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Books by Nelson Price
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September 21, 2019 Ask Nelson - and Reid Duffy, too
It's time for another "Ask Nelson..." show, which we've featured regularly over the eleven years Hoosier History Live has been on the air. As usual, our host, author and historian Nelson Price, is joined by a co-host, this time one who will be familiar to long-time TV viewers across Central Indiana. Reid Duffy, a popular personality for nearly 30 years on WRTV-Channel 6 in Indianapolis, will join Nelson; the two will interview each other in between phone calls from listeners. Reid is undoubtedly best known for his Duffy's Diner feature about Indiana restaurants, which appeared on WRTV from 1978 to 1995, as well as his humorous and human-interest pieces on a range of topics. Now retired, Reid has been inducted into the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame. At any point during the show, listeners are invited to call in with questions for Nelson or Reid. The WICR-FM studio number is (317) 788-3314.
Bank robber John Dillinger (1903-1934) - known as "Public Enemy No. 1" during the Great Depression - has been the focus of national media attention in response to recent requests by some of his surviving family members to have his body exhumed. They were encouraged by The History Channel, which originally hoped to put together a documentary on the exhumation but recently pulled out of the project. Some family members have objected to tampering with Dillinger's burial site, located in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. Ever since Dillinger was shot and killed by federal agents and Chicago-area police officers, rumors have circulated that the corpse was not that of the outlaw. In Nelson's book Indiana Legends: Famous Hoosiers from Johnny Appleseed to David Letterman (Hawthorne Publishing), he describes how Dillinger took steps to alter his appearance while in hiding. In addition to darkening his hair with black dye, Dillinger had his facial features altered at the East Chicago, Ind., home of a plastic surgeon. He also asked the surgeon to scar his fingerprints with acid in an attempt to prevent identification. Born in the Brightwood neighborhood of Indianapolis, Dillinger lived as a teenager and young adult on his family's farm in Mooresville.
All of the 78 passengers and four crew members aboard an Allegheny Airlines flight traveling from Cincinnati to Indianapolis were killed when the DC-9 jet crashed into a soybean field. It plummeted to the ground after colliding with a much smaller plane, a single-engine Piper Cherokee; the pilot of that plane was also killed. Earlier this month, a memorial was dedicated on the site of the tragedy, which also is the focus of a commemorative website. Lighter aspects of the state's heritage also will be explored during our show. Reid Duffy, an avid baseball fan, plans to discuss minor league baseball teams and their ballparks in Indiana. They will include the popular Fort Wayne TinCaps, a Class A minor league team that’s affiliated with the San Diego Padres. Reid has attended games of the TinCaps in their home stadium, Parkview Field, which opened in downtown Fort Wayne in 2009. The TinCaps name is a salute to folk hero Johnny Appleseed (real name: John Chapman), whose fictionalized depiction in a Disney cartoon featured the character wearing a cooking pot on his head. Most historians emphasize that Chapman, who died in the Fort Wayne area in 1845, did not wear a cooking pot as a hat. Reid also will describe the Gary SouthShore RailCats, a minor league team in northwest Indiana. Its name is an homage to the area's history of freight lines and the South Shore commuter train. The train is visible from the RailCats' ballpark, which is named the U.S. Steel Yard in another tip of the hat to the area's industrial heritage. Listener calls during our show are not restricted to these topics or to history topics that have been in the news recently. Nelson and Reid will welcome questions, comments and insights about any slice of our state's heritage.
Roadtrip: the Kokomo Opalescent Glass factory
Guest Roadtripper, author, and travel writer Jane Ammeson suggests a tour of the Kokomo Opalescent Glass factory, located in its namesake city in Howard County, an hour north of Indianapolis. Glass production was a flourishing industry in Indiana in the late 19th century. Thanks to the natural gas boom that occurred during that time, Indiana had abundant energy resources for the heat-intensive glass-making process. The sand required for glass production was taken from the dunes at the southern tip of Lake Michigan, and the state's many rail lines facilitated nation-wide distribution of the finished product. To learn more, check out the Hoosier History Live show on this topic from 2014. Although the gas boom didn't last, Kokomo Opalescent Glass survived, and today is open for tours. Visitors witness the same technique for manufacturing art sheet glass that the company has been using since it opened in 1888. In the vast KOG manufacturing room, an amalgam of raw materials - soda ash, silica sand, crushed limestone, feldspar colors and other minerals - are melted in clay pots that can hold about 1200 pounds of the mixture. The glass-making process requires "cooking" the constituent ingredients for about 17 hours at a temperature of 2400 degrees Fahrenheit. Visitors also get to see glass blowers making a variety of artistic objects, from blown glass rondels to unique glass paperweights and vases. Jane has lots more to share about the types of glass produced by KOG and stories of how that glass has been used in historic buildings and fine art, but we'll save those for the show! History Mystery
The woman who betrayed John Dillinger by alerting authorities that the fugitive bank robber would be attending a movie at the Biograph Theater in Chicago on a night in July of 1934 has been deemed by popular imagination as the "Lady in Red." Much of the "Lady in Red" story is true. The woman was the Chicago landlady of Dillinger's girlfriend, and both women accompanied Dillinger to a showing of the movie Manhattan Melodrama starring Clark Gable. Tipped off by the Lady, Federal agents and police officers from East Chicago, Ind., were waiting outside the theater for the outlaw to emerge after the show with the two women. One crucial detail is wrong, however: the infamous informant was not wearing red. Question: What color was the skirt worn by the woman who tipped off authorities to John Dillinger's whereabouts on the night of his death? The call-in number is (317) 788-3314. Please do not call into the show until you hear Nelson pose the question on the air, and please do not try to win the prize if you have won any other prize on WICR during the last two months. You must be willing to give your name and address to our engineer and be willing to be placed on the air. The prizes this week are a gift certificate to Story Inn in Brown County, courtesy of Story Inn, and two admissions to the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, courtesy of Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site.
