Indianapolis - Storytelling Arts of Indiana and the Indiana Historical Society present a Sharing Hoosier History Through Story featuring Bob Sander telling Leap of Faith: The Promise of the Robert's Settlement on Sunday, January 29, 2006 from 4 - 6 p.m. at the Indiana History Center Basile Theater. Just thirty miles north of Indianapolis in Atlanta, one of the first free black communities was founded sometime after 1835 known as Roberts Settlement. The early members of the Roberts family were free people of color who were full citizens in North Carolina as voters and land owners. Due to an increase in racial tensions and acts passed by the North Carolina Legislature beginning in 1795, some of the Roberts' decided to move west. In 1825, Elijah Roberts and his family made the difficult journey to Indiana first settling in Rush County and then moving on to Hamilton County. At its peak of prosperity, Robert's Settlement was home to hundreds of residents with its own schools and churches. Now more than 100 years later Robert's Settlement is home to several families, Roberts Chapel Church and the cemetery.

Bob Sander is a life-long Hoosier with a mellow voice and easy-going style, who has been a favorite of Indiana audiences. An accomplished musician, Bob incorporates audience participation, an under-stated sense of humor, and the occasional dulcimer or banjo into his eclectic performances. He has been featured at the Illinois and Hoosier Storytelling Festival and most recently the 2005 Corn Island Storytelling Festival in Louisville, Kentucky. A recipient of the 2001 Creative Renewal Fellowship, Bob is pleased to be writing and telling his second story for the Sharing Hoosier History Through Stories Series.

Tickets are $10/advance, $12/door. Tickets are available by calling the Indiana Historical Society at 317-232-1882.

Begun in 1999, the Sharing Hoosier History Through Stories Series is a collaboration between Storytelling Arts of Indiana and the Indiana Historical Society. Each year, the two organizations commission at least one storyteller to create a story based on a subject from Indiana history. The subjects chosen tie in with the exhibits at the Indiana History Center. Past stories include:

• The World Does Move: The Life and Times of Booth Tarkington
• The Search for a Time and a Place to Paint: Historical Women of the Brown County Artist Colony
• Mr. Civil Rights of Indiana: The Story of Henry J. Richardson Jr.
• What a Woman! The Life of Alice Hamilton
• Rolling Down Indiana Avenue
• Diggers & Dreamers: The Canal Age in Indiana
• Tumultuous Times: A Working Life
• Steel Stories: Tales from Da Region
• Porch Swings and Prairie Wings: Lives of Rural Indiana Women
• Ridin' the Rails
• Goodbye to the Animal People: The Fur Trade in the Northwest Territory

Storytelling Arts of Indiana promotes the art and use of storytelling in daily life through an annual festival, concerts, workshops, programs and outreach initiatives. Founded in 1988 by three passionate individuals, Storytelling Arts of Indiana reintroduces audiences to the power of the spoken word. Storytelling is the most entertaining and memorable way to communicate and preserve values, morals, culture and history. Storytelling Arts of Indiana is a recipient of the 2004 NUVO Cultural Vision Award.