{"id":449,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:48:36","latitude":39.16816071538708143862095312215387821197509765625,"longitude":-86.526477970182895660400390625,"title":"Hoagy Carmichael Growing Up in Bloomington","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/99c26f9ead4469f17bc129e6ba56f28e.jpg","address":"Dunn Meadow, Indiana University, N Indiana Ave, Bloomington, IN 47405","all_locations":[],"zoom":15,"creator":["Monroe County History Center"],"description":"In his unpublished memoir <em>Jazzbanders</em>, 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 Carmichaels lived close to the IU campus. As a boy Hoagy played baseball in the summer and football in autumn on Dunn Meadow. <br /><br />According to his account (as reported in Sudhalter’s <em>Stardust Melody</em>), Hoagy's breakthrough as a pianist came one rainy summer day. He was home in the family parlor after his baseball game on Dunn Meadow had been cancelled. The sound of the bells in the IU clock tower playing “Hail to Old I.U.” struck his ears. Suddenly he began to pick out the tune on his mother’s piano. Although he had heard his mother play all of his young life, this was the first time it occurred to him to try playing it himself. His mother had not wanted to impose her interest on the boy. However, when she discovered his own passion and aptitude for the instrument she was thrilled and began teaching him the keyboard. From this point on, Hoagy’s love of music grew apace. The rained-out baseball game on Dunn Meadow proved to be a blessing in disguise!","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":[],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/99c26f9ead4469f17bc129e6ba56f28e.jpg":{"id":2036,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Dunn Meadow","description":"You&#039;re looking northeast at Dunn Meadow on the Indiana University campus. The large open field was and still is used for a variety of campus programs and athletics. In Hoagy&#039;s childhood days, the meadow was the site of neighborhood baseball games as well.  | Photo Courtesy of Monroe County History Center | 2019 | Rod Spaw","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/99c26f9ead4469f17bc129e6ba56f28e.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/693f24a033bfafd5f87bd437d4ff04c2.jpg":{"id":2032,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"A Place to Play","description":"A pathway lined with trees runs along the route of the Jordan River, near Dunn Meadow. The Jordan River has always been really more of a creek than a river but nonetheless provided a wonderful playground for young Hoagy and his friends. The Carmichael family lived just a block from  the IU campus during Hoagy&#039;s younger days. | Photo Courtesy of Monroe County History Center | 2019 | Rod Spaw","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/693f24a033bfafd5f87bd437d4ff04c2.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/408d46df417c0fe1975c7c6d671b8d69.jpg":{"id":2031,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Bloomington 1906","description":"This map of Bloomington circa 1902-1906 shows how close Hoagy&#039;s childhood home on Dunn Street was to the University campus, Dunn Meadow and the Jordan River, Hoagy&#039;s childhood hangouts.  | ca. 1906 | Photo Courtesy of the Indiana University Archives","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/408d46df417c0fe1975c7c6d671b8d69.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/e645fcb49b8b036f085ab97622171abd.jpg":{"id":2035,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"McCalla School","description":"Hoagy attended McCalla Elementary school which was located on Indiana Avenue on the edge of the IU Campus. The school was built in 1907 and named after Margaret Hemphill McCalla, an early teacher in Bloomington and Indiana&#039;s first female school superintendent. The building now houses the sculpture facility for IU&#039;s School of Fine Arts.  | Photo Courtesy of Indiana University Libraries&#039; Archives of Traditional Music, Hoagy Carmichael Collections 1920-1981 | 1910","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/e645fcb49b8b036f085ab97622171abd.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/d78b06442f5fbf3dbd574d7368230c71.jpg":{"id":2033,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"All Dressed Up","description":"An informal picture of Hoagy, his mother Lida, and his sister Georgia on the IU campus taken when Hoagy was a child. Inscribed on the back in Hoagy&#039;s handwriting, &quot;Jazzy suit and hat. Georgia on right. Mother looks pretty jazzy, too.&quot;  | Photo Courtesy of Indiana University Libraries&#039; Archives of Traditional Music, Hoagy Carmichael Collections 1920-1981 | ca. 1907","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/d78b06442f5fbf3dbd574d7368230c71.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/fullsize/2850f80be6cebc6f529d05198f1d5f50.jpg":{"id":2034,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Female Influence","description":"By the summer of 1918 the Carmichael family had moved multiple times and was once again back in Bloomington. Hoagy&#039;s sister Martha, his mother, Lida and his sisters Joanne and Georgia are pictured here in front of their Bloomington home.  | Photo Courtesy of Indiana University Libraries&#039; Archives of Traditional Music, Hoagy Carmichael Collections 1920-1981 | 1918","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/2850f80be6cebc6f529d05198f1d5f50.jpg"}}}