Vowing to overcome the sin of seriousness, Indiana-born humorist Don Herold lived up to his promise. Gifted with a droll sense of humor and a vivid imagination, he was one of the most widely read, if least remembered, Hoosiers. In Forgotten Hoosiers, journalist Fred D. Cavinder presents a collection of biographical sketches charting the lives of noteworthy Hoosiers who have been overlooked, as well as acclaimed figures whose Hoosier origins have been obscured. From Harland David Sanders, the pioneering Kentucky colonel who developed the world-famous chicken franchise, to Samuel G. Woodfill, whom many have called the greatest hero of World War I, Hoosiers- both known and unknown- have continued to make their marks across the country and the world.

Hoosier is a nickname for residents of Indiana that was first seen in print as early as 1831. For over a century and a half, people of Indiana have been called Hoosiers, and it is one of the oldest state nicknames. One popular belief is that the name Hoosier began when travelers in Indiana during the early 1800s would call out, "Who's here?" or "Who's yere?" when approaching a cabin of an Indiana resident. Over time, the nickname, Hoosier was used to refer to any Indiana native or resident of our great state. For more than a hundred years Hoosier has continued to mean neighborliness, friendliness, and peaceful contentment with Indiana life. As Indiana writer Meredith Nicholson observed: "The origin of the term 'Hoosier' is not known with certainty. But certain it is that ... Hoosiers bear their nickname proudly." Fascinating Indiana residents have made countless contributions to our country's heritage.

This enlightening study employs the tools of archaeology to uncover a new historical perspective on the Underground Railroad. Unlike previous histories of the Underground Railroad, which have focused on frightened fugitive slaves and their benevolent abolitionist accomplices, Cheryl LaRoche focuses instead on free African American communities, the crucial help they provided to individuals fleeing slavery, and the terrain where those flights to freedom occurred. This study foregrounds several small, rural hamlets on the treacherous southern edge of the free North in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. LaRoche demonstrates how landscape features such as waterways, iron forges, and caves played a key role in the conduct and effectiveness of the Underground Railroad. Rich in oral histories, maps, memoirs, and archaeological investigations, this examination of the "geography of resistance" tells the new powerful and inspiring story of African Americans ensuring their own liberation in the midst of oppression.

Named by The New York Times as "a knowing, respectful and caring look at heartland America" and containing a new foreword by legendary player Bob Plump, this is a book every basketball lover should own. The best of Phillip Hoose's classic writings are included here with a fresh look on Indiana's favorite and most beloved sport. A new edition of a well-known Indiana classic, Hoosiers profiles some of the world's most famous basketball players and coaches—Larry Bird, Bobby Plump, Damon Bailey, Steve Alford, Stephanie White, and Bob Knight among them—along with Indiana towns, schools, and programs. The ultimate book for the diehard fan, Hoosiers: The Fabulous Basketball Life of Indiana explores Hoosier hysteria in all its glory.

Now a Netflix series starring Octavia Spencer, Self Made (formerly titled On Her Own Ground) is the first full-scale biography of “one of the great success stories of American history” (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Madam C.J. Walker—the legendary African American entrepreneur and philanthropist—by her great-great-granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles. The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Sarah Breedlove—who would become known as Madam C. J. Walker—was orphaned at seven, married at fourteen, and widowed at twenty. She spent the better part of the next two decades laboring as a washerwoman for $1.50 a week. Then—with the discovery of a revolutionary hair care formula for black women—everything changed. By her death in 1919, Walker managed to overcome astonishing odds: building a storied beauty empire from the ground up, amassing wealth unprecedented among black women, and devoting her life to philanthropy and social activism. Along the way, she formed friendships with great early-twentieth-century political figures such as Ida B. Wells, Mary McLeod Bethune, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Booker T. Washington.