“As a parent, sometimes you just overthink things.” Edited by Welcome Project Intern Ella Speckhard Transcript for I Wanted More for My Kid The reason why I originally moved to Schererville is because, one reason was that, you know, I wanted the better schools for my son. Just when you start thinking about, you know, […]
In Thy Light, We See Light
“No light, no engagement; no light, no understanding.” Welcome Project at Valparaiso University · In Thy Light, We See Light Transcript for In Thy Light, We See Light I’ve always been the kind of person “get in where you fit in.” I was a black student leader on the campus when I got here, and […]
Eliminated by Technology
“It was really a grim reaper for jobs…sweeping away thousands at one time.” Edited by Welcome Project Intern Ella Speckhard Transcript for Eliminated by Technology First time I went in the steel mill was 1969. I came home from college to work in Christmas break. I worked at Republic Steel where my dad was. It […]
We Don’t Make Excuses
“We don’t ever want the kids to be able to say we weren’t there.” Edited by Welcome Project Intern Ella Speckhard Transcript for We Don’t Make Excuses I kind of feel like today the school is not the community resource that it used to be when I was a child. It’s more like, now, we […]
The Patch
“Anybody who was not well-connected, you go to the Patch.” Edited by Welcome Project Intern Ella Speckhard Transcript for The Patch My grandmother, my mother’s mother, was a twin. And they left Poland and they didn’t speak English. They had a note on their—pinned to their thing: Chicago. And so, they, you know, landed in […]
Gary Made Me
“I always want to make my city proud.” Edited by Welcome Project Intern Ella Speckhard Transcript for Gary Made Me I always like to say that Gary made me. Like, there’s a phrase—I don’t know if people have ever heard this phrase, but, ‘If you’re from Gary, you can live anywhere.’ So, and I truly, […]
Fascinated by the Steelmills
“It was really something, it was kind of like the movies!” Edited by Welcome Project Intern Ella Speckhard Transcript for Fascinated by the Steelmills When I was a kid, we heard the mills, we could see the sky light up because it was a different process then. It was a lot of open flames and […]
The Concerned Latins Organization
“And they really—under the umbrella of education, housing, and employment—try to confront a lot of the discrimination and issues that the community has faced in the region.” Historian Emiliano Aguilar, doctoral student Northwestern University Transcript for The Concerned Latins Organization One: The Introduction of Latinx Communities to Northwest Indiana I think one of the most […]
In This Community
“If I wasn’t at home or at school, I was in East Chicago hanging out with my grandparents.” Nicole Martinez-LeGrand, Multicultural Collections Coordinator, Library and Archives Division, Indiana Historical Society. Transcript for In This Community My great-grandmother and her first husband, Anna and Felix, came from Mexico City. My great-grandmother was born somewhere else. I […]