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A Bicentennial Retrospective

Gwen Stiver and the Time Capsule of 1976

A Message Buried for the Future

With a small crowd gathered, the capsule was lowered into the earth. Film crews captured the moment, reporters took notes, and students with tricorn hats and replica muskets shared the stage with mayor Peter J. Nemeth as he delivered an address. This was in 1976, and South Bend — like many other towns and cities across America — was taking part in Bicentennial celebrations to mark 200 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

One woman took up the charge of traveling through time to coordinate the capsule: Chairwoman of the South Bend Bicentennial Committee Gwen Stiver. Stiver was active in the South Bend community over the course of her life, serving for a number of years as president of the South Bend Park Board, leading development projects for the East Race and Coveleski Stadium, and organizing South Bend’s first Ethnic Festival (now reimagined as Fusion Fest). She continually volunteered her time to bring events and projects to life for residents of South Bend, helping to beautify our parks and contribute to a shared sense of place. The time capsule was buried in Bicentennial Park on the corner of Lasalle and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, but the park was later renamed Gwen Stiver Park after her death in 1997.

Time Capsule Lowered

A 150-pound time capsule was lowered into the ground of Bicentennial Park to be opened in 100 years. | 1976-10-01

Mayor Peter J. Nemeth delivered an address at the lowering of the Bicentennial time capsule. | 1976-10-01
A 150-pound time capsule was lowered into the ground of Bicentennial Park to be opened in 100 years. | 1976-10-01
Gwen Stiver

A time capsule will be buried in Bicentennial Park for people to open in 100 years. Pictured is Gwen Stiver, chairman of the South Bend Bicentennial Committee. | 1976-09-27

Fifty years from now in 2076, for America’s Tricentennial, the time capsule will be unearthed and we’ll be able to reminisce on its contents with nostalgia. It may not be that a single time capsule can capture the feelings of an entire city at a certain moment in time, but it’s the act of preservation that speaks to our human desire for connection and recognition. We have been here…we are here…we will be here, steadily traveling forward in time together through whatever the future holds. And people like Gwen offer the reminder that it’s the continual effort of pouring into our community that really marks the time and makes the change. 

Book List

References

South Bend Education Alliance. (2023). South Bend community hall of fame archives. https://southbendeducationalliance.org/hall-of-fame-archives/

Obituaries. (1997, Nov. 16). South Bend Tribune, D10.

https://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/digital/collection/p16827coll15/id/4427/rec/2

https://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/digital/collection/p16827coll15/id/4455

The Council Oak

The Council Oak: Witness to History

Council Oak | ca. 1920s
BRICKS PRESERVE TREE

Edsel Wiseman, owner of Moore Tree Experts, 51933 Orange Rd., points to a large hole which was filled with bricks to help preserve the Council Oak. Two large trunk limbs were ripped away during a wind storm 25 years ago. | South Bend Tribune, April 3, 1966

Oscar Munson

Oscar Munson, a tree surgeon, is making an effort to further preserve the landmark Council Oak tree located in Highland Cemetery. | 1957-11-17

Terry S. Miller, president of Highland Cemetery in South Bend, examines Council Oak’s fallen limb. The limb fell about 2 p.m. Friday. Tree specialists will be called next week to determine what is next for the historic oak. | South Bend Tribune, August 25, 1991

A Living Monument Rests

Edsel Wiseman looked up at the ancient oak. “Everything has to end,” he said. It was 1991, and the enormous tree had put its branches to the wind for a final time. A summer storm split the trunk and folded the outstretched limbs down to earth, where they lay draped over gravestones at Highland Cemetery. Wiseman was no stranger to the Council Oak. Over decades he performed and consulted on several rounds of arboreal surgery and the construction of support systems to prolong the life of the St. Joseph County sentinel. But even before Wiseman took on the task of maintaining the tree, others before him watched over it and saw to its slow and steady preservation in life and legend.

Centuries of Holding Space

The Council Oak was witness to hundreds of years of history, estimated to already have been four hundred years old at the time of LaSalle’s journey in 1681. The French explorer, whose name can be found all over South Bend, first landed at the Kankakee portage in December of 1679. A few years later LaSalle and his group held a meeting with representatives of the Miami, Illinois and Potawatomi nations to form an alliance against the Iroquois. The legend holds that this meeting took place under the sweeping branches of the Council Oak, and that it acted almost as an included party. Before America existed as we know it, the tree sat on open land, an adolescent waypoint for Native Americans and foreign travelers alike. Then its surroundings were cultivated into farmland, where the oak watched as plantlife all around shot up from the soil to join its wonderment for the sun. As the property became Highland Cemetery, the Council Oak found itself in the company of other souls laid to rest.

