This interactive workshop blends oral histories from residents of NW Indiana and places them alongside historical contexts to document the changing racial and economic demographics of the region.
In 1960, 180,000 people lived in Gary, Indiana, a thriving industrial city. Fifty years later, only 80,000 people lived there. Why? What happened? And where did residents go?
This 90-minute interactive workshop weaves together oral histories from residents of northwest Indiana and places them alongside historical contexts to document the changing racial and economic demographics of Gary and the Region, including the rise of black political power and opportunity in the 1960s and ’70s, the “flight” of white residents and businesses to the suburbs, and the automation and subsequent underemployment of the steel mills.
Register to join this event and a librarian will email you the link to join the Zoom meeting the day before the event.
This event is one of three La Porte County Public Library events that are part of our participation in Indiana Humanities's One State / One Story initiative. Indiana Humanities' One State / One Story program invites Hoosiers to engage deeply with a book as part of a statewide conversation.
La Porte County Public Library
(219) 362-6156
