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Oct. 10 show Camp Chesterfield and Spiritualism historyJust north of Anderson on the banks of the White River is a historic 34-acre enclave that has long been known as a "hub of Spiritualism."
Indiana Landmarks has placed Camp Chesterfield on its "10 Most Endangered" list. That's because many of the camp's historic buildings, such as the Sunflower Hotel, built in 1914, stand vacant or, in the case of other structures, are underused. Camp Chesterfield is listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its significance as a spiritualist camp of the type that was widespread throughout the East and Midwest during the early 1900s. To explore the history of Camp Chesterfield and of Spiritualism, which is defined in The Spirits of Lily Dale (Glade Press, 2010) as "the philosophy, science and religion of continuous life," Nelson will be joined in studio by two guests:
Seances have been conducted for generations at Camp Chesterfield. According to the Indiana Preservationist, Spiritualists believe it's possible to "communicate with the dead, especially with the aid of skilled mediums." According to The Spirits of Lily Dale (the title refers to the center of the Spiritualist movement in western New York), many leaders of the anti-slavery, women's rights, temperance, prison reform and labor reform movements were involved in Spiritualism. Camp Chesterfield began as a summer tent camp in the 1890s. In the beginning, according to Chesterfield Lives, a privately published history of the camp, visitors had to bring "their own camping equipment and hay for horses."
At Camp Chesterfield, a chapel in the woods serves as the setting for "message services" as well as weddings and funerals; in addition to the chapel, the spacious Cathedral of the Woods was built in 1954. Six years earlier, the Western Hotel opened to supplement the Sunflower Hotel. "With a shrinking budget and congregation, the Indiana Association of Spiritualists struggles to maintain Camp Chesterfield," the Indiana Preservationist notes. In addition to Camp Chesterfield, other historic sites on the "10 Most Endangered" list include the Indiana Medical History Museum and the once-lavish but long-deteriorating Rivoli Theater on the eastside of Indianapolis. Learn more:
Roadtrip - Historic New Albany, Ind.
New Albany, he tells us, was the largest city in Indiana in 1850 with 8,181 people (Indianapolis had 8,012), and was also the second-largest city along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in the building of steamboats before the Civil War. A few other quick facts:
History MysteryAnderson, the city closest to Camp Chesterfield, was named after a Native American leader. Chief William Anderson was a widely admired leader of an Indian tribe that lived along the banks of the White River and in the woodland areas where such towns as Muncie, Noblesville and Anderson later were founded.
In what has been described as a forced removal, the tribe left Indiana during the 1820s. Chief Anderson and the rest of the Native American tribe eventually ended up in Kansas. Question: Name the tribe of Native Americans. Please do not call into the show until Nelson has posed the question on the air. The prize pack includes a gift certificate to Iozzo's Garden of Italy in downtown Indy, courtesy of Visit Indy, two passes to Glo Golf in the Circle Centre Mall in downtown Indianapolis, courtesy of Glo Golf, and two tickets to the Indiana History Center featuring the new exhibit You Are There 1816: Indiana Joins the Nation, courtesy of the Indiana Historical Society. Your Hoosier History Live! team, Nelson Price, host and
creative director Please tell our sponsors that you appreciate their support: Indiana Authors Award | Indiana Historical Society | Indianapolis Scottish Highland Games & Festival | Lewis Kappes Attorneys at Law | Lucas Oil | Story Inn
Oct. 17 show Persian/Iranian heritage in IndianaIran has been in the headlines continually. So it is timely for our rotating series about the ethnic heritage of Indiana - which has explored a vast range from German, Irish and Scottish to Cuban, Columbian/Venezuelan and Russian immigration - to look at the Persian and Iranian heritage in the Hoosier state. Nelson's guests will include Cyrus Jafari, a Realtor and entrepreneur in Indianapolis who grew up in Iran and immigrated at age 24 in 2001. "Basically, people who have come from Iran are in one of two groups," Cyrus says. "The first group came before the revolution in 1977 and often were supporters of the shah. The newer group, people like me, grew up in Iran after that and never experienced what the country was like in the past." According to Peopling Indiana: The Ethnic Experience (Indiana Historical Society Press, 1996), few Iranians came to Indiana - or even to the United States - before 1900. During the last 50 years, though, many have come to study medicine, engineering and other fields at universities. Although Cyrus grew up in Iran, he was born in the United States because his father came to study electrical engineering. During his youth in the historic Iranian city of Isfahan, Cyrus met his wife Nasim. She immigrated several years after Cyrus and is a chef at the Eagle's Nest restaurant in downtown Indy. Because of the volatile relationship between Iran and the United States, Cyrus reports that some immigrants are reluctant to identify their heritage. "If you are ashamed to be Iranian, you tend to call yourself Persian," he says. Cyrus, who has dual citizenship, has been able to travel freely in and out of his homeland and visited Iran last year. Learn more:
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