Hoosier History Live is an independently produced new media project about Indiana history, integrating podcasts, website www.HoosierHistoryLive.org, weekly enewsletter, and social media. Its original content comes initially from a live with call in weekly talk radio show hosted by author and historian Nelson Price. You can hear the show live Saturdays from noon to 1 pm ET at WICR 88.7 fm or stream the show live at the WICR HD1 app on your phone, or at our website.
March 09, 2024
Ellen Munds, a trail-blazer of Storytelling Arts
One series is called "Sharing Hoosier History Through Stories". Another series, about historic landmarks across Indiana, is titled "If These Walls Could Tell". There's also an annual "Liar's Contest" on the opening night of the Indiana State Fair.
Storytelling Arts of Indiana is deeply involved in each of those, and, as Hoosier History Live salutes Women's History Month, we will spotlight a woman who has been a key figure in the nonprofit organization since it was created in the late 1980s.
Ellen Munds, the executive director of Storytelling Arts, is a former children's librarian who, with two co-founders, launched the organization with a festival at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park in 1988 after a year of planning. Ellen, who is retiring on June 30, will be Nelson's guest as we spotlight her and the organization created for the promotion and preservation of stories.
In turning back the pages of Storytelling Arts' own history story, it seems a floatation center in Indianapolis played a key role. According to Ellen, she met future professional storyteller Bob Sander, one of the other co-founders of Storytelling Arts, when he co-owned a local floatation center.
"I would volunteer at the floatation center in exchange for free floats," Ellen recalls. "After I would float, I would sit in a comfortable chair, sip some hot tea and talk with Bob." As a children's librarian at the Carmel Clay Public Library, Ellen had been inspired by a visiting storyteller who performed at a librarians' conference. She described his captivating performance to Bob Sander, who soon shared her enthusiasm for the art form.
The two were joined by Nancy Barton, a third co-founder of what became Storytelling Arts of Indiana, which began as Stories, Inc. before a name change. Bob Sander became its first executive director, with Ellen serving as the program director before following him in the top post in 1996.
Since then, she's been credited with helping develop several popular storytelling series and events, including "If These Walls Could Talk". It's a partnership with Indiana Landmarks that involves commissioning a storyteller to research and develop a story based on an award-winning, restored landmark. Earlier this month, storyteller Celestine Bloomfield of Indianapolis performed a story based on the history of Bottleworks, the downtown entertainment and culinary hub created in the massive, former Coca-Cola Bottling Plant that had opened in 1931.
Another series that Ellen helped launch, "Sharing Hoosier History Through Stories", is a partnership with the Indiana Historical Society that began in 1999. And at a local children's hospital, pairs of storytellers began visiting in 2001 to tell stories at the bedsides of patients.
What about the annual Liar's Contest? It's been a feature of the opening night of the Indiana State Fair since 2009. During our show, Ellen will give listeners a flavor of some of the topics involved with these series, contests and events.
In March, our shows saluting trail-blazers during Women's History Month have included programs in 2022 focusing on Indianapolis novelist Barbara Shoup, the former executive director of the Indiana Writers Center, and acclaimed artist Pamela Bliss, who has created outdoor murals of famous Hoosiers.
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