work

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Not Newcomers

“The Latinx communities have been instrumental both as workers, as community members, as beacons of cultural institutions.” Historian Emiliano Aguilar, doctoral student Northwestern University Transcript for Not Newcomers I think one of the most important things to know about the Latinx communities in Northwest Indiana is that these are not newcomers. This is not a […]

Pick Up That Slack

“The tradition of the mutual aid society dates all the way back to the earliest days of the Mexican colonies in Indiana Harbor and Gary, Indiana.” Historian Emiliano Aguilar, doctoral student Northwestern University Transcript for Pick Up That Slack TITLE CARD: In 1956, two groups, the Benito Juarez Society and the Cuauhtemoc Society, merged to […]

Mexican Colonies

“You have a delightful mix of people starting over fresh and I think the notion was that, ‘We are Mexican. We will always be Mexican first and maybe American second.’” Nicole Martinez-LeGrand, Multicultural Collections Coordinator, Library and Archives Division, Indiana Historical Society. Transcript for Mexican Colonies So, this is my mother’s side of the family. […]

Seeing Them Make Those Discoveries

“…because they don’t have access to the language like everybody else does. They don’t get that incidental learning from just overhearing something and pairing that to their experiences.” Produced by Rich Elliott Transcript for Seeing Them Make Those Discoveries I am a teacher of the deaf and hard-of-hearing with the Northwest Indiana Special Education Cooperative. […]

Cuba: La Salida (Cuba: It Was Time To Leave)

“Nada más que he extrañado siempre a la familia.” | “The only thing is, I have always missed my family.” Mirtha Cuza | interviewed and produced by Melissa Avila Transcript for Cuba: La Salida | Cuba: It Was Time To Leave I was born in Matanzas [Cuba]. I think it was a pretty place. From […]