Flight Paths: Mapping Our Changing Neighborhoods

FAIN: MT-263872-19

Valparaiso University (Valparaiso, IN 46383-4520)
Allison E. Schuette (Project Director: June 2018 to February 2021)

Development of a prototype for a multimedia website exploring the social and economic effects of deindustrialization in Gary, Indiana, and the surrounding region.

Flight Paths: Mapping Our Changing Neighborhoods is a multi-media initiative analyzing factors that contribute to the fracturing of urban neighborhoods, communities, and regions in post-industrial America. It documents the changing racial and economic demographics of Gary and Northwest Indiana, including the rise of black political power and opportunity in the ‘60s and '70s, the flight of white residents and businesses to the suburbs, and the automation and underemployment of the steel mills. The website will animate migration of residents over time and host a curated portion of historical materials and professionally edited interviews (residents and scholars) within an interactive map of Northwest Indiana. Public media, curriculum, community forums and exhibitions will draw participants more deeply into the ongoing impact of the urban crisis and the interconnected nature of regional life. Through our partners, the project can reach over 1/2 million participants in a five-year period.

Media Coverage

Regionally Speaking (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Chris Nolte
Publication: Lakeshore Public Radio
Date: 1/23/2019
Abstract: Valparaiso University professor Allison Schuette joins us in the studio as one of the co-director of the Welcome Project, about the NEH grant of $100,000, to support the new "Flight Paths" initiative. Dozens of applicants seek the grants on average each year but only seven are awarded each year. We revisit conversations from the past year for "Green Fleet Radio," supported by South Shore Green Cities. This conversation is from June 13th, 2018. Homesnacks.net's "Best Places to Live 2019 list in Indiana and northwest Indiana" is out and Nick Johnson talks about the latest list. Kathy Shoaf of "Elite Cruises & Vacations" in Hobart sets up cruises for persons with dementia and other cognitive issues and their caregivers. She joins us on one of the cruises.

Regionally Speaking (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Chris Nolte
Publication: Lakeshore Public Radio
Date: 2/19/2020
Abstract: Today: Valparaiso Mayor Matt Murphy joins us in an at-length conversation about succeeding Jon Costas in office last month, his first "State of the City" address on January 28th, and what he is proposing for the city as he takes over the administration. He talks about city projects and programs that are continuing or will get underway this spring. We also have an encore edition of "Green Fleet Radio" with Carl Lisek of South Shore Clean Cities, and Allison Schuette with the Welcome Project at Valparaiso University talks about tonight's "Flight Paths" presentation and workshop in the Anderson Library Conference Center at Indiana University Northwest in Gary.
URL: https://www.lakeshorepublicradio.org/post/regionally-speaking-wednesday-february-19-2020#stream/0

Flight Paths Region history project takes wings (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Joyce Russell
Publication: Northwest Indiana Times
Date: 3/5/2019
Abstract: Update on the work of Flight Paths, a recent recipient of an NEH Digital Projects for the Public prototyping grant.
URL: https://www.nwitimes.com/news/education/flight-paths-region-history-project-takes-wings/article_6e81c166-9a5b-53bd-be8a-cb314e0a8a69.html

Associated Products

The Art of the Story: Speaking and Listening for Our Lives (Exhibition)
Title: The Art of the Story: Speaking and Listening for Our Lives
Curator: Liz Wuerffel
Curator: Allison Schuette
Curator: Jp Avila
Abstract: Stories have power: to derive meaning from complexity; to broaden perspectives and transform sympathies; to reinforce or resist norms. Stories, then, are not neutral; they deserve our attention, our respect, and our inquiry. At the Welcome Project, we collect any and all stories — those that disturb the status-quo, those that support it, and those that fall in between. Collectively, we aim to offer a chorus of voices, in concert and discord, in conversation with each other. In facilitation, we invite interpretation and reflection on that interpretation, bringing together people from all walks of life who listen to and reflect on the stories and their experiences together, who open up to seeing their interpretation as it forms. For us, the art of the story emerges from this practice, and in this exhibition, we offer not only three artful means by which we share stories, but also the practice itself. Who are you listening to? Which story are you telling? How might you be editing both?
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://www.luther.edu/galleries/archives/20182019/kwfg20182019/artstory/
Primary URL Description: Kristen Wigley-Fleming Fine Arts Gallery announcement of our exhibition, "The Art of the Story"

