Indy was a bit behind the curve on original Tiki craze
By CONNIE ZEIGLER Urban Times contributing editor The next time you see a guy in a tropical shirt or a gal in a mumu, don’t feel disdain about their fashion …
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When German POWs partied in an Indy home
By CONNIE ZEIGLER During World War II the United States housed nearly a half-million German prisoners of war. Indiana had its own contingent of German POWs housed at several locations …
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History 301: How zoning affected city’s development
This essay was originally published in the February 2010 issue of Urban Times. Time will tell how the currently pending upgrades in the IndyGo bus system, including the Rapid Transit …
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History 301: Hotels served black visitors
By CONNIE ZEIGLER In 1957, an article in the Indianapolis Recorder, the city’s black-owned newspaper, featured the following report on the International Motor Club, which had offices at 241 E. …
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History 301: Building helps celebrate 100 years of Slovenians
By CONNIE ZEIGLER If a friend invited you to “the Nash,” would you know where to go? You would if you grew up in the Haughville area west of White …
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When children began writing letters to Santa
By CONNIE ZEIGLER Famous illustrator Thomas Nast is credited with popularizing the idea of children sending letters to Santa Claus. In 1871, he published in Harper’s Weekly an illustration of …
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History 301: City haunted by violent strike of streetcar workers
By CONNIE ZEIGLER On Halloween 1913 Indianapolis was spooked by a strike of the city’s streetcar workers. Before the strike was over, armed strikebreakers and union organizers were fighting in …
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History 301: Cadle Tabernacle: Indy’s home of fire and brimstone
This feature originally appeared in the March 2008 issue of Urban Times. By CONNIE ZEIGLER The Cadle Tabernacle, an old-time-religion revival hall that looked like a Spanish Mission, once occupied …
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History 301: Thousands lost their homes because of 1913 flood
By CONNIE ZEIGLER On March 25, 1913, the earthen levees holding back White River collapsed. West Indianapolis, an unincorporated industrial and residential community bordered on the east by White River, …
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A symbolic return of the name, Das Deutsche Haus
One hundred years after the building at the corner of Michigan and New Jersey streets lost its original name because of anti-German sentiment caused by World War I, a plaque …
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