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.

July 20, 2024

A famous fashion designer, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and more: the Levinsons of Noblesville

There's a connection between the city of Noblesville and glamorous Hollywood celebrities such as Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Monroe.

Also, there once was a potential link between Noblesville, the county seat of Hamilton County, and the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition, a popular Indiana chain of men's clothing stores during the mid and late 1900s had its beginnings with a shop in Noblesville.

All of the connections involved the Levinson family, which included Norman Norell, an internationally famous fashion designer from the 1940s through the early 1970s. His birth name in 1900 was Norman Levinson, but he eventually chose the name "Norell", explaining his selection this way: "Nor for Norman. L for Levinson. Another L for looks." Norell designed clothes worn by many of the world's most recognizable women including Bacall, Monroe and Gloria Swanson. When he died in 1972, the front-page headline in the New York Times proclaimed Norell: "Made Seventh Avenue the Rival of Paris".

His uncle, Salmon Levinson (1865-1941), was an anti war crusader who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. A philanthropist and a successful attorney, Salmon Levinson helped Carl Sandburg get his start in poetry.

Norell's father and brother ran what became known for generations as Harry Levinson's Men's Shops; a retailer of suits, sports jackets and other quality menswear. It expanded from a flagship store in downtown Indianapolis to outlets in Bloomington, Evansville and other cities.

Nelson will be joined in studio by Hamilton County historian David Heighway, who will share insights about the multi-generational impact of the Levinson family. They settled in Noblesville in the 1850s when, as David has written, "they were one of the few Jewish families" in the town. David is the author of Hidden History of Hamilton County, Indiana, which includes a chapter about the Levinsons. During our show, he also will share insights about the new Crossroads Discovery Center, a genealogy and history resource at the Hamilton East Public Library, where David is based.

In 2021, an Indiana State Historic Marker was erected in Noblesville near the birthplace of Norman Norell, who designed clothes for both Hollywood and Broadway productions, including outfits worn by Doris Day in That Touch of Mink (1962). He designed high fashion clothes for the general public that were carried in more than 100 stores across the country, including the L.S. Ayres chain in Indiana. Norell mentored another famous fashion designer from Indiana: Fort Wayne native Bill Blass.

Norell's uncle, Salmon Levinson, was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1929 after writing a document that proposed outlawing war. His philanthropic endeavors included establishing awards at Noblesville High School and at a poetry magazine. The first winner of the poetry award was Carl Sandburg, who went on to a distinguished career as a poet and historian.

Hamilton County historian David Hamilton has been a Hoosier History Live guest several times, including on a show in 2021 that explored myths about the town of Strawtown and a show in 2017 about the violent early era of Fishers.

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"Yes, folks and fans, we know you love Hoosier History Live. But our resources have been dwindling for a long time. We just can't keep running on nothing!

In August, you will still be able to hear Nelson doing a live with call-in talk show Saturdays at noon on WICR 88.7 fm, or stream it on the WICR HD1 app. And we will continue to keep our website up so that our years worth of podcasts will be available for listening.

IF you are interested in raising money for Hoosier History Live, contact nelson@hoosierhistorylive.org. Yes, it is mostly about the money, and we just can't keep doing it on nothing!

Sincerely, Molly and Nelson

More about our Hoosier History Live online collection

Remember that Hoosier History Live's most valuable asset is its online material. The Hoosier History Live ARCHIVES  is essentially our collection of previously aired shows that have been turned into podcasts, as well as their accompanying newsletters. And yes, we do control our online product! And yes, we do want you to share our enewsletters, podcasts, and Facebook posts.

And here is another great show to listen to about the evolution of the funeral business in Indiana with guest Bruce Buchanan:

Funeral business evolution and civic involvement in Indy

Ever since the 1820s, when David Buchanan arrived by covered wagon in the Indianapolis area and opened a tavern before becoming a farmer, the Flanner and Buchanan families have been intertwined with city history. Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers is a 142-year-old, family-owned business that began during an era when funerals and visitations typically were held in the parlors of private homes (hence, the derivation of the term funeral parlor). Before that, in the mid-1800s, undertakers often were carpenters.