Wisdom of the Oak

In almost every writing you can find about the Council Oak it is alive and observing. It is aware, as all living things usually are, of who and what is around, and that the years are ticking by while it holds a reverent watch. But while it lived, it was participating in history and daily life as it happened. It is just as likely that it held steady as children climbed its limbs, as squirrels squabbled and threw acorns from its branches, as birds nested and sang in its company, as someone young and unsure rested against the trunk and looked into its canopy to ground themself in the certainty of growth. And just like the oak did, we should embrace the breeze and the feeling of sun on our skin, marking each moment in time like a sacred ring, and remembering those who helped support us along the way.

References

Dits, J. (1991, October 13). Branching out. The South Bend Tribune, p. G1.

LaSalle in Hoosierdom: souvenir quarto-millennial anniversary of LaSalle’s Indian council May 1681 – May, 1931 South Bend, Indiana. https://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/digital/collection/p16827coll3/id/1191/rec/4

https://www.potawatomi.org/blog/2016/07/20/the-potawatomi-at-council-oak/

Women’s History Month

Josephine Curtis and Her Quest for Beauty

Original image of Josephine Curtis via the Northern Indiana Historical Society.

Josephine Curtis spent her lifetime on a quest for beauty. From studying at the University of Chicago, to honing her skills at the Kroeger School of Music in St. Louis, to directing operatic stage performances in South Bend, she endeavored to bring beauty into every part of her life. In 1933, after Curtis relocated to South Bend from Missouri, she formed the H.T. Burleigh Music Association, whose aim was to highlight and make space for Black musicians. The organization’s namesake was Harry Thacker Burleigh, a renowned singer and composer whose ability to arrange melodic reimaginings of African American spirituals struck Curtis as a shining example of the beautiful complexity of the Black American experience.

Josephine was drawn to the way Burleigh — whose grandfather taught him the traditional African American spiritual songs he learned during his years of enslavement — was able to recontextualize the music into modern compositions to be shared with new audiences. Roland Dickinson (1992), a student of Curtis, described the connection Josephine drew between her musical endeavors and those of H.T. Burleigh:

There is something magical in some names, and the magic in Burleigh’s name carried through in this local organization ….Curtis thought the Burleigh name tied in with two important purposes for her group. First, she wanted to give the African-Americans of South Bend who studied, knew and loved music a vent for expressing themselves. Secondly, this group would let people know that the spiritual was not the only music known by the African-American. She wanted the community to know the universality of music, that music has no ethnic bounds, that music can be enjoyed as well as sung by anyone who wants it (p.F7).

Curtis’ quest for beauty didn’t stop at the H.T. Burleigh Music Association and their productions, it extended into her daily life. She was an active member of the South Bend community, volunteering her time and effort to many different organizations and groups in the city, including as “president of the citywide Parent-Teacher Council, active supporter of the South Bend Chapter of United Nations, trustee of the South Bend Urban League, and board member of the Michiana Arts and Sciences Council” (2000). In addition, Josephine was “a charter member of the South Bend Women’s Council for Human Relations. She was instrumental in the council’s development of fair housing codes, the establishment of employment opportunities for all, and the desegregation of hotel and restaurant accommodations” (South Bend Education Alliance, 2000).

Singer, composer & arranger H.T. Burleigh. | ca. 1918

Josephine’s commitment to enriching the lives of South Bend residents through the arts and through material means is a powerful reminder of the effort it takes to bring your vision to life. Sharing music with each other is beautiful, building up a community is beautiful, fighting for a better future is beautiful. The quest for beauty is not just the pursuit of art, but a lifetime of asking how you can contribute your talents, passions, and creativity to manifest the world you want to see.

Booklet for the Indiana-Michigan Youth Conference held in South Bend in 1935.

Some sessions took place at Olivet AME Church. Includes presentations by Charles Ashe, C.H. Wills, B.G. Smith, J. Chester Allen, and others. Among the activities were speeches, discussions, and music. Topics included business, spiritual growth, health, and knowledge. Participants were from South Bend and the local region including Elkhart, Dowagiac, and Fort Wayne. | ca. 1935

A photograph taken during a performance by the H.T. Burleigh Music Association at the Hering House, depicting Josephine Curtis, Roland Dickinson, Georgia Ward Bryant, et al. | ca. 1949

Pull quotes

“She wanted the community to know the universality of music, that music has no ethnic bounds, that music can be enjoyed as well as sung by anyone who wants it.” – Roland Dickinson (student of Josephine Curtis, 1992)

“Music seemed to be the driving force in Curtis’ life, but she shared her many other talents and her time unselfishly for the betterment of the Michiana community. She worked diligently for ethnic harmony, for better housing and all the avenues of life that help people better themselves and enjoy a fuller life.” – Roland Dickinson (student of Josephine Curtis, 1992).

