South Bend's Own Words

Gail Brodie lived her entire life in her beloved west side community. She even has an honorary street named after her.    Her mother, Annette Brodie, was a long-time community activist during the late 1960s. Annette pushed city leaders to provide basic services, like paving their dusty, dirt streets. Gail took on her mother’s community work and became as trusted, and as vital a resource.    As a generational homeowner, Gail had a privilege and a perspective of the west side of South Bend, Indiana different than some of her neighbors.    In 2007, Doctors Les Lamon and Monica Tetzlaff, along with student Derek Webb, sat down with Gail. They talked about her upbringing in the shadows of her mother’s community leadership, her unique perspectives on the community’s evolution, and how she answered her own call to community service.      This episode was produced by Nathalie Villalobos by George Garner from the Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center.    Full transcript of this episode available h

Andre Buchanan grew up in South Bend’s east side African American community in a house that, today, is threatened by the rampant construction of the Eddy Street shopping areas right by the Trader Joe’s. During the mid-1940s, when he was in the fourth grade, Andre was one of the first students of color to attend Saint Joseph Catholic grade school. Despite living and going to school on the east side of town, his family worshipped on the west side at the multi-racial Saint Augustine’s Church. Andre’s father even helped build Saint Augustine’s.  In 2007, Indiana University South Bend student Imani Ingram and professor Les Lamon sat down with Andre. They talked about his different treatments between predominately white and Black South Bend schools, his experiences with discrimination at the Natatorium, and his perspective as part of the east side African American community.    This episode was produced by Jon Watson from the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend, and by George Garner from the Ci

Over the past two years, doctors Jamie Wagman and Julia Dauer from Saint Mary’s College collected local stories of those impacted by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.    Last year, they gave a public presentation with clips from some of the narrators who graciously shared their stories. They did it again this past September at the Saint Joseph County Public Library with new narrators sharing a different set of stories.  We shared the first presentation as a special on this feed last year, and we’re doing so again now.  The full versions of these oral histories are preserved and accessible through the Civil Rights Heritage Center’s archives, and today we share the most recent public presentation.    This episode was produced by Jamie Wagman and Julia Dauer from Saint Mary’s College, and Nathalie Villalobos and George Garner from the Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center.    Full transcript of this episode available here.   Want to learn more about South Bend’s history? View the photographs

Ruperto Guedea lived the majority of his life in the United States straddling multiple cultures. Born into a small mining community in northern Mexico during the late 1930s, his mother and father brought their family across the border just after World War II. His first school was openly hostile towards Spanish speakers yet did not teach him English. After moving to Chicago, he fit right in with the Polish and other European immigrant families who also knew no English. He met and married a woman whose Mennonite faith traditions were significantly different than his. Together, they got involved with the new influx of Mexican and Central American immigrants that transformed the Elkhart and Goshen area into a multi-lingual and multi-cultural community. For Ruperto, it meant reflecting on his personal transformation between his Mexican, American, and Mennonite cultural identities.    In 2007, Indiana University South Bend’s Cynthia Murphy sat down with Ruperto. They talked about his parents, his youth in Mexico, a

Alma Powell left her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, when she was two years old. Her father worked for Studebaker by day, and with his family, ran Nesbitt’s Club and Casino by night. Despite the name, it was a music and a social hall, holding local political rallies and community conversations as well as nationally known musicians.  There were, as Alma said, few career paths for an educated young Black woman. Teaching was one of them, and Alma’s career as an educator and administrator is distinguished. She is the first African American woman to serve as principal of a South Bend school, and in 1980, she was chosen to lead the South Bend School Corporation’s desegregation efforts. Additionally, she served in leadership roles in her beloved Olivet A.M.E. church, in the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and during the formative years of the transformation of the Engman Natatorium into the IU South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center.    In 2012, Dr. Monica Tetzlaff sat down with Alma Powell. They talked about her growi

