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Feliciano “Félix” Espinoza

Feliciano “Félix” Espinoza was a merchant and civic leader in Indianapolis. In 1960, he opened what was possibly the city’s first Mexican grocery store, El Nopal Mexican Market. His political activism helped marshal the local Latino community’s support for Indianapolis mayoral candidate in 1967. Later, in 1969, he and other area Latinos organized the Hispano-American Association with the help of Mayor Lugar and his staff. Espinoza remained civically active throughout his life, co-founding the Hispano-American Multiservice Center in 1971 and hosting a Spanish-language radio show, La Voz Latina, on WIAN-FM… Read More »Feliciano “Félix” Espinoza

Grisel Barajas-Espinoza

Grisel Barajas-Espinoza was an Indianapolis broadcaster and Latino community advocate during the 2010s. She served as the program director for Radio One’s La Grande 105.1 FM, a station highlighting traditional music from Mexico. Alongside her work hosting that station’s popular “El Relajo de la Tarde” program, she hosted a Spanish-language television program on Urban One’s Telemundo Indy. Barajas-Espinoza used her local visibility to promote higher education to Latino youth and to broaden knowledge of Latino culture within the Indianapolis region. The second-youngest of five sisters, Barajas-Espinoza was born to Salvador… Read More »Grisel Barajas-Espinoza

Mamá Inés Mexican Bakery

Mamá Inés Mexican Bakery is a business, founded by entrepreneur Rosa Gaeta Montoya, that has operated several outlets in Indianapolis since 2006. It was founded in 1999 in Lafayette, Indiana, a city then lacking authentic Mexican bakeries, with a goal of providing traditional baked goods to local Latine residents. The business’s eventual popularity among non-Latine customers catalyzed the expansion to Indianapolis. Bakery originator Rosa Gaeta Montoya came to Lafayette, Indiana, in 1983, at age sixteen. Because bread is an integral part of Mexican cuisine, Gaeta Montoya as a young adult… Read More »Mamá Inés Mexican Bakery

Mamie “Peanut” Johnson

Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, a player for the professional baseball team, was the first and only woman to pitch in the Negro Leagues. Johnson joined the Clowns in 1953, after the club had become a barnstorming outfit based (despite the retention of the Indianapolis name) in Buffalo, New York. She compiled a 33–8 win-loss record over three seasons. By signing Johnson and two other female players, the Clowns franchise became one of the few professional baseball organizations ever to field women as regular players. By confronting barriers to participation in the… Read More »Mamie “Peanut” Johnson

Postgraduate Medical Education by Telephone

Use of telephone connections to provide postgraduate medical training in Indiana was a long-running initiative developed by the in Indianapolis. Starting in 1950, that institution employed leased telephones to connect faculty members to doctors in participating counties across Indiana, allowing listeners to avoid travel away from home in order to access advanced lectures and trainings on pertinent medical topics. The programming was especially important to rural doctors who otherwise would have been forced to seek postgraduate training in urban areas, including out-of-state cities, thereby leading to a loss of physicians… Read More »Postgraduate Medical Education by Telephone