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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 Wednesday.

a broadside (poster) calling for a meeting of the Free State Party, which was formed to support Kansas entering the Union as a free state. The convention was held on September 5, 1855, in Big Springs, Kansas Territory.
A Pocket Of Abolitionism In Fort Wayne
The short-lived "Fort Wayne Standard" suggests that Indiana, despite its mostly conservative political leanings, was also home to more radical political views.
Work at Kingsbury was dirty, difficult, and dangerous, and African American employees were consistently assigned to the most hazardous tasks.
William P. Vogel, Kingsbury: A Venture in Teamwork (1946)
The Kingsbury Ordnance Plant
A black and white photograph of a scene from an opera performance, Madama Butterfly, on a stage set with Japanese-style screens. Two women in traditional kimonos are depicted; the woman on the left is singing expressively, while the woman on the right stands beside her with her hands clasped.
Fred Fehl, New York City Opera
The Desegregating Diva
  • A black and white photograph of artist T. C. Steele and his wife Selma Neubacher Steele sitting outdoors on a wooden bench or chair. Selma, wearing a light-colored dress and sun hat, sits on the left, looking toward Steele. Steele sits on the right, wearing a light-colored shirt, suspenders, and boots, with one leg crossed over the other and his foot resting on the bench. They are seated in a grassy area with dense foliage behind them.
    Steele’s Magnolia
    In the spring of 1908, Selma Steele began planting gardens—a passion that would become her own artistic contribution to the House of the Singing Winds.
  • 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.
  • Loretta Rush stands smiling at a podium while Gov. Mitch Daniels, standing to her right, applauds during a formal ceremony.
    A Woman’s Judgment
    Although Ohio elected a woman to its supreme court in 1922, it was not until 1995 that Indiana would see a woman sitting on its highest state court.
  • An engraving features two portraits side-by-side. The left portrait shows a man with long hair and a cravat, identified below as JOHN CLEVES SYMMES. The right portrait shows a woman wearing a bonnet, identified below as ANNA HARRISON, his daughter.
    Indiana’s First First Lady
    Anna Symmes Harrison had not yet made it to Washington when her husband gave his inaugural address. As she prepared to leave, she received news of his death.
  • Shelves filled with old, leather-bound books, many tied with white string
    Advocating For Better Schools
    Caroline Dunn was a manuscript librarian who knew her collections, knew how to use them for research, and even how to introduce them to the uninitiated.
  • A sunlit view of a dense forest with tall trees and a brushy understory. A wide, sloping rocky expanse runs through the scene, resembling a dried-up riverbed.
    Indiana’s Canal Debacle
    The Wabash and Erie Canal became emblematic of the failure of Indiana’s great transportation revolution of the 1830s.
  • 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 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.