James Whitcomb Riley

NARRATOR 1: This Indiana Bicentennial Minute is made possible by the Indiana Historical Society and the law firm of Krieg Devault.

A series of images show a house, a family, and a man holding a puppy surrounded by children. A side portrait of James Whitcomb Riley and a railway ticket are then shown side by side with a portrait of Mark Twain.

JANE PAULEY: Born in Greenfield, Indiana in 1849 he was famously known across the country as the Hoosier poet. James Whitcomb Riley was one of the nation’s most popular writers, rivaling Mark Twain and Riley’s unmistakable verse was known throughout the country.

The words of a poem are shown on screen as they are read. Black and white images of farmers are shown behind the poem.

NARRATOR 2: O, it sets my hart-a-clickin’ like the tickin’ of a clock, when the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock!

A series of images show a man and a boy talking, an illustration of Little Orphan Annie, and several different photographs of Riley.

JANE PAULEY: Read that poem, The Old Swimmin’ Hole, or his other works and you’ll meet characters that live to this day, Raggedy Man, Old Aunt Mary, and especially Little Orphan Annie. Publishers urged him to move east but Riley remained in Indiana. A true Hoosier until his death in 1916.

Text on the screen reads visit indianahistory.org for more information, with a photograph of James Whitcomb Riley, with a white dog on his lap, in the background.

JANE PAULEY: I’m Jane Pauley with this Indiana Bicentennial Minute.

NARRATOR: Made possible by the Indiana Historical Society and the law firm of Krieg Devault.