“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 […]
family
It’s the American Dream
“We were good workers, and we did our job well, but we didn’t have a passion. You have to have a passion in life.” Transcript for It’s the American Dream You come here for work, and you work in the steel mills, and it’s simple as that. I mean, my grandpa worked in the steel […]
Lives That Are Totally Alien
“The use of the car, I think, has dramatically changed the way people live.” Transcript for Lives That Are Totally Alien It used to be that people could either walk to downtown Gary or take a bus and the car was not as prevalent as it became later on, but now it’s a car to […]
Just Got the Impression
“All they saw was the violence. They did not see the peace. They did not see the change.” Transcript for Just Got the Impression I grew up in the Tolleston area of Gary which was, at the time, very Germanic and some Polish. I went to St. John’s Lutheran Church which was the first church […]
You’re Not White
“It was like something switched in my head…” Edited by Thu Nguyen. Transcript for You’re Not White When I look back at a lot of things, I’m viewing them through a different lens, you know, and so I’m trying to absorb everything I can from those vivid memories and so I appreciate everything–the good and […]
Felt a Lot of Pride
“I was thinking black power was a good thing.” 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. www.storycorps.org Felt a Lot of Pride I was born in Terre […]
Neighborhood, Community, and Country
“I don’t know any other way to operate. I can’t just sit around and say, ‘Oh, well. That’s the way it is.’” 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 […]
Lineage
“‘Dad’s going to play Army.’ That’s what they would say.” Produced by Rebecca Werner. Transcript for Lineage My impression of the military probably comes from my family. Members of the family have been in every major conflict since, like, almost the beginning. My dad, most recently, was a Vietnam veteran before he passed away. My […]
Defining Moment
“I had a mother tell me, ‘Bring my boy home safe.’” Produced by Rebecca Werner. Transcript for Defining Moment At the time that 9/11 kicked off, I was working as a civilian police officer. Like the rest of the country, that impacted me greatly. Just getting my mind wrapped around that, “Wow, we’ve been attacked.” […]