As the funeral business evolved (Flanner and Buchanan opened the first crematorium in Indianapolis in 1904), so did the civic impact of members of the Flanner and Buchanan families, who were brought together by marriage in the 19th century. Frank Flanner, who began in the mortuary business in 1881, founded Flanner House (initially known as Flanner Guild House), a nonprofit to assist African Americans, including former enslaved people who had come to Indianapolis. His sister, Anna Flanner Buchanan, helped start the first YWCA in the city.

All of that and more will be explored during our show when Bruce Buchanan, the CEO of Buchanan Group Inc. (which includes Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers), the fourth generation owner, is Nelson's studio guest. The massive Community Life Center on the city's far eastside, a multi-purpose event space owned by Flanner and Buchanan, and adjacent Washington Park East Cemetery are on the site of David Buchanan's farmland in the 1830s. The multi-generational impact of the families on the funeral business and civic affairs is described in a lavishly illustrated book, Building Community: The Flanner and Buchanan Families of Indianapolis written by local author Julie Young.

The book describes the prominence of literary great Janet Flanner (1892-1978), Frank Flanner's daughter, who became famous beginning in the 1920s as a Paris-based writer. During our show with Bruce Buchanan, we will explore Janet's impact (she documented the early rise of Adolph Hitler) as well as family tragedies. They include the suicide in 1912 of mortician Frank Flanner, who drank a poisonous concoction, and the drowning deaths of two young Buchanan brothers in Fall Creek during the 1930s.

By then, Flanner and Buchanan had opened Fall Creek Mortuary, a structure that was built as a funeral center during an era when that was unusual; most were located in converted houses. Fall Creek Mortuary, which had a built-in organ and served as the flagship of the Flanner and Buchanan operation for decades, eventually was demolished in the 1990s.According to Building Community, the word "undertaker" was coined in the 19th century to describe someone, typically a carpenter, who was willing to "undertake the unpleasant duty" of handling the final presentations of the deceased. By 1887, when Frank Flanner persuaded his brother-in-law Charles Buchanan, Anna's husband, to join him in the business, the term undertaker was being dropped in favor of the more professional term of "funeral director". Like the Flanners, Charles Buchanan became immersed in civic affairs, including crusading for the creation of the Indiana Dunes State Park.

Frank Flanner convinced other civic leaders to help launch Flanner House, a nonprofit that continues to this day. Its dedication ceremony in the early 1900s was attended by Booker T. Washington, who stayed at Frank Flanner's house when he was turned down by local hotels. Frank Flanner's other civic involvement included helping launch what became the Herron School of Art and Design.

Janet Flanner, Frank Flanner's daughter, became one of the first movie critics in the country, writing about silent films for the Indianapolis Star. Beginning in the 1920s, though, she was a correspondent for The New Yorker magazine based in Paris. That's where she befriended other American expatriates including legendary novelists Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Other members of the extended Flanner and Buchanan families also carved out careers beyond the funeral business. Paul Buchanan Jr., the father of our guest Bruce Buchanan, was a well-known judge and an art collector until his death in 2008. His vast collection of Brown County artwork now is displayed at Flanner and Buchanan funeral centers.

The family's heritage is Scottish. David Buchanan, the pioneer who came to the new city of Indianapolis in the 1820s, had been born in Virginia. The farm that he started in far-eastern Marion County was on the National Road (now U.S. 40, or Washington Street, as it's known in the city). The Community Life Center that opened in 2001 on the farm's site is a building of 20,000 square feet that has become a venue for weddings, receptions and community events as well as celebrations of life and funeral visitations.

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

• Jane Simon Ammeson
• Jill Lough Chambers
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• Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
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• Charlotte Ottinger
• Bruce and Julie Buchanan  
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• Chuck and Karen Bragg
• Ken and Luan Marshall

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 Acknowledgements to WICR-FM, Fraizer Designs, Monomedia, Henri Pensis, Caden Colford, Jace Hodge, Jake Helton, 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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