We’re releasing a new book. Placing History: An African American Landmark Tour of South Bend, Indiana, features South Bend’s African American history as told through some of the many landmarks where that history was made. The book is available for free in print while supplies last, and always available as an e-book by visiting http://aalt.iusb.edu/.   The oral histories we’ve archived deeply informed the writing. Today, we hear longer versions of the oral histories quoted in Placing History—just some of the many people who lived, worked, or organized for change within some of these landmarks.   This episode was produced by Nathalie Villalobos and George Garner from the Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center.    Full transcript of this episode available here.     Want to learn more about South Bend’s history? View the photographs and documents that helped create it. Visit Michiana Memory at http://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/.    Title music, “History Explains Itself,” from Josh Spacek. Visit

The daughter of migrant farmworkers, Rebecca Ruvalcaba witnessed the growth of the Latines community from a few originators, like her father, Benito Salizar. Rebecca’s parents instilled in her a desire to learn, and to serve. She adapted to a late-in-life diagnosis of dyslexia to earn degrees from Indiana University South Bend and the University of Notre Dame. She became a social worker, a director of La Casa de Amistad, and served in various leadership roles at the University of Notre Dame.  In 2018, Rebecca sat down to talk about her roots in South Bend’s migrant farm community, her growth as a learner and a leader, and her continued passion for serving her community.  This episode was produced by Nathalie Villalobos and George Garner from the IU South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center.    Full transcript of this episode available here.    Want to learn more about South Bend’s history? View the photographs and documents that helped create it. Visit Michiana Memory at http://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/.  Ti

In the 1940s, professional baseball segregated players both by race and by gender. The All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League, and our home team, the South Bend Blue Sox, famously upset rigid gender discrimination and opened pro-ball to white women. But only white women. For a talented young athlete like Renelda Robinson, the opportunity to play ball came from a café owner on Birdsell Street in South Bend’s west side. Uncle Bill’s All-Colored Girls Softball team brought young players on adventures across the Midwest. In 1987, Renelda sat down to talk about her years in baseball’s spotlight. This episode was produced by Nathalie Villalobos and George Garner from the Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center. Additional thanks to Ryan Olivier and the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend. Full transcript of this episode available here. Over the last three years, professors, staff, and students from the University of Notre Dame reached out to community partners about

Near the end of World War II, at age four or five years old, Abdul Nur moved from Elkhart, Indiana, to South Bend. Despite the short distance, Abdul experienced a huge cultural shock. For the first time, he was surrounded by children from multiple racial and cultural groups. Abdul went on to experience multi-ethnic spaces throughout his time at Central High School and into the Air Force. As early as middle school, Abdul began a deep education into Islam that eventually led him, as an adult, to convert and take on the name Abdul Nur. These experiences led him to get involved in civil disobediences in Nashville, Tennessee, fighting for justice during the height of the 1960s civil rights movement. With a degree from Indiana University South Bend, Abdul became involved in several activist groups here from the 1960s through the 90s. In 2001, IU South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center students Andrea Sheneman and David Healey sat down with Mr. Nur. They spoke about his early experiences in South Bend’s schools, his

At two public events in October 2022, doctors Jamie Wagman and Julia Dauer from Saint Mary’s College presented the results of an oral history collection project they’d been working on. The idea was to collect stories of real people in our community deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The full versions of these oral histories are preserved in the Civil Rights Heritage Center’s archives, but today we share audio from Drs. Wagman and Dauer’s public presentations. Narrators include Mark Albion, Dea Andrews, Fr. Brian Ching, Stacy Davis, Nikki Hammond, Skyler H., Jennet Ingle, HR Jung, Andre Northern, Lauren S., Ramal Taylor, and Asa Wood. This episode was produced by Jamie Wagman and Julia Dauer from Saint Mary’s College, Donald Brittain from the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at Indiana University South Bend, and George Garner from the IU South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center. Full transcript of this episode available here. Want to learn more about South Bend’s history? View the photographs and d

