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A Moment of Indiana History. A painting titled A June Idyl Canvas by T.C. Steele is in the background. Two of his children are depicted sitting in a forest
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Moment of Indiana History

"Moment of Indiana History" was a weekly two-minute radio program exploring Indiana History. The series was a production of WFIU Public Radio in partnership with the Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations (IPBS).

The program began as a co-production of WFIU, Bloomington, and WBAA, West Lafayette as a module to air on IPBS radio stations. From 2007 to 2014, the series was produced by WFIU for broadcast by IPBS stations as well as other entities interested in Indiana history. Now being re-released every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

A black and white photograph shows a young child walking on a path of wooden boards while carrying a metal bucket. In the background, there is a simple wooden shed or barn, and a wire fence separates the foreground from a flat, open field.
Russell Lee, courtesy of Indiana Magazine of History
A Day in the Life of a Hoosier Tenant Farmer
Many of the well-known images of life during the Great Depression are of farm families from the dustbowl of the Great Plains. Others picture Hoosier lives.
A black and white photograph shows a group of men standing on a dirt path next to a wooden walkway. The men appear to be laborers, some holding what look like wheelbarrows, suggesting they are working on a construction project
Fighting Irish Along The Canal
A black and white photo of actor James Dean sitting in a tufted armchair, looking off to the side with a pensive expression. He is wearing a light-colored v-neck sweater over a collared shirt.
A Case of Dean
  • A red brick building with multiple towers and a central dome. The building has a Romanesque Revival architectural style and was formerly the Central Avenue United Methodist Church.
    The Second Life of an Indianapolis Landmark
    As demographic change altered the landscape of downtown Indianapolis, the church that had housed Indiana's largest Methodist congregation faced demolition.
  • A faded and creased handwritten letter on a single sheet of paper. The handwriting is in cursive. In the middle of the page, there is a printed illustration of a woman in a classical robe, holding a banner that says "UNION FOREVER" and standing on a base that says "AMERICA."
    A Shifting Role on the Civil War Homefront
    Women on the Civil War home front spent the war years occupied with matters outside the boundaries of what was then considered “women’s work”.
  • A close-up photograph of an antique map of Indiana, dated 1826. The map is folded and shows the state's boundaries and internal divisions
    Mapping the Frontier
    Gazetteers helped lure settlers westward into the towns of Indiana and other frontier states and gave them concrete information about their destinations.
  • An illustration titled "The Joys of the Free Highway" by G. Wright from 1907. It depicts a family next to an early automobile in a snowy landscape with a large building in the background.
    An Avant-Garde Electric Car
    Gasoline propulsion claimed the day, and by 1914 the Waverley Electric car went out of production. Turns out, the vehicle was a century ahead of its time.
  • A black and white photograph shows a group of American Red Cross volunteers and soldiers gathered around a "Clubmobile" during World War II
    Soldiers’ Solace: Clubmobile Women During World War II
    Clubmobile women did more than hand out coffee and doughnuts. Their most important job was to listen to soldiers' fears, frustrations, and hurts.
  • A weathered wooden building with a window and a door, a rustic wooden fence in the foreground, and a light dusting of snow on the ground.
    A Subtle Celebration
    Christmas in pioneer Indianapolis was a private and almost invisible holiday.
  • A detail from a mural showing robed figures of the Ku Klux Klan gathered around a burning cross. The scene includes a figure on a horse and a woman in the foreground
    Slaying The Dragon
    From small beginnings in 1922, the Ku Klux Klan had attracted an estimated thirty percent of all white males in the Hoosier state onto its membership rolls.
  • An interior view of the Indiana First Supreme Court chambers, which is a historical courtroom with a raised bench, three wooden chairs, and a smaller table with a quill and inkwell. The room has white walls, a wooden floor, and a window on the left side.
    On The Vanguard For African American Rights
    At a time when other branches of government proved inconsistent on matters of African American rights, the Indiana Supreme Court steadily upheld human rights.
  • A black and white photo of a group of men in military uniforms, seated and standing.
    The Infamous Hoosier Behind the Right To a Fair Trial
    Although Milligan conspired against his government, the Supreme Court ruling in his case set a precedent regarding the rights of citizens to a fair trial.
  • Abandoned train tracks
    The Legend of Pinhook
    During the 1850s, a rail line planned to connect Lafayette and Covington, Kentucky would have stopped at Pinhook. The railroad never materialized.

A Moment of Indiana History is a production of WFIU Public Radio in partnership with the Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations. Research support comes from Indiana Magazine of History published by the Indiana University Department of History.