Our reach - and our production costs - are expanding!The news is in: Hoosier History Live's expansion into podcasting is increasing our listenership by leaps and bounds! As many of our fans have discovered, it's easy to "tune in" to our weekly radio show by accessing the podcast on apps such as Stitcher and Apple Podcasts, or wherever you download or stream your favorite podcasts. You can also "Click here to listen to the podcast" below shows listed on our archive page or at the top of the newsletter and website. But as our podcast audience grows, so do the demands upon our Internet server and our devoted Hoosier History Live production and editing team. Our podcasts are free to listeners, of course, but they definitely cost money to create and make available to the public. Won't you consider helping out? To make a personal donation, click on the yellow "Donate" button on our newsletter or website. We can publish your name with a big "Thank You!" or you can remain anonymous, as you prefer. If you own a business or run an organization, please consider a sponsorship. We'll express our appreciation by featuring your business or organization's logos, links, and voiced credits in the live show and in podcasts. To arrange for a sponsorship, contact producer Molly Head at (317) 927-9101 or email her at molly@hoosierhistorylive.org.
September 28, 2019 - coming up Adventures in personal DNA testing - encore
As is clear from the popularity of the PBS show Finding Your Roots, and from the high volume of visitors to the website ancestry.com, many Americans are interested in learning about their family history. And with the advent of personal DNA analysis from services such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA, more and more individuals are learning about the admixture of ethnicities in their genetic heritage, as well as discovering possible matches for unknown blood relatives who have undergone DNA testing themselves.
In this Hoosier History Live show originally broadcast in 2017, we examine what personal DNA testing reveals about ourselves and our shared history. Guest host and associate producer Mick Armbruster interviews three Hoosier women who have recently conducted a personal DNA analysis that yielded surprising results. Mick's guests in studio are:
Learn more:
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What people are saying about Hoosier History Live
"Hoosier History really is 'Live'--and 'Lively' as well. The program brings to new audience the delight and wisdom that comes with knowing more of our past and our connections as Hoosiers." James H. Madison
"Hoosier History Live does more to promote Indiana history than does any single source." Andrea Neal, Indianapolis author and educator
"Hoosier History Live is a fun and interesting way to learn about the heart and soul of Indiana. No boring classes or books here! The production team does an outstanding job." Judy O'Bannon, civic leader and public broadcasting producer
"Distilling life experience into stories is an art. Telling stories of life experience for Hoosiers past and present will shape the lives of young people and enrich the lives of all in our state. Mr. Nelson Price brings alive the life experience of notable Hoosiers in Hoosier History Live." David T. Wong, Ph.D., President
"Nelson Price, more than anyone I know, infuses joy into the pursuit of history. And that joy rings out loud and clear on the radio show, Hoosier History Live." Marsh Davis
“As museums and educational institutions scramble to make their offerings more interactive, more entertaining and more 'relevant', Hoosier History Live seems to have mastered that formula.” Glynis Worley, rural Bartholomew County listener
"Hoosier History Live is a perfect place to consider and reconsider history ... not just what happened in the past, but what it may mean in the present. Nelson Price is the perfect host: enthusiastic, curious and knowledgeable. Tune in to Hoosier History Live and be prepared to be surprised." James Still, playwright in residence, Indiana Repertory Theatre
"Hoosier History Live is a fantastic opportunity for people to not only learn about history, but also become a part of the conversation. Much like our mission, the telling of Indiana's stories, Nelson and his guests wonderfully connect people to the past!" John Herbst
"The links on the Friday Hoosier History Live enewsletter are a great way to learn more about history, and from a variety of sources." Jill Ditmire
"No, I haven't heard of another call-in talk radio show about history. Our airwaves are now full of the worst vitriol! Give me the phone number for the show. I want to call in!" Ken Burns, speaking at a preview of his film "The War" at Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, April 18, 2007
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© 2008 Hoosier History Live. All rights reserved.
Although the topics covered in the show depend on listeners' call-in questions, Nelson does have an agenda. First, he plans to provide historical context about a controversial public figure who is back in the news more than 85 years after he was killed. 
During our show, Nelson will also share insights about the 50th anniversary of one of the most tragic episodes in Indiana history. In September 1969, two aircraft collided near Shelbyville, resulting in the state's worst aviation disaster.
But these tests have raised thorny questions. What does our genetic information tell us about ourselves? If we use online sleuthing to contact relatives revealed by the DNA tests, should we consider them family? What if they would rather not have heard from us? And what if we learn that the race or ethnicity revealed by our DNA is different than the one we had always identified with? Does the newly available genetic information outweigh culture, tradition and family lore in our sense of who we are?