One of the most fundamental human needs is shelter. From the 1910s through the 1950s, many thousands of people of African descent fled the most brutal forms of economic, racial, and violent oppression in the U.S. South and sought refuge in South Bend, Indiana. Many white people did not warmly welcome them into their new homes. African American people were largely only allowed to live in the city’s west side. Quickly produced, low-quality factory homes were one of the few choices for most African Americans. A lot of people were only able to make shacks out of old piano boxes. As the city grew and evolved, some neighborhoods maintained white racial exclusivity by adding restrictions onto deeds that homes only be sold to other white people. In other neighborhoods, less overt, but equally effective pressures thwarted African American homeownership well into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Today, we hear from South Bend citizens who were simply trying to find a place to live. Narrators include Willie Mae

On June 29, 1922, several hundred people attended a special, two-hour evening opening of the new Engman Public Natatorium. By September, South Bend’s Parks Board estimated almost 10,000 people took advantage of the brand-new facility. It is unclear exactly when the white people in charge of the Natatorium first denied entry to African American people—but they did. And as a taxpayer funded, supposedly “public” facility, it became a focus of local civil rights action by a group of doctors, lawyer, politicians, and other Black professionals pushing against an entrenched system of discrimination. By 1978, the Natatorium was over fifty years old, and it was falling apart. Officials started asking whether it was time to shut it down. Paul McMinn was just out of college then. Bob Goodrich offered him a job to run the Natatorium. Neither of them knew it would be the Nat’s last open season. In 2018, I sat down with Paul and Bob, and also Bob Heiderman who taught classes at the Natatorium and other pools in South Bend.

Madeline Smothers was born in Rockville, Illinois, in 1917. By 1935, she joined members of her extended family living in South Bend’s east side, soon befriending people in power like lawyers J. Chester and Elizabeth Fletcher Allen. At this time, South Bend was rapidly evolving—but for African Americans who left the South to chase factory jobs up north, they were still confronting the entrenched racism they hoped they were fleeing when they left the South. As entrenched as racism was, many people still pushed for change—including Ms. Smothers’ friends, the Allens. And the Allens’ young, fair complected friend Madeline was a palatable candidate for some of the first jobs held by African Americans downtown. The trust she built led Ara Parseghian, the University of Notre Dame’s football coach in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, to ask Madeline and her husband for help recruiting and retaining Black athletes. In 2003, David Healey sat down with Madeline in the east side home she lived in for decades. Madeline talked

Jack Reed was about four or five years old when his mother moved him from Tennessee to South Bend. He absorbed a strong desire to work watching his mother clean other people’s homes. The job he desired most was as a state police officer. The Indiana State Police, however, did not hire African Americans. Jack eventually served as the first African American Battalion Chief in the South Bend Fire Department, and then later got an offer from Mayor Joe Kernan to serve on a greater scale in his administration. Jack stayed on with the transition to Mayor Steve Leucke. From an office atop the County City Building, Jack had a unique view of how the city worked and tried to support its people. In 2001, IU South Bend student Greg Balue and Civil Rights Heritage Center Director Les Lamon sat down with Jack Reed. They talked about Jack’s experiences with racism in this city, and in spite of his treatment, how he made his way up through multiple levels of city service. This episode was produced by Donald Brittain from the

Dr. Les Lamon was a long-time history Professor at IU South Bend. In 2000, he started the Freedom Summer class that brought students on a bus tour through the civil rights movement in the U.S. South. David Healey was a student in that class. Inspired by his experience, he became an early founding member of the Civil Rights Heritage Center on campus and led the early Oral History program. His efforts preserved the life stories of dozens of local people— the very stories we’ve shared on this podcast. David passed away in March 2010—two months too soon to see the results of his research and organizing to transform the former Engman Public Natatorium. In May 2009, Les and David were on a road trip to Fort Wayne—and Les turned on the tape recorder. He and David talked about their inspirations as white men to study the African American civil rights movement, and about forming and leading the early days of the Civil Rights Heritage Center. This episode was produced by Jweetu Pangani from the Ernestine M. Raclin Scho