References

Bryant, J.C. (1999, June 27). Operatic high note: In 1949, a local black music group’s efforts peaked with the premiere of ‘Ouanga.’ The South Bend Tribune. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&t=family%3A1F9B0%21South%2BBend%2BTribune%2B%2528IN%2529&sort=YMD_date%3AD&hide_duplicates=2&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=60&val-base-0=operatic%20high%20note%20john%20charles%20bryant&docref=news/13FB1B69C0FDDC48

Dickinson, R. (1992, April 19). Decades later, he recalls Curtis’ influence. The South Bend Tribune, F7.

Library of Congress. (n.d.). H.T. Burleigh. Biography. https://www.loc.gov/item/n83127097/h-t-burleigh/

St. Pierre Ruffin Club. (1973). Handbook of profiles in the contemporary Black history of South Bend. 

South Bend History Museum. (n.d.). Josephine Curtis. https://www.historymuseumsb.org/josephine-curtis/

South Bend Education Alliance. (2023). South Bend community hall of fame archives. https://southbendeducationalliance.org/hall-of-fame-archives/

Staff writer. (2017, Sep. 11). A look back: Opera outstanding in South Bend. The South Bend Tribune. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&t=family%3A1F9B0%21South%2BBend%2BTribune%2B%2528IN%2529/decade%3A2010%212010%2B-%2B2019&sort=YMD_date%3AD&hide_duplicates=2&fld-base-0=alltext&maxresults=60&val-base-0=A%20Look%20Back%3A%20Opera%20outstanding%20in%20South%20Bend&docref=news/166DB11EF7F0A5F0

Black History Month

The Powell Family: Making South Bend Home

Farrow and Rebecca gathered up their belongings, their children, and their hope for the future, setting out northward for South Bend, Indiana. First from North Carolina then to Southern Indiana, they continued on to forge a path of greater opportunity for their family. The year was 1858, and the Powell family became one of the first Black families to settle in South Bend. The Powells were a hugely influential family to the area. They were active in the community, buying multiple properties and using their resources to help establish anchor sites like the Olivet A.M.E. church in 1870. Their home was located on the 400 block of Main Street, one home among a handful of Black homesteads in the burgeoning South Bend. In an oral history interview, Powell  family descendant John Charles Bryant described growing up on Main Street: “Main Street was a very rich heritage. All the families were supportive of one another. Nobody went hungry…if somebody needed something, the brothers came together.”

A Changing Community Landscape

Eventually, the neighborhood began to change and Main Street neighbors relocated. “Our house was the last standing house,” Bryant remarked, “all the other relatives had sold their houses.” The Powell family home later sat vacant in the Innwoods parking lot, a lone structural island in a sea of urban development and asphalt that had sprung up around it. Boarded up windows relegated this prominent South Bend structure to slow disappearance, until 1973 when local high school students took up the cause to preserve it. The home was lifted up on the bed of a trailer and relocated to Leeper Park following the students’ activism, making its way through the city streets as a one-house parade.

These photographs depict historic Powell House, the oldest remaining black-built house in the city, being moved to Leeper Park from an alley between S. Michigan St. and Main St.

Carried Forward in Memory and Community

Devastatingly, the Powell home was vandalized repeatedly after its relocation, and was ultimately destroyed by an arsonist’s flames in 1980. But what the home stood for, the intrepid spirit of Black hope and community togetherness, remains. The history that John Charles Bryant shared about his family legacy and the Main Street neighborhood lives on to inspire us to connect with our neighbors, build strong bonds with each other, and work together to construct our hope for the future one story at a time.

Program for the 1998 Farrow Powell Reunion. Includes early family history, details about the reunion and cemetery listings for family members. | 1998
Program from the 140th celebration of Olivet African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church on May 2, 2010. Contains a list of events, with speakers including former CRHC Interim Director Alma Powell. Also includes a history of the church, the oldest African American church in South Bend. The program is a gift of John Charles Bryant. | 2010-05-02

Black History Month Resources

This month, the South Bend Tribune is publishing weekly profiles on community members and Black-owned businesses. Access the Tribune for free with your library card!

Explore the library’s Civil Rights and African American Heritage collection on Michiana Memory.
The Civil Rights Heritage Center is hosting events all month long to honor and celebrate Black history in South Bend. Check out their events page here!

