Froebel School - Gary, IN - Indiana Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Froebel School Indiana Historical Marker is located in Froebel Park at the southern portion of 400 W 15th Ave, Gary, IN 46407. It commemorates events that followed the experimental desegregation of Indiana schools in 1945. The park is currently extremely run down and not well maintained. The text from the marker reads:

Side One

Froebel opened here, 1912, as many European immigrants and southern blacks moved to Gary for jobs in steel mills. An experiment in progressive education, it served students of diverse backgrounds and the local community. Despite early status as integrated school, black students were excluded from many extracurricular activities and facilities into 1940s. Closed 1977.

Side Two

After WWII, Froebel made national headlines when hundreds of white students walked out protesting "integration experiment" there. "Hate strikes" lasted several weeks in 1945 and reflected growing racial tension in North. In 1946, Gary school board adopted desegregation policy, but discrimination continued. Indiana state law desegregating public schools passed 1949.

For more reading on this subject of Indiana history see A Challenge to Integration: The Froebel School Strikes of 1945

County: Lake County Year Placed: 2014 Name: Froebel School ID#: 45.2014.1

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