Asian American History

Celebrate the ingenious, pioneering, and creative women who made the Circle City what it is today.

A diverse group of incredible women shaped Indianapolis as we know it today. But they’ve often been omitted from its history books—until now. These women include Civil War heroes, suffragist leaders, trailblazing educators like Eliza Blaker, famed entrepreneurs like Madam C.J. Walker and Christel DeHaan, and unsung heroes like Madge Oberholtzer. Women founded community cornerstones like the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Children’s Museum. One Indianapolis woman was the “mother of science fiction,” one wrote every episode of I Love Lucy, and another was a palm reader with a celebrity clientele. Other women in the Circle City have been pioneering athletes, trend-setting artists, and fierce community organizers, including the woman who saved the Indiana Pacers.

Author and lifelong Hoosier Ashley Petry celebrates these amazing women.

Ghost stories from Indiana’s Haunted Cemeteries have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery! 

Welcome to the spooky cemeteries of Indiana!

Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms.

Did you know that Indiana is home to thousands of cemeteries—many of which are haunted? Like Ewald Cemetery near Bremen, where the sounds of ghostly children echo long into the night. Or Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, where ghostly figures in uniform patrol silently among the graves. But be warned: if you climb the famously haunted staircase at One Hundred Steps Cemetery in Cloverland, a phantom undertaker may show you a terrifying vision that you’ll never forget. 

Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see Indiana’s Haunted Cemeteries forever, and have you sleeping with the lights on!

The sun is setting on Northwest Indiana and it's time for families to say "sweet dreams," to their favorite places.

From the shores of Lake Michigan through farmland and cities and towns like Hammond and La Porte and Indiana Dunes and Rensselaer, the Region quietly settles in for a beautiful night.

It was impossible for George Rapp to realize the events he would set into motion when he purchased 20,000 acres of land on the Wabash River in 1814 and subsequently sold it to social reformer Robert Owen ten years later. This simple community came to have an immense impact on our country's art and architecture, public education system, women's suffrage movement, Midwestern industrial development, and more. This book contains over 150 historic images produced by two 19th-century New Harmony photographers--Homer Fauntleroy and William Frederick Lichtenberger. These photographs show historic buildings of New Harmony, many of which have been razed over the years. They also demonstrate the importance of the Wabash River and its influence on settlement and commerce. The people of the community are captured at work and at play, and the reader is allowed a look at the downtown business district of the past and the farms surrounding it.

Sometimes the coolest places are right outside your front door.

Learning about Indianapolis's interesting and unique culture has never been so super fun!

Indianapolis Social Clubsprovides nearly 200 rare vintage photographic memories that capture the heart, soul, and history of the clubs.

More than banquet halls, golf courses, and swimming pools, social clubs were a haven for businessmen, politicians, and community leaders, offering respite from public scrutiny.

Defining Indianapolis, the clubs were stoic agents of power and segregation, providing clear historical snapshots of Hoosier pomp and circumstance. The clubs did more than produce Olympic swimmers, world-class golfers, and tennis professionals; they were Indianapolis's multigenerational playgrounds. There were the politics and business dealings at the Columbia Cluband the Indianapolis Athletic Club, the golfing, tennis, and formality of Woodstock, Meridian Hills, and other country clubs, and the family fun in the sun at Riviera, Devon, and Olympia. These organizations offered more than magical summers with family and friends; they were the places to be seen

Discover the rich, unique history of Italians in Indianapolis, Indiana through vintage images in this pictorial history.

In 1910, Indianapolis had the smallest foreign stock population of any city north of the Ohio River, and city historians merely ignored the presence of the ethnic communities. In the 1920s, the Hoosier capital supposedly lacked a cosmopolitan character, and the Ku Klux Klan gloried in the slogan ""100% American."" However, the size of a community does not indicate its significance in municipal life. Rather, immigrants and their descendants make a difference because of their talents and available local opportunities. Residents of Italian origin have contributed mightily to Indianapolis's economy, culture, and professional and religious life. The first to arrive were the Sicilians who developed the city's fruit and vegetable trade and the Friulani who engaged in terrazzo-mosaic tile work. Early immigrants became grocers, shoemakers, tailors, and barbers. Later, primarily after World War II, many American-born of Italian descent moved into Indianapolis, excelling in business and professional fields, including law, medicine, and education. The community has continued to grow, adding to its numbers the Italian-born but married to American military or engaged in skilled labor in carpentry, tailoring, salesmanship, and food preparation.

Noble County boasts small-town charm and attractions all year long.

And ghosts. The county’s only movie theater is patrolled by the well-known manager, who died in 1995. Two of the highest hills in the state are haunted, one after a hanging and another because of a murder immortalized by Indiana’s poet laureate. The sprawling Kneipp Sanitarium received a visit from the Virgin Mary herself and became a battleground of good versus evil. Former residents of the county poor farm still roam the building. Then there’s the “Thing in the Basement.”

Join authors and historians Mark and Emily Hunter as they tour the dark and spooky corners of Noble County.