References

Black History Month: Powell family moves to South Bend — 1858. (2023, Feb. 2). South Bend Tribune. https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2023/02/02/south-bend-black-history-facts/69849650007/

Bryant, J.C. (2001, May 8). Interview by Healey, D. Recording the civil rights movement in South Bend. Civil Rights Heritage Center. Indiana University South Bend. https://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/digital/collection/p16827coll13/id/334/rec/7

Civil Rights Heritage Center. (n.d.). 15. Olivet A.M.E. Church. African American Landmark Tour. https://aalt.iusb.edu/map/olivet-african-methodist.html

Garner, G. & Watson, J. (Producers). (2021). South Bend’s own words [Audio podcast]. Civil Rights Heritage Center. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/john-charles-bryant-african-american-life-and-legacy/id1207874365?i=1000682390124

The History museum. (n.d.). Local African American history. https://www.historymuseumsb.org/local-african-american-history/

Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library. (2022, Dec. 2). MPHPL Powell family tribute [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdlGAXQe3mM

Randy, R. (2019, June 30). A look back: Farrow Powell family among first blacks to settle in South Bend. The South Bend Tribune. https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2019/06/30/a-look-back-farrow-powell-family-among-first-blacks-to-settle-in-south-bend/45930913/

Robinson, Rev. C.G. & Perry, Rev. L.J. (1974). Olivet African Methodist Episcopal Church: 1870 – 1974. Pictorial Church Directories of America, Inc.

Semiquincentennial

America is Turning 250

This year, America turns 250 years old. It’s our country’s semiquincentennial anniversary, which means that this July 4th will mark 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was signed. This significant date allows us to reflect on our nation’s past, investigate the present, and think about the future. Throughout the year we will consider how individual narratives come together to weave the tapestry of our neighborhoods, towns & region.

And while Indiana was not yet a state in 1776, we will still be creating space to think about what the landscape of our county looked like at that time, who the land was stewarded by, and how it has changed over the years.

We’ll be contemplating which groups were excluded from the original vision of America and how people have worked together through history to affect change toward a more inclusive future.

And we’ll be looking ahead to see how preserving and sharing our own stories can carry us forward into greater connection with each other. 250 years is a lot of ground to cover, so join the library for more semiquincentennial programming and events this year!

Loom with Textile | Likely made by Navajo (Diné) weaver Juanita, ca. 1874 | Image via The Smithsonian
Message from the President of the United States with a plat of the Survey of the northern boundary of the State of Indiana. | ca. 1828

References

United States semiquincentennial. (2025, Dec. 18). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Semiquincentennial&oldid=1328268087
Smithsonian. (2025, Jan. 11). Loom with textile. Smithsonian Natural History Museum. https://www.si.edu/object/loom-textile:nmnhanthropology_8345504

Wigilia & Wonders

Illustration “Wigilia” by Alice T. Wadowski

Where Do Our Holiday Traditions Come From?

What do our families pass on to us? Christmas of 2022 was the last time I ever saw my babcia. She passed very unexpectedly a few months after the holidays, and with her passing I also lost the most direct connection to my Polish roots. Growing up I always felt the pride she had at her Polish-ness, but still felt a disconnect between our family and any real old-world traditions. Mine is the sort of American Polish family whose understanding of the language has long since dematerialized, who enjoy Martin’s fried chicken on the same plate as Polish sausage, and who can wish you a Happy Dyngus Day with the best of them. But what my family lacks in heritage traditions my babcia always made up for in tight hugs and big wet kisses on the cheek when we gathered on Christmas morning.

Reconnecting with Polish Traditions

But as I’ve gotten older and sought to reconnect with Polish traditions that my ancestors and great-great grandparents might have practiced before moving to South Bend at the turn of the century, I’ve learned that no matter what the practice is, loved ones are almost always at the heart. This is the case with Wigilia (vee-gee-lee-ah), one of the most important days for people of Polish heritage and descent. Wigilia, which takes place on December 24th, offers the chance to rest, reflect, and ready ourselves for the year ahead. It’s about setting intentions, making amends, repaying debts, returning borrowed items, and completing any unfinished business. Making things right before the year comes to a close.

Elements of Wigilia

There are several elements to Wigilia that encompass the spirit of mindfulness for past, present and future. Breaking and sharing opłatki (oh-pwaht-kee), or Christmas wafers, between family and friends is a time-honored tradition dating back to the 10th century. Before the meal, everyone takes an opłatek and goes around the table to wish each other good health, abundance, and prosperity for the new year, breaking off part of the other person’s wafer to eat.

‘Magickal barrier’ made from straw and hay scattered on the floor. | Photo from the Ethnographic Museum of Lublin Countryside.
Breaking the wafer | Photo from Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe (NAC) | ca. 1931

An empty seat is prepared at the table for an unexpected guest or for ancestors to share in the meal and festivities. Sheafs of wheat are placed in the corners of the room to represent loved ones who have passed on, and straw placed under the tablecloth to act as a magical barrier that wards off negative energies. 

I’ve brought elements of some of these practices into my life over the past few years since losing my babcia, like wearing a wheat brooch on Christmas Eve to honor her memory and trying my hand at crafting Polish holiday decorations. I’ve also upheld some traditions I learned directly from her, like helping myself to an extra kifli or two on Christmas Day. But more than anything, I hope that what is passed on long after I’m gone are traditions filled with love, tight hugs, and big wet kisses on the cheek.

