Demonized Community
“… people bought into this notion that no one wants to live in Gary…” Editing by Welcome Project intern Brandi Casada. Transcript for Demonized Community The first neighborhood that I remember growing up in was on the East Side of Gary on Massachusetts Street. And my parents brought me home from the hospital there,…
Black Mecca
“That period of time—growing up in Gary, Indiana, I would not want to be anywhere else in the world.” Editing by Welcome Project intern Brandi Casada. Transcript for Black Mecca 1967 is when Mayor Hatcher won. And I was at Bailey then. That was an exciting time for me because on the weekends, we would…
Veiled Racism
“It was legislated white flight… this was actually extremely deliberate.” Welcome Project at Valparaiso University · Veiled Racism Produced by Rebecca Werner with interviews recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. Storytellers…
We Just Want to Run
“…it is actually possible for something so wrong to go on with everybody just assuming it’s normal.” Welcome Project at Valparaiso University · We Just Want To Run This story is part of our Flight Paths initiative. Produced by Rebecca Werner for the Welcome Project. Transcript for We Just Want to Run Race was never…
Homestead
“They came in their covered wagon to Merrillville…” Transcript for Homestead Well, I just did my DNA thing, and it’s basically Western European. That’s traced back to 212 AD. This is the family history; this is the oldest house – my great grandparents. It was homestead in 1852. He came from Erie, Pennsylvania. He…
Really Nice Subdivision
“I think that a lot of the affluent white people here, if you really got inside their heads, they’d just prefer it to be lily-white.” Welcome Project at Valparaiso University · Really Nice Subdivision This story is part of our Flight Paths initiative. Produced by Rebecca Werner for the Welcome Project. Transcript for Really Nice…
It Takes Time
“I can’t imagine why some forward-thinking company wouldn’t want to do something…” Welcome Project at Valparaiso University · Division Road This story is part of our Flight Paths initiative. Produced by Rebecca Werner for the Welcome Project. Transcript for It Takes Time Anybody that I’ve ever talked to about Gary has the same view that…
Division Road
“There can be some tension. But it doesn’t seem to be that way, especially in this northwest area up here.” Welcome Project at Valparaiso University · Division Road Produced by Rebecca Werner with interviews recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to…
Drumbeat
“Their own coverage began to contribute to what was going on in Gary.” This story is part of our Flight Paths initiative. Produced by Willow Walsh for the Welcome Project. Transcript for Drumbeat The newspaper did a whole project looking at race. The executive editor at the time, Ilene Brown, decided to take one year…