For generations, steel has shaped life in Northwest Indiana. These are the people who worked the mills, lived beside them, and raised families in their shadow, sharing what steel has given, what it has cost, and what they hope comes next.
Explore their stories below.
Portraits of Gary's Past, Present & Future
Frieda Graves | "My daughter has asthma. A lot of our children have asthma."
Tyrell Anderson | "Gary is a blank canvas, but it could be a masterpiece."
Shelonda Manning | "The mills is work. Gary is home."
Kwabena Rasuli | "We’ve endured a century of toxic air."
Reverend Dr. Dexter Harris | "What Gary is, and what Gary can be."
Lucille Rollins | "I stay because this is home."
Sanda Washington | "Our future is dependent on our children coming back and carrying on our legacy."
Ephrin "EJ" Jenkins | "Listen to the workers. Hire more in Gary."
Dorreen Carey | "Invest, invest, invest in Gary and in Gary Works."
Pastor Marlon C. Mack Sr. | "The workers came home each shift covered in black."
Cynthia Klidaras | "Giant flames shooting up from the stacks like big candles in the sky."
Lori Latham | "Gary is heart, soul, rhythm and blues. Tough, proud, resilient."
Susan Cotton | "This is our home. This is our family. This is our city."
Andre Turner | "The future of Gary begins with its people, its community."
Alise Thomas | "Gary is my home. It's my life. It's my history. I love my city."
Bob Tribble | "Nippon Steel: Help Gary Works move into the future."
Vernon G. Smith | "The future of Gary begins with me, and with every of "me" in Gary."
Beverly Lewis | "This is who we are. This is who Gary is."
Lori Gonzalez-Turner | "Gary has so many pockets of kindness."