References

Capuzzo, T.B. (2024, Dec. 1). A Polish Christmas vigil. Mountain Home Magazine. https://www.mountainhomemag.com/2024/12/01/514385/a-polish-christmas-vigil

Knab, S.H. (1998). Polish customs, traditions & folklore. Hippocrene Books, N.Y. 

Krysa, C.M. (1998). A Polish Christmas Eve: Traditions and recipes, decorations and song. CWB Press, N.Y.

Straw as a ‘magickal barrier’, and other Christmas decorations from Polish folklore. Lamus Dworski. https://lamusdworski.wordpress.com/2016/12/23/decorations/

Wigilia: Christmas Eve in Poland. Lamus Dworski. https://lamusdworski.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/wigilia/

Simon Pokagon: Weaving Words Between Worlds

In his time, Simon Pokagon inhabited two worlds. Speaking and writing in Anishinaabemowin and English, he wove together worlds of lived experience and cultural meaning through careful construction and nuanced interpretation. Words and language became the thread, and he worked to stretch past and present tense into a perennial tapestry of human experience. Simon was a gifted storyteller and writer who sought to connect readers and listeners of all races, and to bring to the fore of American thought his personal perspective on Native American life.

Born in the year 1830 in Berrien County, Michigan to father Chief Leopold Pokagon and mother Elizabeth, Simon would know and speak only his native language until he was 14 years old. He learned English while attending Notre Dame school near the current site of the university, and later Oberlin College in Ohio. He soon became an outspoken advocate for Native American rights and the preservation of heritage language traditions held by his tribe. Pokagon believed his people to be vanishing, and so fought for their recognition through speech, prose, and political action. 

Hand-drawn map of the St. Joseph River with an arrow to Pokagon’s Village in the top right corner
Image from the Newberry Library, Chicago | The opening page of Simon Pokagon’s “The Red Man’s Greeting,” printed on birchbark. Call number: Ayer 251 .P651 P7 1893

In the months following Simon’s death in 1899, one of his works was published with the help of his longtime friend C.H. Engle. The novel Ogîmäwkwě Mitigwäkî (Queen of the Woods) holds to the boundless expression of his native Anishnaabe language while at the same time interposing English as a reflection of the way Simon walked through the world. “It has been said that Greek is the language of the gods,” writes Pokagon in the book’s introduction, “that Latin is the language of heroes, and that French is the language of lovers and novelists; and Pokagon might consistently add that the Algaic language is the three in one, symmetrically interwoven in nature’s great loom.”

References

Pokagon, S. (2011). Ogîmäwkwě mitigwäkî (Queen of the woods): A novel (P.J. Deloria, Ed., J.N. Low, Ed., M. Noori, Ed., K.M. Vigil, Ed.). Michigan State University Press. 

Simon Pokagon and The Red Man’s Rebuke/the red man’s greeting. (n.d.) Beyond the White City. Retrieved November 12, 2025, from https://www.beyondthewhitecity.org/simon-pokagon-rebuke

Leopold Pokagon. (1910, August 8). New Era, Vol. IV(13), p. 7). https://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/digital/collection/p16827coll8/id/9992/rec/1

Chicago History Museum. (2024, Nov. 4). Simon Pokagon letter: Voice of a Potawatomi leader. Chicago History. https://www.chicagohistory.org/simon-pokagon-letter-voice-of-a-potawatomi-leader/

Blaisdell, H. (2021, Nov. 2). Birchbark, the 1893 World’s Fair, and native resistance. Newberry Library. https://www.newberry.org/blog/birchbark-the-1893-worlds-fair-and-native-resistance

The Saddened Village

An eerie Black and White Photo looking across the City Cemetery.
City Cemetery, October 2014 | Photo by Louis Sabo

A stone obelisk reaches up into the sky in City Cemetery, a weathered marker of the last spot an elderly couple would share together in South Bend’s oldest final resting place. The cemetery was built on land donated by Lathrop Taylor in 1832, making it only a year younger than the city itself. Lathrop himself is buried there, along with Schuyler Colfax, family members of the Studebakers and Powells, and soldiers from the Revolutionary War. But the originally unassuming grave now marked by a pointed stone monument and brass placard is the final resting place of couple Mary & James McKinley, grandparents to former president William McKinley and early settlers to the South Bend region.

Their meandering journey in 1844 took them 311 miles from the town of Lisbon, Ohio, all the way to South Bend’s western edge where they rented acreage and built a homestead. “No one knew for where they were bound nor their purpose in coming,” wrote reporter Lewis in 1921, “Perhaps they themselves had no particular destination in view…Perhaps, then, the love of the wanderlust was their sole reason for coming west” (South Bend News-Times). Already getting on in age at the time of their grand voyage across the midwest, Mary & James made South Bend their home for only a handful of years before both were overcome with typhoid fever. Their tragic love story ends in that home they built together on the edge of town. Mary fell ill first, and James shortly after. For three weeks they were at each other’s sides, constant companions, but on that late summer day, August 20th, 1847, within hours of each other they both faded peacefully from waking life, on their 43rd wedding anniversary.

