Posts by ewuerffe
Should Play Nicer
“Don’t give me this disillusioned, glossy effect of who we are. This is who we really are.” Transcript for Should Play Nicer Good neighbors. That’s an oxymoron, isn’t it? I think it is. All the counties in Northwest Indiana, especially Lake and Porter Counties, live in this tribal fiefdom. Is that the right word?…
Read MoreNothing Ventured, Nothing Gained
“The guy who was over the department…said that I might have some problems because they had never had anybody black in the office.” Transcript for Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained When I graduated from high school, I got a job working for a realtor in Gary on 19th and Broadway. And while I was working there,…
Read MoreThe Strike at Froebel
“We were in school one day, the next day when we went back, the entire white population of students were gone.” Transcript for The Strike at Froebel I was totally shocked when I moved to Gary. For the simple reason, I had not encountered some of the prejudice in Detroit in school that I encountered…
Read MoreRemember Where You Came From
“You can never forget who you are.” Transcript for Remember Where You Came From I say to my grandkids all the time, you can never forget who you are, but you have to remember where you come from. You know what the WPA is? It was a work program that Roosevelt set up for people…
Read MoreBack Then, It Mattered
“So these are things that I kind of learned that I didn’t realize I was learning.” Transcript for Back Then, It Mattered I’m Croatian. And when I was a kid, it mattered. My dad was Croatian, my grandfather, George Davich, he was a city worker for the city of Gary. Street Department. And he was…
Read MoreHow I Tried to Leave
“My mother said, ‘Always leave a job to where maybe you could go back to it.’” Transcript for How I Tried to Leave My mother said, “Always leave a job to where maybe you could go back to it.” And that was how I tried to leave. Any job I left I tried to leave…
Read MoreBigger Forces Swirling
“I realized that my little Wonder Bread existence in Miller was not quite what I thought it was.” Transcript for Bigger Forces Swirling I grew up in the Miller section of Gary in the late 1960s through the ‘70s, and it was a typical white, suburbia, middle-class upbringing, but it was changing. Everything was in…
Read MoreHitting Home
“I was starting to grow up and see things the way my parents were seeing them.” Transcript for Hitting Home The school I went to in Detroit was what they say now was integrated. When I came here to Gary, there was an East Pulaski and a West Pulaski. East Pulaski was for my people,…
Read MoreTerrible Things Happen
“I’m sitting in my car and I hear a crumple and next thing ya know, I’m out.” Produced by Welcome Project intern Noah Sobocinski. Transcript for Terrible Things Happen Part 1 I get in my car, and I’m driving. I get on to the highway–it’s all fine. I’m driving and I’m getting onto the ramp…
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