Do You Hear Race? The Ethics of Interweaving Black and White Oral Histories in Audio Documentary (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Do You Hear Race? The Ethics of Interweaving Black and White Oral Histories in Audio Documentary
Author: Allison Schuette
Author: Liz Wuerffel
Author: James B. Lane
Abstract: Oral histories are frequently used to document critical and complex socio-political moments. Researchers editing and re-presenting those oral histories for the public face numerous ethical decisions. In this interactive listening session, participants will be asked to comment on these decisions and reflect on their broader implications as oral history moves outside the archives.
Date: 10/18/2019
Conference Name: Oral History Association

Flight Paths: Mapping Our Changing Neighborhoods Opening Animation (Web Resource)
Title: Flight Paths: Mapping Our Changing Neighborhoods Opening Animation
Author: David Bock
Author: Mark Van Moer
Author: Mark Robison
Author: Jp Avila
Abstract: Flight Paths is an initiative analyzing factors that contribute to fracturing urban neighborhoods in post-industrial America. It documents changing racial and ethnic demographics of Gary and Northwest Indiana. We visualize population growth and density across the US from 1900-2010 and explore techniques to compare and contrast the increase in surrounding cities to the corresponding decrease in population of Gary, IN, during the 1960s.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http://lantern.ncsa.illinois.edu/Vis/PEARC/PEARC19/Bock_FlightPaths_FINAL.mp4
Primary URL Description: Visual animation of changing demographics across the US and particularly in Northwest Indiana from 1900-2010.

Prizes

Visualization Showcase Presentation Awards
Date: 8/1/2019
Organization: Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing

Flight Paths: Mapping Our Changing Neighborhoods — an interactive workshop (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Flight Paths: Mapping Our Changing Neighborhoods — an interactive workshop
Abstract: In 1960, 180,000 people lived in Gary, Indiana, a thriving industrial city. Fifty years later, only 80,000 people lived there. Why? What happened? And where did residents go? Flight Paths, a 90-minute interactive workshop, weaves together oral histories from residents of Northwest Indiana and places them alongside historical contexts to document the changing racial and economic demographics of Gary and the region, including the rise of black political power and opportunity in the 1960s and '70s, the “flight” of white residents and businesses to the suburbs, and the automation and subsequent underemployment of the steel mills. Our basis of presentation will be the prototype for our interactive documentary website. Participants will “visit” the site together, “tour” the Tolleston neighborhood, and discuss their experiences collectively and in small groups.
Author: Allison Schuette
Author: Willow Walsh
Author: Christina Hearne
Date: 02/19/2020
Location: Indiana University Northwest Anderson Library, Gary, IN

Flight Paths prototype (Web Resource)
Title: Flight Paths prototype
Author: Vijay Lulla
Author: Caleb Potts
Author: Jp Avila
Author: Liz Wuerffel
Author: Allison Schuette
Abstract: Flight Paths is an interactive documentary website to help users engage and analyze factors contributing to de-urbanization and the fracturing of neighborhoods, communities, and regions in post-industrial America through the specific example of Gary, Indiana. Stories and texts help users consider the opportunities residents found and continue to find in the face of de-urbanization.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http://flightpaths.valpo.edu/
Primary URL Description: The prototype for an interactive documentary website. Password protected.

A Changing Church: A History of St. John’s Lutheran Church (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: A Changing Church: A History of St. John’s Lutheran Church
Author: Joy Holland
Abstract: As part of Valparaiso University’s Flight Paths project, I worked on archiving and digitizing important documents at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Gary, Indiana. My research follows the history of the church from its beginning as a church plant in Tolleston (now annexed into Gary) onwards with an emphasis on how the church adapted and changed during the period of White Flight in Gary. As more black residents moved into Gary, white residents packed up and left. Coupled with the closing of many of Gary’s factories, the result was a drastic shift in racial and economic demographics. The church, which is part of the Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod, survived White Flight largely due to the efforts of interim pastor Karl Lutze and the next resident pastor, Norman Brandt, who were both dedicated to integration of the church. The efforts for integration were largely successful, leading to a period where the church was a mixed congregation before becoming a predominantly African American church.
Date: 05/14/2020
Primary URL: https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/909/
Primary URL Description: Abstract and biographical information and presentation download for Joy Holland's A Changing Church: A History of St. John’s Lutheran Church.
Conference Name: SYMPOSIUM ON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AND CREATIVE EXPRESSION (SOURCE)

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