The couple made their mark on the town of South Bend in their own quiet way, leaving behind a “saddened village” at the news of their passing. They were laid to rest side-by-side, as together in the afterlife as they were in their journeys through life and across the wild terrains of the early midwestern frontier. The memorial obelisk can be spotted among other ancient headstones in the cemetery, some speculating that its construction was the first presidential act of William McKinley as a way to honor his grandparents. The monument still stands, a testament to the long, storied life Mary & James shared together and to the hope that love can carry on long after we are laid to rest.

Honoring the memory of the martyred president, William McKinley, members of the Harry O. Perkins Camp 25 dedicated a marker at the grave of his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. James McKinley, Sunday afternoon at City Cemetery. Shown above are those who took part in the program. From left to right they are: The Rev. J.C. McGinn, Colonel George W. Studebaker, Floyd O. Jellison and Marion Esarey. | 1937-11-1, South Bend News-Times
City Cemetery, undated | Photo by Louis Sabo

References

City of South Bend Venues Parks & Arts. (2025). City Cemetery. SBPVA.

Schuyler Colfax Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. (1927). Historic background of South Bend and St. Joseph County in Northern Indiana. Schuyler Colfax Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, South Bend, Indiana.

Michiana Memory

Lewis, G. (1921, Oct. 2). McKinley’s grandparents early settlers in St. Joseph County; both died on same day, their wedding anniversary; bodies lie in City Cemetery. South Bend News-Times.

Grave of McKinley’s grand parents in South Bend. (1901, Sep. 14). South Bend News-Times.
Cahill, A. (1935, Aug. 11). May beautify City Cemetery with WPA aid. South Bend News-Times.

A Family of Artists, a Community of Creatives

A black and white collage of Beatrice Hartig Zimmerman, overlayed with a paintbrush and a paint palette.
Artist Beatrice Hartig Zimmerman | collage by Lindsay Taylor

Raised in a house full of art and creativity, Beatrice Hartig Zimmerman was no stranger to seeing the beauty in everyday life. Her father, artist Arthur E. Hartig, instilled in her and her sister Genevieve an appreciation for artistic expression and creative pursuits. The family’s creativity even extended into the culinary arts, with mother Emma being renowned for crafting delicious homemade noodles at the family home in Osceola. At the age of 16, Beatrice went on to study painting in Chicago and brought back to St. Joe County skills which won juried awards in the Midland Academy of Art exhibitions and placed her among her peers in the region.

Beatrice created well over 1,000 paintings in her life, and took her love of art not just to paper and canvas but to unorthodox locations as part of an effort to introduce more art to public spaces. In 1936, she participated as a chairwoman for “arranging displays in schools, libraries, clubs, and merchants’ windows,” eventually painting for the Menaugh’s Hardware storefront in Osceola. Her paintings were described as “outstanding in color and beauty,” a blend of charm and technical skill.

 She was a librarian, an accomplished musician, and a prolific artist who, along with her family members, was invested in beautifying the region through her works and engagement with the community. The Hartigs were involved in and charter members of many artist societies ranging from the St. Joe Valley Chapter of the American Artists Professional League, Midland Academy of Art, the St. Joe Valley Watercolor Society, and the Northern Indiana Artists Association, where Beatrice’s legacy lives on through the Beatrice Hartig Zimmerman Memorial Award. 

Beatrice and the Hartigs demonstrated how utilizing your skills and passions creates a more beautiful environment and a more fulfilling life. And more than that, they showed how gathering with like-minded individuals to foster a positive atmosphere goes a long way toward making where you live a better place to be.

Black and white photo from the south bend tribune which features the Hartig-Zimmerman family who were professional painters.
This South Bend Tribune photo shows local artists Beatrice Hartig-Zimmerman, on the ground, A.E. (Arthur) Hartig and Genevieve (Geni) Hartig-Toth in the 1940s. The two women were Hartig’s daughters, and all three of them were professional artists. | Photo from the South Bend Tribune
An image from a 1928 publication showcasing local and influential females.
Beatrice’s mother Emma Louise Hartig, pictured here from the publication Who’s Who in Woman’s Realm: South Bend – Mishawaka. She was an accomplished culinary artist and businesswoman. | 1928

Wanna Get Creative?

With your library card you can access thousands of instructional videos on a wide variety of artistic mediums through CreativeBug.

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Reading List

Fine Arts of the South Bend Region, 1840-2000

The Artistic Heritage of South Bend: 1930 – 1970 (in-library use only)

Hoosier Painters of the 21st Century

References

Anderson, E. (1931, Nov. 15). Hartig family will show art work in Osceola: Father and daughters display paintings Friday night. South Bend News Times. South Bend, Indiana.