In the 1970s, Ricardo Parra helped organize and direct a new midwest chapter of the National Council of La Raza, a progressive Chicano political advocacy group. Over the following decades, both Ricardo and his wife, Olga Villa, became integrally involved in South Bend’s growing Latinx community. They allied themselves with almost every local organization, like La Raza, El Campito children’s center, the former El Centro migrant advocacy center, and of course, La Casa de Amistad. Olga was a strong leader, had a love for life, and deeply supported those who worked with her. In 2014, Olga passed away at the age of 71. Four years later, in 2018, I sat down with Ricardo along with Valeria Chamorro from the Civil Rights Heritage Center. We talked about Ricardo’s arrival at Notre Dame, his life with Olga, and how the local Latinx community has grown and changed over the past fifty years. This episode was produced by Donald Brittain from the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend, and by George Gar

In 1952, three-year-old Ralph Miles moved with his family to South Bend after an uncle told Ralph's father that the Bendix company was hiring.  Ralph’s special needs school gave him work well beyond his grade level. He left that school to attend Harrison and then Washington. The work was on grade level, and way too easy for him. Bored, and without appropriate emotional and learning spaces, he acted out. By the time he got to Washington High School, he turned to violence, particularly to combat racist white students.  Eventually, Ralph was expelled for bringing a gun into school.  He did not have a positive opinion of local Black leaders or Black organizations. He saw cronyism, colorism, and compliance with white people in power at the expense of people in his west side community.  In 2003, Civil Rights Heritage Center historian David Healey sat down to talk with Ralph Miles. They discussed Ralph’s early years in his special needs school, his perspective as a disaffected high school stu

In the 1920s, Lucille Sneed’s parents left Tennessee for South Bend to work at Studebaker. They were part of the first wave of African Americans migrating north chasing what they saw as opportunities in factory jobs.  During World War II, Lucille’s brother was called into military service. Lucille took his place at the Studebaker factory.  She stayed after her brother returned. Lucille learned how to sew with large, industrial machines to make upholstery and other fabric materials for thousands of Studebaker cars. She also learned how to navigate segregation in South Bend’s shops, theaters, and restaurants.  In 2002, Civil Rights Heritage Center co-founder Amy Selner and historian David Healey sat down with Ms. Sneed. They talked about her work at Studebaker, her time at Central High School, and what South Bend was like in the middle of the 20th century. This episode was produced by Donald Brittain from the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend, and by George Garner from t

Do you know someone whose story about South Bend should be preserved?  We're seeking nominations for new oral history recordings. Every year, we'll invite about six people with unique, compelling stories to share how they experienced South Bend's past.  Nominate someone now: https://go.iu.edu/3WVo Learn more about the new oral history recording project: https://mailchi.mp/8d6594f2e6f8/know-someone-whose-south-bend-story-should-be-preserved

In 1867, the people inhabiting what we now call South Bend established a corporation to run community schools. Today, few things are as important, or as fought over, as our public schools. This episode shares stories from people who were children in South Bend schools from the early through late-mid 20th century, as well as stories from people who, as adults, fought for change.  Narrators include Barbara Brandy, John Charles Bryant, Leroy and Margaret Cobb, Coleridge Dickinson, Glenda Rae Hernandez, George Hill, William Hojnacki, George McCullough, Federico Rodriguez, and Helen Pope.  This episode was produced by Donald Brittain from the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at Indiana University South Bend; and George Garner from the IU South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center. Full transcript: https://go.iu.edu/3ZKC Want to learn more about South Bend’s history? View the photographs and documents that helped create it. Visit Michiana Memory at http://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/.  Title music