A 1931 graduate of South Bend’s Central High School talks about her experiences growing up in a resort town of Kentucky, and the discrimination she experienced as a white-passing African American woman both in the south and in South Bend.    Odie Mae Johnson Streets was born in Chicago before moving with her family to Dawson Springs, Kentucky. In the 1920s, she moved to South Bend both so her father could find work at Studebaker and so she could go to school beyond the sixth grade—a common end point in formal education provided to most Black students in Dawson Springs.    I ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

On April 4, 1968, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by a white supremacist. The news echoed throughout the U.S. We hear from five people in South Bend who remember that day and the immediate aftermath: Charlotte Huddleston, Willie Mae Butts, Lynn Coleman, George Neagu, and Karen White.  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 his page on the Free Music Archive, http://www.fr ..read more

Willie Coats lived almost his entire lifetime in South Bend, mostly on West Washington Street. As a child, he lacked the historical framework to understand the racism he  encountered. As an adult, and after he read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, he could put his experiences in context—like the racial slurs shouted at him by white neighbors, and witnessing a black man shot by police in 1967 and participating in the riots afterwards.  Willie channeled his activism through groups like the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam. He held symposiums, started community organizations, and e ..read more

Oscar Jones, Jackie Ivory, and Bobby Stone were heavily inspired by the Mississippi Delta blues they heard growing up. As teenagers, they’d sing doo-bop music on street corners on the west side of South Bend. It led to lifelong careers in music for both Bobby Stone and Jackie Ivory, and a lifelong love of music for all three. They performed together in what was known then as the “chitlin’” circuit, a network of clubs that played black music to almost entirely black audiences. As the blues was appropriated by white musicians, their lives changed. They played with local legends like the late Bil ..read more

When Barbara Brandy was nine years old, a group of her family and friends tried to come into the Engman Public Natatorium to swim. At the time, the city-owned pool was segregated by day. Monday was the only day African Americans could swim. Barbara and her friends came after church on Sunday. The white man behind the ticket booth told them, “No.”  This day was just one in the 68 years she spent in South Bend. The racism she faced, the life she was able to lead, and the stories she told, have inspired countless others.  Read Barbara Brandy’s recollection of her experience at the Nata ..read more

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 organ ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more