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Editor's note: Klein is a 30-year IUB staff member in Radio and Television
Services (RTS). He produced "Spirit of Monroe County," a two-hour video
portrait and history of the area for WTIU-TV, which aired earlier this
month in conjunction with the university station's fund drive. Klein was
producer, interviewer and narrator. Steve White was videographer and
editor, and Pam Service, former curator and director of the Monroe County
Historical Museum, was scriptwriter. You can become a member of WTIU
on line at this Web site: http://www.indiana.edu/~radiotv/WTIU/join.html |
By Mickey Klein
I think we are truly blessed to be living in a community with so many wonderful people who give of themselves in many ways every day. As I started working on the Spirit of Monroe County last summer, I asked this question: "What is so special about this place?"
Of the 25 or so responding, the answer was always about the same. "It is the people, the diversity and the university."
So we started from there and built our program around that aspect. A little bit of history had to be included, since so many people know so little of what happened in the early days of this community.
Everything seemed to revolve around the center of town, which is the
courthouse square, so the courthouse became the symbol for the Spirit of
Monroe County. But Bloomington's place in history was really made when
the legislature decided to put a seminary in the town in 1820. From
seminary to college to university -- the rest is history. Indiana University,
with its visionary president, Herman B Wells, went from a Midwestern
college to an international institution of higher education. Wells was the
genius behind what IU is today and certainly is one of the "heroes" of our
community. Another "hero" is Bill Cook who, along with his wife Gayle,
has transformed many parts of Bloomington into vibrant, revitalized areas
for businesses and those who live in those restored buildings and homes.
Another special part of the Spirit of Monroe County is the rise and fall of both the Showers Brothers Furniture Company and RCA, which occupied the same buildings. RCA moved into a Showers plant when Showers was no longer able to compete, some time after the Great Depression. Now, RCA itself is leaving town, much like Showers had to more than 50 years ago. But part of the Showers Building lives on, home to city government and any number of other vibrant places, showing once again that people working together make this a special place to live.
http://www.hoosiertimes.com/stories/1998/03/05 /lifestyle.980305_D1_WGH00607.sto place to live.
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