Indianapolis Graverobbing
9781467151092
Regular price $23.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Surveying the sensational newspaper accounts as events unfolded, author and historian Chris Flook recounts this grisly tale of political intrigue and conspiracy.
In the fall of 1902, Indianapolis police uncovered a prolific graverobbing ring operating across the city. At the time, cemeteries across central Indiana were relieved of their dead by ghouls, as they were called, seeking fresh corpses desperately needed by the city's medical colleges. The ring was also accused of multiple murders. In Hamilton County, a former Confederate soldier named Wade West delivered stolen corpses by floating them down the White River. His counterpart in Indianapolis, Rufus Cantrell, an itinerant preacher and full-time graverobber known as the "King of the Ghouls," ransacked Indy's cemeteries for years before being caught.
Before the Dream
9781634993401
Regular price $22.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%1963. It is a year stamped as one of the most turbulent during the Civil Rights movement. Centuries of racial oppression were confronted with peaceful protests challenging segregation laws. Responses to protests were often met with brutality. Four young girls were murdered in a church bombing. Police dogs and fire hoses were unleashed on adolescents in Birmingham, Alabama. Medgar Evers was assassinated by a member of the KKK. 1963 also included the March on Washington, highlighted by Dr. Martin Luther King's uplifting "I Have a Dream" speech.
Civil Rights conflict was not contained to the South. Similar battles were waged throughout the nation. The future Nobel Peace Prize winner accepted an invitation from a close friend to speak in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on June 5, 1963, to address these struggles. Although Dr. King's speech was enthusiastically received by his supporters, resistance to his appearance in this conservative, blue-collar Midwestern city were also plentiful. Bomb threats were delivered. Letters to the editor were submitted expressing opposition to Dr. King's visit. Protestors picketed across the street during the event. Local law enforcement feared violence was possible.
June 5, 1963 would become Dr. King's only visit to Fort Wayne. But the legacy of that one visit continues to resonate, sandwiched between unrest in Birmingham, and the March on Washington.