Civil Rights and Backlash: An Urban/Suburban Makeover in Northwest Indiana

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. Though about Gary and northwest Indiana, the presentation offers a useful framework for thinking about how these dynamics played out in other cities and regions.

Attendees can register by calling 219-306-4593.

Funded project of Indiana Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.