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 30, 2024

Ask Nelson – and Glory-June Greiff, too

Calling all Hoosiers (or Hoosiers at heart who live in other states): Do you have any questions about Indiana's heritage that you'd like to ask historians? This show will be an ideal opportunity, with an open phone line throughout as Nelson is joined by Glory-June Greiff, a well-known public historian with broad and deep expertise about the Hoosier state. In between phone calls from listeners – the WICR-FM studio number to call is 317-788-3314 – Nelson and Glory-June will interview each other, particularly about topics related to Women's History Month.

She will share insights about women sculptors from Indiana during the early 1900s, including those whose works are featured in one of Glory-June's books, Remembrance, Faith & Fancy: Outdoor Public Sculpture in Indiana. Two of the sculptors whom Glory-June will discuss are:

• Janet Scudder (1869-1940), who was born in Terre Haute and became one of the most prominent women sculptors in the country. The Swope Art Museum in her hometown displays some of her works.

• And Myra Reynolds Richards (1882-1934), an Indianapolis native whose outdoor sculptures and statues can be seen across the state, from Delphi to the Fountain Square neighborhood in her hometown. She also created the statue in Greenfield of James Whitcomb Riley that stands in front of the Hancock County Courthouse.

That courthouse and statue are on U.S. 40 (the National Road). So with Glory-June, we will be following up a recent show about sites on the highway by discussing another site: the Madonna of the Trail monument at the entrance to Glen Miller Park in Richmond. The Madonna of the Trail monuments (there are identical ones in every state that the National Road comes through) commemorate the courage of pioneer women.

Glory-June also will share additional insights related to another recent show: Carnegie Libraries in Indiana. As we noted during that show, Indiana had more libraries funded by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (164) than any other state. More than 100 across the state are still in use as public libraries, while about 40 others have been repurposed. Glory-June will discuss some of the latter, including former Carnegie Libraries in such Indiana cities and towns as Spencer, New Carlisle and Boonville, where the historic buildings have been repurposed.

As a guide for listeners with questions, Glory-June's other areas of expertise include our state parks, state forests and the New Deal in Indiana. Nelson's areas of expertise include famous Hoosiers (both historic and contemporary notables in all walks of life) as well as Indianapolis city history.

This show is listeners' opportunity to ask questions by calling 317-788-3314 at any point. Typically, our phone lines are only open during the final 20 minutes of our shows, except during our History Mystery trivia question. We will have one of those, too.

New show podcasts are up!

Your contributions help keep Hoosier History Live on the air, on the web, in your inbox, and in our ARCHIVES!

Yes, in fact, they do! And let's talk about some of them.

Corene Nickel is our webmaster and edits the enewsletter and website. Also, she is charged with developing our podcast project and increasing its distribution and usability by the less-than-technical. Not a small task.

But as producer Molly Head says, "Sometimes you have no confidence in what you are doing. But then you look around and say, well maybe I AM the best person for the job. Or maybe someone I already know is the best person for a different type of job! Goodness knows that for years our independently produced media project has faced a lot of opposition. I think, in part, because we do things so well, and there is a certain amount of organizational jealousy around. But when you see that we are still going, well, you have to say, that IS an accomplishment!"

To our knowledge, we are the only live with call-in talk radio show about a state's history. And we ARE looking to increase our distribution and visibility via podcasting and the internet. Yes, we really have been defying the odds!

Absolutely we have some great men working on the Hoosier History Live media project as well. But as March is Women's History Month, we thought we'd highlight the women! 

Trivia prizes sought

Prizes must fit in a standard business envelope. Hoosier History Live prefers to "snail mail" prizes to our trivia winners. And If prizes are time sensitive, they need to be offered well in advance of the event so that we can get them out in time.

We'd like to thank the following recent individual contributors who make this show possible. For a full list of contributors over the years, visit  Support the Show on our website.

• Bruce and Julie Buchanan  
• Sandra Hurt
• Chuck and Karen Bragg
• Ken and Luan Marshall
• Tom Swenson
• Mike Freeland and Sharon Butsch Freeland
• Dr. William McNiece
• Serita Borgeas
• Richard Stroup in memory of Robert W. Stroup
• Bill Connor
• Ann Frick
• Charlotte Ottinger
• John and Florence Stanton

Please tell our sponsors that you appreciate their support!

Acknowledgements to WICR-FM, Fraizer Designs, Monomedia, Henri Pensis, Maddie Fisher, Austin Cook, and many other individuals and organizations. We are independently produced and are self-supporting through organizational sponsorship and through individual contribution, either online at our yellow button on our newsletter or website, or by U.S. mail. For organizational sponsorship, which includes logos, links, and voiced credits in our podcasts and in our show, please contact Molly Head at (317) 506-7164 or email her at molly@hoosierhistorylive.org.

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