Exploring the May 18, 1927, tornado which swept through the heart of downtown Indianapolis and caused serious damage on the near eastside.

Companion Blog Post: "Like the Roar and Hum of a Fast Speeding Railway Locomotive" - The Eastside Tornado of 1927

Note: All sources listed in the above blog post. Most images are the Indiana Historical Society's Bass Photo Collection. The full collection can be accessed at this link: Indiana Historical Society Digital Images - Indiana Historical Society Digital Images.

Fire Tower Blog Post: Eye in the Sky: The Last Indianapolis Fire Tower

Want to help offset the hosting costs for the blog and podcast? Leave a donation here: https://ko-fi.com/class900indyhistory.

Venmo can be accessed here: https://venmo.com/u/ejfujawa

This episode explores a proposal in the early 1920s to construct a dam on the White River at present day 38th Street in Indianapolis in order to create a large lake in the river valley north of that point, The proposed lake would have flooded the town of Rocky Ripple and made Butler University a lakeside campus.

This podcast is based on one of the first blogposts I published on Class900Indy.com back in 2018. An updated version of this blog may be found here: https://www.class900indy.com/post/a-river-runs-through-it-but-we-d-rather-have-a-lake-the-fairview-park-reservoir

Sources for the podcast may be found at the bottom of the blog post above.

Want to help offset the hosting costs for the blog and podcast? Leave a donation here: https://ko-fi.com/class900indyhistory.

Venmo can be accessed here: https://venmo.com/u/ejfujawa

Yesterday’s Indianapolis

Episode 3: “A Veritable Fire Trap”: The National Surgical Institute Fire of 1892

Companion Blog Post: https://www.class900indy.com/post/a-veritable-fire-trap-the-national-surgical-institute-fire-of-1892

As a heads up, this episode contains some graphic descriptions of fire victims. Also, some of the quoted sources use outdated and offensive language when referring to the patients of the Surgical Institute.

Want to help offset the hosting costs for the blog and podcast? Leave a donation here: https://ko-fi.com/class900indyhistory

Yesterday’s Indianapolis

Episode 2: The Minister and the Klan: The Resignation of Earl N. Griggs of Butler-Tarkington

Class900Indy Companion Blogpost (which was published in 2024, not 2023 as stated in the podcast): https://www.class900indy.com/post/an-indianapolis-pastor-his-church-and-the-klan-the-resignation-of-earl-n-griggs-of-butler-tarkin

"Exposure of 12,208 Ku Klux in Marion County, Indiana" Tolerance Newspaper, Indiana State Library: https://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16066coll69/id/700do

The Hooded Order in the Pulpit: Klan Membership in 1920’s Indianapolis Churches (authored by the late Prof. Paul Mullins): https://paulmullins.wordpress.com/2019/04/15/the-hooded-order-in-the-pulpit-klan-membership-in-1920s-indianapolis-churches/

If you want to support my historical research (and help cover web and podcast hosting fees and archive subscriptions)), please feel free to leave a donation at the following link: https://ko-fi.com/class900indyhistory

Check out https://www.class900indy.com/ for the companion blog post for this episode.

This podcast references the book 'Murder in Their Hearts: The Fall Creek Massacre' which is available from the Indiana Historical Society at this link: https://shop.indianahistory.org/products/murder-in-their-hearts

This is the inaugural episode of 'Yesterday's Indianapolis' so some things may be a little rough. Tune in to future episodes as the quality of the podcast will (hopefully) improve as I get a hang of this new format for exploring the history of Indianapolis and central Indiana.