A supplemental textbook for middle and high school students, Hoosiers and the American Story provides intimate views of individuals and places in Indiana set within themes from American history. During the frontier days when Americans battled with and exiled native peoples from the East, Indiana was on the leading edge of America’s westward expansion. As waves of immigrants swept across the Appalachians and eastern waterways, Indiana became established as both a crossroads and as a vital part of Middle America. Indiana’s stories illuminate the history of American agriculture, wars, industrialization, ethnic conflicts, technological improvements, political battles, transportation networks, economic shifts, social welfare initiatives, and more. In so doing, they elucidate large national issues so that students can relate personally to the ideas and events that comprise American history. At the same time, the stories shed light on what it means to be a Hoosier, today and in the past.

James H. Madison is the Thomas and Kathryn Miller Professor Emeritus of History at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he began teaching Indiana history three decades ago. An award-winning teacher, he has also taught at Hiroshima University, Japan, and at the University of Kent, Canterbury, England. Madison serves on the boards of the Indiana Humanities and the Indiana Historical Society and as a member of the Indiana Bicentennial Commission. He is the author of several books, including Eli Lilly: A Life, 1885–1977 (1989); A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America (2001); Slinging Doughnuts for the Boys: An American Woman in World War II (2007); and World War II: A History in Documents (2010). His most recent book is Hoosiers: A New History of Indiana, co-published by Indiana University Press and the Indiana Historical Society Press (2014).

Lee Ann Sandweiss was born in Detroit, Michigan, and received her bachelor’s degree and master of arts degree in English literature from Wayne State University. As an acquisitions editor for Wayne State University Press in the 1980s, she helped develop that press’s successful Great Lakes Books series. Sandweiss directed the publications program at the Missouri Historical Society in Saint Louis for nine years. While there, she authored Seeking St. Louis: A Guide to the River City, 1670–2000 (2000) and St. Louis Architecture for Kids (2001). Since 2001 she has lived in Bloomington, Indiana, with her family, working as a freelance writer and editor. Sandweiss has taught classes on midwestern literature at Indiana University, Bloomington, and is currently assistant director of Lifelong Learning at IU.