Collins, W.R. (2014). Fine arts of the South Bend region, 1840 – 2000. Wolfson Press, Indiana University South Bend.

Cotter, D. (1962, March 8). Osceola librarian is capable artist and musician; loves both hobbies. The South Bend Tribune. South Bend, Indiana. 

Oberhausen, J. & Zimmerman, B.H. (1987). The artistic heritage of South Bend 1930 – 1970. South Bend Art Center. 

Stimulation of interest in exhibits and promotion of local crafts program aim. (1936, Nov. 6). The Indianapolis Star, p. 25.

(2020, Dec. 31). Jean Warner Magrane. The South Bend Tribune, C2.

What Happens When School Buildings Graduate?

When the final bell rings, some schools don’t close; they transform.

Larry Giantomas wiped away tears as he walked through Central High. It was spring of 1995, 25 years after the school’s final graduating Class of 1970 received their diplomas, and emotions were high as he and others toured through their old building. The dedication ceremony for the Central High Apartments marked a new chapter for the school’s long and storied history. A graduate of 1951, Larry wore his faded blue and orange graduation tassel pinned to his jacket as he relived teenage memories.

Walking past the grand stained glass window, climbing the worn marble steps, entering into his homeroom, he heard echoes of friends and times gone by. Former Central students like Larry came to pay their respects to the school, and to see a preview of the 106 new apartment units completed that year. Basketball courts, classrooms, and even the pool had been transformed into unique living spaces to give the historic educational building a new purpose.

Hosting its first class of students in 1874, Central was rebuilt, remodeled, expanded and repurposed many times before it finally graduated to apartments in 1995. Like many historic buildings in South Bend, evolution becomes necessary to fit with modern needs. The city has an almost hermit crab-like ability to see not just an old shell but new possibilities. The Colfax School, constructed in 1898, is another example of this kind of transformation. After the last school bell rang out in 1976, the building sat empty for only a year before it was turned into the Michiana College of Commerce in 1977, followed by a conversion to the Colfax Cultural Center in the 1980s, which remains in operation today.

Even as time marches on, we can coexist with the memories of the past by listening for the impressions of laughter, learning, and lives being lived in the school halls of history. “Old buildings show you who you are as a community,” said Judy O’Bannon in a 1996 Tribune interview about the Central High project, “They are our meeting and gathering places. Each community needs one.” And in these old school buildings, there are still lessons being learned and lessons being taught…how to play a new board game with friends, how to appreciate local art in a gallery, how to cook a new meal, how to live in a city that is constantly reinventing itself.

More Local & Family History Resources

Schools and libraries of the past used card catalogs to locate books in the collection. Did you know we still have some of the library’s original card catalogs? They no longer point to books in our collection, but to our clipping files. These files are folders of newspaper clippings collected by librarians over decades on a variety of local people, places, events, and buildings. Come to the Local & Family History department on the third floor of the Main Library and a staff member will be happy to pull some clipping files for you to look at, whether it’s for research or just for fun!

Illustrated vintage postcard showing "New High School" in South Bend, Indiana. The large brick school building features tall windows and prominent staircases on both sides of the entrance. People in early 20th-century clothing are gathered on the sidewalk in front, with trees and blue skies completing the scene.

See Our Full Selection of Historic School Photos

Head Back to School

Reading List

South Bend Central High School Remembered

City of South Bend Historic Sites and Structures

References

Borlik, K. (1995, Feb. 1). A class act: Apartment project breathes new life into Central High School, retaining its character and charm. The South Bend Tribune.

Giantomas, L. (1995, May 5). Ceremonies at Central High turn back the hands of time | Michiana point of view. The South Bend Tribune.

Porter, D. (1996, June 7). Central project praised for ingenuity. The South Bend Tribune.

French History in South Bend

From River Path to City Streets: Early French Presence in St. Joseph County

Long before South Bend took shape as a city, the land along the St. Joseph River was home to the Potawatomi and Miami peoples, who were stewards of the water, woods, and wildlife, and who utilized the vast St. Joseph River for trade and cultural connection. As America became a destination for new conquests and possibilities, European nations staked their claim on North American lands. French Jesuit missionary Father James Marquette set foot on the banks of the river in 1675, and a few years later in 1679, French explorer René-Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle arrived and met with Potawatomi Chief Onangises. They created a fur trade partnership, opening the door for permanent European settlement.

French-descended colonists, drawn by the river’s reach and fertile land, began building a town, laying streets and foundations over a place that had long been lived in. Pierre F. Navarre built his cabin along the river for fur trading in 1820, and Alexis Coquillard came down from Detroit in 1823 to lay out the plans for a city. You can still see traces of this layered history and French influence today in street names, parks, and buildings, reflecting the duality of our small pocket of the midwest.

