Published by Arcadia Publishing
Better Homes 0f South Bend: An American Story 0f Courage
In the 1950’s African American Studebaker workers from the South struggled and won against Jim Crow in the North when they built 22 homes in a white neighborhood. They created a vibrant community there where many of their children and grandchildren went to college and all became productive citizens. Their success demonstrates the decisive importance of fair housing for generations to come.
It is a victory in a battle that is not won yet since housing discrimination and redlining persist until today.
Baton twirlers at Elmer Street parade, Aug. 1962. Courtesy Vicki Belcher and Brenda Wright
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Featured at Fighting For Housing Conference, University of Notre Dame, April 19-20, 2018
Supplementary feature of “One Book/One Michiana” 2017
Selected “One Bar, One Book” by the St. Joseph County Bar Foundation in 2016
“An eye opening look at racial issues in America after WW II and up to the present.”
— Don Halasz, GOODREADS“Insightful and powerful. A part of South Bend’s history that cannot be ignored.”
— Carter A, GOODREADS -
Panel discussion: Jim Crow Residential Segregation in the North, Then and Now, Yale University, 10.15.18
A Secret Meeting in South Bend, WNYC Studios Notes from America with Kai Wright, 2.27.20
Better Homes of South Bend - The Roundtable Perspective, with host Lee Artz, Purdue University Northwest
Book talk at the St. Joseph County Public Library, 3.1.21
The Fight for Fair Housing: Past, Present, and Future, with host Joshua Short, 2021
Understanding our History, WSBT, 7.25.22
Podcast with Matt Emery Summer 2023
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What does the story tell us about the importance of fair housing?
What does it show us about how to work for social change?
What has changed since the 1950’s and what has not?
Your ideas what can be done today?
What is situation where you live?
What makes a group of houses a community?
Jim Crow in the North, then and now. The situation in South Bend.
Redlining and housing segregation in the North.
The importance of home ownership for future generations: the children of Better Homes.
A Case for Reparations?
Listen to Notes from America with Kai Wright, from WNYC Studios
Better Homes State Historic Marker
Leroy Cobb, original member of Better Homes, and Gabrielle Robinson at dedication of Better Homes State Historic Marker 2016. Speaker: Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Better Homes: The Play
Better Homes: The Play written by Caleen Jennings, performed at the South Bend Civic Theater, November, 2023.
Descendants of Better Homes’ families at opening night of the South Bend Civic Theaters' production of "Better Homes: The Play"
Video interview ‘Better Homes: The Play’ premiering at South Bend Civic Theatre, WNDU, 2023