Gary (Indiana)

Lake County

18-27000

Gary is a city with about 80,000 inhabitants in north-western U.S. state of Indiana and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is characterized by the steel industry, through its decline it now resides in a structurally and financially precarious situation. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the border with Illinois.

Through the song " Gary, Indiana " from the musical The Music Man, it is relatively well known in the English-speaking world. The song is told truthfully that the name of the town of Elbert H. Gary comes, a man " of quasi-judicial fame ". Gary was CEO of U.S. Steel, as this here a steel mill erected, with the accompanied the founding of the city. Previously, he was a judge in DuPage County, which is why he remained thereafter known as " Judge Gary ".

Gary is the hometown of the Jackson family of musicians including Michael Jackson, born in 1958 here. The name of the city by the pedagogue William Albert host (1874-1938) and created by him teaching model was known that Gary system is called.

History

Gary, Indiana was founded in 1906 by the United States Steel Corporation as the location for the new plant, Gary Works. The city was founded by the attorney Elbert H. Gary, one of the founders of the United States Steel Corporation.

The development of Gary is closely linked to the U.S. steel industry. Their growth brought prosperity to the town. Broadway Avenue became the commercial center of the region. Department stores and architecturally significant movie houses were built in the city center, in the district of Glen Park.

In the 60 years Gary was, like many other U.S. cities, hung their development on a single industry, drawn into a downward economic spiral. Gary suffered in particular from the increasing competitiveness of the steel production outside the United States. This forced U.S. Steel to numerous layoffs in the region around Gary.

In the 20th century there was a rapid change in the population structure of Gary. This was accompanied by political changes that led to Gary one of the first cities with an African-American mayors, Richard G. Hatcher was. In 1972, the National Black Political Convention was held here.

Between 1960 and 1990 there was a strong growth in the surrounding communities of Merrillville and Crown Point. However, the flight of white families, the economic downturn, the increase in crime to a further exodus of the wealthier strata of the population led.

In the 1990s and the early years of the 21st century, Gary had the highest percentage of African- American citizens in a town of over 100,000 inhabitants ( around 84 % according to the U.S.. Census of 2000). The Einwohlnerzahl by Gary fell below 100,000 since then.

U.S. Steel continues to be the largest employer in the region, but with only a fraction of their former employees. While the former employment in the production sector have not been touched could, created jobs in the service sector - such as in the two casinos that have opened along the Gary lakeshores in the 90s. Today, Gary is a city that has to tackle the difficulties of the Rust Belt, such as unemployment, decaying infrastructure, and low levels of education.

Geography

The city lies at the southern end of Lake Michigan. The city was largely built on sand, which also determines its coastline.

The city of Gary is equivalent to a "T " shape. The northern boundary is located on the Michigansse. At the northwestern end of Gary borders Hammond (Indiana) and Chicago. Miller Beach is located at the eastern end and is adjacent to Lake Station, Indiana and Portage. Gary is bordered to the south by Griffith, Hobart, Merrillville, Indiana, and Ross, Indiana.

Population Development

Since the 1960s, the steel plant and its suppliers thousands of employees had to lay off. The population of Gary went back since then by more than half. Accordingly, much of the city are virtually deserted today. Due to the resulting increased mass encountered ruins, the city is now called the " Pompeii of the Middle West ".

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Gary was the city with the highest percentage of African-American population ( 85.3 %) in the USA.

¹ 1980 - 2000: census results; 2005: Updating the U.S. Census Bureau

Sons and daughters of the town

  • Charles Adkins, Olympic champion in boxing
  • Mousey Alexander (1922-1988), jazz drummer
  • Frank Borman ( born 1928 ), astronaut
  • Bianca Ferguson ( born 1955 ), actress
  • Freddie Gibbs ( b. 1982 ), rapper
  • Jackie Jackson ( born 1951 ), former member of the Jackson Five
  • Janet Jackson (born 1966 ), singer, dancer and actress
  • Jermaine Jackson (born 1954 ), singer
  • La Toya Jackson ( born 1956 ), pop singer and Playboy model
  • Marlon Jackson ( b. 1957 ), singer and musician, a founding member of The Jackson Five
  • Michael Jackson (1958-2009), singer, songwriter and entertainer
  • Randy Jackson ( born 1961 ), singer and musician, a member of the Jackson Five
  • Rebbie Jackson ( born 1950 ), member of the Jackson family
  • Tito Jackson ( b. 1953 ), singer
  • Alex Karras (1935-2012), American football player and actor
  • Robert Kearns (1927-2005), inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper -
  • Quadre Lollis (born 1973 ), professional basketball player
  • James McCracken (1926-1988), singer with the vocal range Tenor
  • Karen McDougal (born 1971 ), model and actress
  • Ralph McQuarrie (1929-2012), concept designer and futurist
  • John Rapson ( born 1953 ), jazz trombonist and high school teachers
  • Paul A. Samuelson (1915-2009), economist and Nobel Prize winner 1970
  • Joseph E. Stiglitz ( born 1943 ), economist and Nobel Prize winner 2001
  • Deniece Williams ( born 1950 ), R & B singer
  • Tony Zale (1913-1997), middleweight world champion in professional boxing

Those who worked on site

  • Katie Hall (1938-2012), politician and Member of the House of Representatives of the United States
  • Karl Malden (1912-2009), actor, who starred in the TV series The Streets of San Francisco

Movies

  • The U.S. feature film Original Gangstas (1996 ) plays in Gary.
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