A small booklet containing a brief history of the settling of Navarre Place and an advertisement for the development of the area sponsored by the Home Improvement Company. Also contains photographs and an early plat map of the area. | c.a. 1890

But as with any new claim to land from outsiders, those who existed before were driven out in the name of urban expansion. Following Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830, nearly a thousand Potawatomi men, women and children were forcibly removed from Northern Indiana in 1838, where they were pushed to reservations in Kansas and Oklahoma on what is known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death.

To live in St. Joseph County is to see evidence of the past living alongside hopes for what’s ahead, and to be a mindful resident of this place is to honor the people who walked these trails long before they were paved over. In doing so, we create room for a more honest and inclusive future — one where we recognize that memory is not just something we keep, but something we build on with care.

References

History of St. Joseph County Indiana by Chas. Chapman & Co., Chicago 1880

Historic Background of South Bend and St. Joseph County in Northern Indiana compiled and published by Schuyler Colfax Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, second edition

https://www.historymuseumsb.org/the-first-settlers

https://www.historymuseumsb.org/early-history-of-indiana-to-1779

https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=NewsBank&req_dat=9B166313CC0E4EFF965591E570B9573B&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F15562D6574A76E60

https://www.sjcindiana.gov/1638/City-of-South-Bend

A Legacy of Pride

It was 1974; Gloria Frankel unlocked the doors to The Seahorse Cabaret on a humid South Bend night, not knowing if they’d still be open by morning. At that time same-sex dancing was illegal in Indiana, and a woman like Gloria — outspoken, defiant, and a “fierce protector of South Bend’s queer community” — wasn’t exactly welcome in polite society. But Gloria had seen enough by then. She’d lived through the hush-hush corners of mid-century Indiana and watched from afar as the Stonewall Riots shook New York. She wasn’t about to let South Bend stay in the shadows, so she carved out a place for people like her, people who needed somewhere to exist out loud. The Seahorse wasn’t just a bar — it was a lifeline.

Inside, the cabaret came alive with rhythm and performance. Drag queens, trans women, gay couples — all moved to the music and danced under the lights, sharing laughter and apprehension in equal parts. Police visits were frequent, and so were threats of firebombs and fines. But Gloria didn’t flinch. She paid the penalties, mended the walls, and opened again the next night. After a suspected arson attack on the cabaret in 1982, Gloria and her friends restored the Seahorse with help from the community in a matter of days, ensuring the space would be available for those who relied on it. That decade more residents relied on the Seahorse as an important fixture for HIV information and activist training. In the face of adversity, the Seahorse became a beacon of hope, a testament to the resilience and spirit of a community determined to be seen and heard.

Fast forward to today, and South Bend wears its colors a little brighter. Pride flags hang in windows, our city brings together thousands of people to celebrate Pride in the Park every June, and in 2015, Mayor Pete Buttigieg came out and wrote his truth in the pages of the South Bend Tribune. “For a local student struggling with her sexuality,” he wrote, “it might be helpful for an openly gay mayor to send the message that her community will always have a place for her.” The foundation Gloria laid all those years ago didn’t just hold, it grew. The struggles she endured made room for the celebrations we now enjoy. The Seahorse may be gone, but its echo lingers in every parade, every policy, every place that says: you’re welcome here.

Picture it: a room packed wall to wall, the sound of disco shaking the floor, and Gloria behind the bar, arms crossed, eyeing the door like she dared anyone to ruin her night. The music’s too loud, the crowd too free. In that room, what people thought on the outside didn’t matter. Inside the Seahorse, there was possibility, resistance, and a joy so bright it made your eyes sting. “I could be me,” says DeAnn Gatto in an oral history interview for the Civil Rights Heritage Center. You didn’t just dance there — you found your community.

And still, we press forward. Gloria’s gone now, but her story lives on in the lives she touched, in the activists she mentored, and in the truths she refused to bury. As we look to the future, the legacy of the Seahorse continues to inspire new generations to stand up, speak out, and build communities where everyone is free to be their authentic selves. There’s work yet to be done — but thanks to Gloria Frankel and other early LGBTQ activists of South Bend, we know it can be done. And we know it starts, always, with someone brave enough to open the door.

Dive Deeper Into Local LGBTQ History

Browse Collection

Books to Check Out

Buttigieg, P. (2015, June 16). Why coming out matters. The South Bend Tribune.  https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2015/06/16/south-bend-mayor-why-coming-out-matters/45761773/

Civil Rights Heritage Center. Queer SB in the 1970s. South Bend, IN. Indiana University South Bend. https://iusbarchives.omeka.net/exhibits/show/queer-sb-in-the-1970s/community


Poletika, N. (2017, June 29). Gloria Frankel & The Seahorse: The South Bend LGBT Club’s Fight for Gay Rights. Indiana Historical Society: Untold Indiana. https://blog.history.in.gov/tag/gloria-frankel/

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