Editing Gary, Indiana (section)

==History==
===Founding and early years===
[[File:GaryIndiana-FifthAve-Broadway-1909-SS (S Shook CollectionO.jpg|thumb|{{center|5th Ave. and Broadway in 1908}}]]
{{Further|Gary Plan}}
Gary, Indiana, was founded in 1906 by the [[U.S. Steel]] corporation as the home for its new plant, [[Gary Works]]. The city was named after lawyer [[Elbert Henry Gary]], who was the founding chairman of the United States Steel Corporation.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Gary |url=https://gary.gov/about/ |website=City of Gary, Indiana |access-date=June 17, 2022}}</ref>

Gary was the site of civil unrest in the [[1919 General Steel Strike]]. On October 4, 1919, a riot broke out on [[Indiana State Road 53|Broadway]], the main north–south street through downtown Gary, between steel workers and strike breakers brought in from outside. Indiana governor [[James P. Goodrich]] declared martial law three days later. Shortly after that, over 4,000 federal troops under the command of Major General [[Leonard Wood]] arrived to restore order.<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Hara|first=S. Paul|title=Gary, the most American of all American cities|date=2011|publisher=Indiana Univ. Press|location=Bloomington, Ind. [u.a.]|isbn=9780253222886}}</ref>

The steel industry's jobs provided Gary with rapid growth and a diverse population within the first 26 years of its founding. According to the [[1920 United States census]], 29.7% of Gary's population at the time was classified as foreign-born, mostly from eastern European countries, with another 30.8% classified as native-born with at least one foreign-born parent. By the [[1930 United States Census]], the first census in which Gary's population exceeded 100,000, the city was the fifth largest in Indiana and comparable in size to [[South Bend, Indiana|South Bend]], [[Fort Wayne, Indiana|Fort Wayne]], and [[Evansville, Indiana|Evansville]]. At that time, 78.7% of the population was classified as white, with 19.3% as foreign-born and another 25.9% as native-born with at least one foreign-born parent. In addition to white internal migrants, Gary had attracted numerous African-American migrants from the South in the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]], and 17.8% of the population was classified as black. 3.5% were classified as Mexican (now likely to be identified as Hispanic, as some were likely American citizens in addition to immigrants).<ref>{{Cite book|title=Steel city : urban and ethnic patterns in Gary, Indiana, 1906–1950|last=Mohl, Raymond A.|date=1986|publisher=Holmes & Meier|oclc=562497857}}</ref>

===Post-World War II===
[[File:U.S. STEEL PLANT - NARA - 547097 (retouched).jpg|thumb|[[U.S. Steel]]'s [[Gary Works]] in 1973]]
Gary's fortunes have risen and fallen with those of the steel industry. The growth of the steel industry brought prosperity to the community. Broadway was known as a commercial center for the region. Department stores and architecturally significant movie houses were built in the downtown and [[Glen Park (Gary)|Glen Park]] neighborhoods.

Gary entered a period of decline in the 1960s, like many other American urban centers reliant on one particular industry. Gary's decline was brought on by [[Steel crisis|reduced employment in the steel industry overall]], which caused U.S. Steel to lay off many workers from the Gary area. The U.S. Steel Gary Works employed over 30,000 in 1970, declined to just 6,000 by 1990, and declined to 5,100 by August 2015. Attempts to shore up the city's economy with major construction projects, such as a [[Holiday Inn]] hotel and the [[Genesis Convention Center]], failed to reverse the decline.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sometimes-interesting.com/2013/06/08/the-abandoned-sheraton-hotel-of-gary-indiana/|title=The Sheraton Hotel of Gary, Indiana|date=June 8, 2013|publisher=Sometimes Interesting}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.citylab.com/equity/2015/02/how-gary-indiana-got-serious-about-tackling-blight/386159/|title=How Gary, Indiana, Got Serious About Tackling Blight|author=Chris Bentley|date=February 26, 2015|publisher=City Lab}}</ref>

===1968 riots===
{{see also|King assassination riots|1968 Chicago riots}}
In July 1968, riots broke out in Gary. 3,000 [[Michigan National Guard|National Guard]] members came in to restore order to the city. [[Curfew]]s were enforced, and a ban on [[gasoline]] and liquor sales helped calm the violence. Over 110 people were arrested, at least three stores were set on fire, and at least 15 [[firebombing|fire-bombings]] were reported.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=TDB19680729-01.1.1&srpos=1&e=27-07-1968--08-1968--en-20--1--txt-txIN-gary+disorders------|title=The Daily Banner 29 July 1968 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program|website=Newspapers.library.in.gov}}</ref>

===Racial changes===
A rapid racial change occurred in Gary during the late 20th century. These population changes resulted in political change, which reflected Gary's racial demographics: the Black and Hispanic share of the city's population increased from 21% in 1930 to 39% in 1960, and to 53% in 1970. Black and Hispanic people primarily lived in the Midtown section just south of downtown (per the 1950 Census, 97% of Gary's black population lived in this neighborhood). Gary had one of the nation's first African-American mayors, [[Richard G. Hatcher]], and hosted the groundbreaking 1972 [[National Black Political Convention]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Puente|first1=Michael|title=Gary's National Black Political Convention, 40 years on|url=https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/garys-national-black-political-convention-40-years-on/449ae089-207e-4547-b87d-844058c116d7|publisher=WBEZ|access-date=October 7, 2016|date=March 9, 2012}}</ref>

