “A year ago there was a lady physician appointed in the insane asylum…Today I met the Superintendant, Dr. Fletcher, and asked him if Dr. Sarah Stockton was a success in the asylum? And he said, “A complete success!” I am thankful […]
March 10, 2008
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Mary Ritter Beard
A feminist who eventually opposed the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, Mary Ritter Beard was nonetheless a pioneering scholar and proponent of women’s history. The texts she co-authored with her husband, not to mention fifteen titles of her own, made significant strides in incorporating cultural, social and economic trends into the popular interpretation of American history.
March 3, 2008
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Xenia Miller
Women’s History Month 2008 begins on a wistful note in Columbus with the news of Xenia Miller’s passing February 19 th. Born in 1917, Miller was a major philanthropist whose life story dovetailed with many of that city’s significant figures, trends and landmarks.
February 25, 2008
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Dr. King and the Little Five
A group of black students committed to achieving racial justice through nonviolent means was already in existence at Indiana University Bloomington by the spring of 1968. But the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4 th in Memphis, Tennessee galvanized black activism on campus.
