Stories by author "Monroe County History Center": 8
Stories
Bloomington Residence of Collett and Vertis Johnson
Hoagy Carmichael's songs and musical style were heavily influenced by the Black musicians he heard in the jazz clubs of Indianapolis and at the socials he frequented at the homes of Black friends in Bloomington. One was the 1920s home of Collett…
Hoagy's Final Rest
Howard Hoagland Carmichael died in Rancho Mirage, California, on December 27, 1981. Although he had lived first in New York City and then in California since 1929, he chose to be buried next to his mother, father, and little sister Joanne in…
1920s Bloomington
Hoagy learned of Black life through socializing with Black communities in Indianapolis and Bloomington. He told a story in his autobiography The Stardust Road about spending many of those spring afternoons with friends out at Granny Campbell’s…
Maxwell Hall, Indiana University
Hoagy attended Indiana University from 1920-1926. His mother and grandmother encouraged him to study law as a more practical and reliable career than music. Hoagy obliged, but as a student at IU he put most of his time and energy into playing at…
Book Nook
The Book Nook played a major role in Hoagy’s social life and musical career. A soda and sandwich shop popular among Indiana University students, the Book Nook was frequented by campus musicians who kept strict control over who was allowed to play…
Show Biz and the Princess Theatre
Robert Harris’s Princess Theatre opened on June 23, 1913, with the photoplay Mlle. Coquette accompanied by a six piece orchestra. The program also featured chimes playing Ethelbert Nevin’s “The Rosary.” As the first built-from-the-ground-up-movie…
Hoagy Carmichael Growing Up in Bloomington
In his unpublished memoir Jazzbanders, Hoagy said of his hometown, “Bloomington offered everything. Creeks, ponds, rabbits, circuses and wide open spaces. I could cross a dusty street here in my bare feet without the aid of a traffic cop.” The…
Hoagy Carmichael's Boyhood Home
The house on Dunn Street is one of several homes where the Carmichael family lived during Hoagy’s childhood. Born in Bloomington on November 22, 1899, Howard Hoagland was the first child and only son of Howard Clyde (“Cyclone”) and Mary Lida Robison…