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Gary had the highest percentage of African-Americans in U.S. cities with a population of 100,000 or more, 84% (as of the [[2000 United States census|2000 census]]). This no longer applies to Gary since the city's population has fallen well below 100,000 residents. As of 2013, the Gary Department of Redevelopment has estimated that one-third of all homes in the city are unoccupied and/or abandoned.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=November 2013 |title=Harper's Index |magazine=[[Harper's Magazine|Harper's]] |publisher=Harper's Foundation |volume=327 |issue=1,962 |page=17 |url=http://harpers.org/archive/2013/11/harpers-index-355/ |access-date=December 30, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

===U.S. Steel===
U.S. Steel continues to be a major steel producer but with only a small fraction of its former level of employment. While Gary has failed to reestablish a manufacturing base since its population peak, two casinos opened along the Gary lakeshore in the 1990s. However, this has been aggravated by the state closing of [[Indiana State Road 912|Cline Avenue]], an important means of access to the area. Today, Gary faces the difficulties of a [[Rust Belt]] city, including higher than national average unemployment and decaying infrastructure.

===Recent history===
Gary has closed 21 public schools.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.salina.com/story/news/politics/2015/07/19/21-abandoned-gary-schools-add/21158859007/|title=21 abandoned Gary schools add to urban decay|work=Salina Journal|date=July 19, 2015|author=Marc Chase}}</ref> While some school buildings have been reused, most remain unused since closing. As of 2014, Gary is considering closing additional schools in response to budget deficits.<ref>{{cite news|last=Carlson|first=Carole|title=Gary ponders closing schools to save money|url=http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/25659467-418/gary-ponders-closing-schools-to-save-money.html|access-date=April 1, 2014|newspaper=Post Tribute|date=February 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714104642/http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/25659467-418/gary-ponders-closing-schools-to-save-money.html|archive-date=July 14, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="For sale: 11 schools, slightly used in Gary">{{cite web|last=Kirk|first=Chelsea|title=For sale: 11 schools, slightly used in Gary|url=http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=77&ArticleID=54914|publisher=Indiana Economic Digest|access-date=April 1, 2014|archive-date=June 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624190902/http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=77&ArticleID=54914|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Gary Chief of Police Thomas Houston was convicted of excessive force and abuse of authority in 2008; he died in 2010 while serving a three-year, five-month federal prison sentence.<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/September/08-crt-870.html #08-870: Gary, Indiana Former Police Chief Convicted on Federal Civil Rights Violation (September 30, 2008)]. Justice.gov. Retrieved on March 22, 2011.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Former Gary police chief dies |first=Marisa|last=Kwiatkowski |newspaper=[[The Times of Northwest Indiana]] |date=November 27, 2010 |url=http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/gary/former-gary-police-chief-dies/article_0461522b-fd2b-5caa-ae27-664ac54da596.html |access-date=December 30, 2013}}</ref>

In April 2011, 75-year-old mayor [[Rudolph M. Clay]] announced that he would suspend his campaign for reelection as he was being treated for prostate cancer. He endorsed rival [[Karen Freeman-Wilson]], who won the Democratic mayoral primary in May 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/08/gary-indiana-mayor-rudy-c_n_846785.html |title=Gary, Indiana Mayor Rudy Clay Not Seeking Re-Election Due To Illness |publisher=HuffPost |access-date=April 25, 2012 |first=Will |last=Guzzardi |date=April 8, 2011}}</ref> Freeman-Wilson won election with 87 percent of the vote and her term began in January 2012; she is the first woman elected mayor in the city's history.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/freeman-wilson-wins-handily-in-race-for-gary-mayor/|title=Freeman-Wilson Wins Handily In Race For Gary Mayor|work=CBS News|date=November 9, 2011}}</ref> She was reelected in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianavoters.in.gov/ENRHistorical/ElectionResults?year=2015|title=Indiana Voters|website=indianavoters.in.gov|access-date=November 18, 2020}}</ref> She was defeated in her bid for a third term in the 2019 Democratic primary by Lake County Assessor [[Jerome Prince (politician)|Jerome Prince]]. Since no challengers filed for the November 2019 general election, Prince's nomination was effectively tantamount to election. He officially succeeded Freeman-Wilson on January 1, 2020, two days after being sworn in as the city's 21st mayor on December 30, 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jerome Prince Defeats Incumbent to Win Gary, Indiana in Democratic Primary |website=[[Associated Press]] |date=May 13, 2019 |url=https://apnews.com/da3bb1f486fbe75e830554d1a93270ca |access-date=December 15, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Prince sworn in as city's 21st mayor; Gary's problems are 'fixable,' he says|date=December 30, 2019 |url=https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/prince-sworn-in-as-city-s-st-mayor-gary-s/article_2e78d1ca-5c30-530a-9201-32d1105173f3.html |access-date=December 31, 2019}}</ref>

In May 2021, a $300 million [[Hard Rock Cafe#Casinos and hotels|Hard Rock Casino]] location opened in the city. Branded as Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, the location includes memorabilia from local natives [[Jackson 5]] and a 1,950-seat Hard Rock Live performance hall.<ref>{{cite news |title=New $300 million casino opens in northwestern Indiana |url=https://apnews.com/article/il-state-wire-indiana-business-entertainment-music-353705ba604099ec7e2cd834f9e5bd05 |access-date=August 11, 2022 |work=Associated Press |date=May 15, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>