“Disguised As A Doughboy:” The Frontline War Work of Sarah M. Wilmer
Welcome to the first episode of the 2023 season of Talking Hoosier History. This is also our first short episode, the perfect length for classroom use. You’ll learn about the frontline efforts of Sarah M. Wilmer in WWI, how we do history with primary sources, and a related historical marker.
Monta Jean Payne and the “Roller Derby Mix Up”
In this episode, we skate through the history of the Roller Derby, and one Indianapolis woman’s stand out career as she and her family stage a strike at the height of her game.
“The Dutiful Dozen”: The South Bend Blue Sox
For twelve seasons (1943-1954), over 600 women competed in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The South Bend Blue Sox, one of four original teams, showcased the ballplayers’ determination and athleticism during their 1952 season, when a player strike left the team with just 12 members days before the playoffs. This episode contextualizes the AAGPBL and Blue Sox within the larger history of women in sport, culminating in the Dutiful Dozen’s stunning 1952 championship.
Indiana Women’s Suffrage: The New Day Dawns
In this, the second of a two-part series covering the women’s suffrage movement in Indiana, we follow the women who dedicated their lives to the fight for enfranchisement to its end – the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Indiana Women’s Suffrage: The New Day Comes Slowly
In this episode, we meet the diverse suffragists who led Hoosier women’s fight for the vote during the re-invigoration of the movement starting around 1911. We follow them as they organize, educate, lobby, protest, and march in the streets.
Spiritualism: Beyond the Spectacle
Modern American Spiritualism was introduced to Indiana soon after its formation in the 1840s. While the religion is often cast as a queer footnote of history, to be exploited during the Halloween season but largely ignored the rest of the year, Spiritualism has a rich and complex history in the Hoosier state.
“Hello Girls” Fight Back
On Thursday, April 24, 1919, 13 women took off their headsets and staged a walk out at the New Home Telephone Company in Linton, Greene County, Indiana. Five days later, a battle broke out between the people of Linton and the Indiana militia. On this episode of Talking Hoosier History, we explore the harsh working conditions that drove these women to strike and the course of events that led to the whole area around Linton being put under Martial Law.
Zerelda G. Wallace: Temperance, Suffrage, and the Good Book
Zerelda Wallace became politically active late in her life, after she raised several children and lost her husband. She made up for lost time, however, becoming a leader in the temperance and suffrage movements in Indiana and nationally. Her strong belief in Christian moral principles and ideas about women as the moral compass of humanity inspired her work to bring women the vote.
Physicist Melba Phillips vs. the Atomic Bomb and the Cold War
During her prestigious career, Hoosier physicist Melba Phillips developed a key quantum theory with J. Robert Oppenheimer, worked for peace in the new atomic age following WWII, and was persecuted as an alleged communist during the McCarthy Era.