Local History Matters

09/23/2023

12/05/2020

On December 5, 1933, the Twenty-first Amendment passed, repealing Prohibition. On the same day, Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., began production of whiskey in Lawrenceburg.

At its height, the company employed more than 2,500 workers in the Hoosier state, many of which worked at a separate bottling plant.

The image below, showing Secretary of State William Phillips signing the proclamation repealing the 18th amendment, is from the December 9, 1933 issue of the Richmond Item.

12/03/2020

A live weekly radio adventure through Indiana history with host Nelson Price. Show airs live from noon to 1 p.m. ET each Saturday on WICR 88.7 FM in Indianapolis. Or stream audio live from anywhere during the show.

11/10/2020

Spooky...

The fall of 1902 brought a series of mysterious happenings to the citizens of Indianapolis. An unsigned letter was slipped under the crack of a door while Mrs. Middleton attended church services. A shadowy stranger summoned Wesley Gates to a nearby carriage. An anonymous man telephoned Mason Neidlinger in the dead of night. All three of these people had something in common – they had each recently lost and buried a loved one. But that wasn’t all. They would soon realize that they were connected in an even more loathsome way – each was the victim of the “King of Ghouls.”
Hear the story of confessed body-snatcher and so-called “King of Ghouls” on the latest episode of Talking Hoosier History.

Listen on Apple Podcasts here: https://apple.co/2G4EYzg

See transcripts and show notes here: https://bit.ly/3m98q6J

10/31/2020

Haunted Hoosier history

Looking for something spooky to get into the Halloween spirit?

Check out Talking Hoosier History’s Haunted Hoosier History, where we tell ghost stories wrenched from the pages of Indiana’s historic newspapers.

Haunted Hoosier History 2017: https://bit.ly/37qii7Y
Haunted Hoosier History 2018: https://bit.ly/3kgGsp6

10/29/2020

Rufus Cantrell was a lot of things in his life: A driver. A porter. A clerk. An undertaker. In 1902, he added a new title to that list: The King of Ghouls. Cantrell, along with approximately seven other men, ran one of the most successful body-snatching syndicates in the city of Indianapolis. Hear the story of his downfall on the latest episode of Talking Hoosier History.
Listen on Apple Podcasts here: https://apple.co/2G4EYzg
See a transcript and show notes here: https://bit.ly/3m98q6J

📣 New Episode Alert 📣

Rufus Cantrell was a lot of things in his life: A driver. A porter. A clerk. An undertaker. In 1902, he added a new title to that list: The King of Ghouls. Cantrell, along with approximately seven other men, ran one of the most successful body-snatching syndicates in the city of Indianapolis. Hear the story of his downfall on the latest episode of Talking Hoosier History.

Listen on Apple Podcasts here: https://apple.co/2G4EYzg
See a transcript and show notes here: https://bit.ly/3m98q6J