Women steelworkers welded their names in a 10-foot-tall steel plate during World War II that now stands tall at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond.
An old Inland Steel fire truck stands ready, the way it did at the longtime East Chicago steel mill for so many years. A racerunner lizard pokes its head up while perching on driftwood by a prickly pear cactus in a diorama of the Indiana Dunes.
Such scenes tell the story of the Calumet Region and are being displayed at the "Calumet Voices, National Stories" exhibit in Hammond.
It was just displayed for more than a year at Chicago's Field Museum, one of the most prestigious and most visited natural sciences museums in the world.
"Calumet Voices, National Stories" opened at the Indiana Welcome Center at 7770 Corinne Drive in Hammond, where it will run through Oct. 6.
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"As we unveil this captivating new exhibit, we embark on a journey through time, where each artifact and narrative tells a story of resilience, innovation and the human spirit,” said Nikki Lopez, interim president and CEO of the South Shore Convention & Visitors Authority. “We invite you to join us as we celebrate the richness of our past, igniting curiosity and fostering a deeper understanding of the world we inhabit today."
The Field Museum and Calumet Heritage Partnership oversaw the exhibit, which includes contributions from museums from across Northwest Indiana, Chicago's far South Side and the south suburbs in the bi-state Calumet Region. It highlights the Calumet Region's natural environment, culture and industrial might.
It features Native American artwork, steel mill paraphernalia, a quilt depicting the former Standard Oil Refinery and the Whiting landscape, Corey Hagelberg's "This is Not a Peace Pipe" that explains how the Grand Calumet River came to disappear into a pile and flora, fauna and fossils from the Field Museum's Calumet collections.
“This exhibition partnership stems in part from our years of doing ethnographic research in the Calumet region, and hearing residents talk in a variety of ways about their deep connections to this place and to each other,” said Madeleine Tudor, curatorial adviser and Sr. Environmental Social Scientist with the Keller Science Action Center at the Field Museum. “We learned that the lived experiences of what it means to be a community, the palpable pride and dignity of labor and the human connection to the natural environment were strongly embedded in this landscape.”
Major pieces include the Inland Steel Fire Truck, a Taylor Ice Truck from Cedar Lake's ice-harvesting days for the Chicago stockyards and the massive welding wall.
"It's a pretty big installment," Marketing and Communications Manager Stephanie Smith said. "It's big and in your face. It's from 1942 and all their names are on it. It's pretty cool. It's women empowerment."
The 6,500-square-foot space actually had more artifacts on display than the Field Museum said. It includes maps, depiction of nature in the dunes and the history of how Lake Michigan used to stretch down to Ridge Road, creating a level, flat ridge that later became a perfect place for a road.
"You can view the Region at every level," she said. "It's for everyone at every level. It tells the story of Northwest Indiana and what makes it unique."
The exhibit should teach visitors to the area, passersby on Interstate 80/94, new transplants from Illinois and even longtime Region residents about the area, she said.
"Anyone who walks in will definitely know more about the Region than when they leave," she said. "You can learn more about our area whether you've lived here your entire life or for five minutes. It's got the landmarks and history of this area, really demonstrating both the blue-collar and white-collar experiences."
The South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority is putting together a list of historic sites on its South Shore Passport app people can visit for more information. They can visit places like the Crown Point Community Library of Indiana Dunes Welcome Center to learn more about the Region's heritage and win a prize if they check in to five spots.
"There's a lot of interest since it was at the Field Museum, which is visited by more than 2 million people per year," she said. "It was of interest in Chicago and then it comes here. We're piggybacking off that popularity."
It's been under installation for a month and a half, since early March. More than 130 objects and artifacts were trucked in on cases.
"The communities are the expert on the content. It's my role to organize them to tell the story they want to tell," curator Mario Longoni said. "They tell the story of the Region's history, assets and contributions to the world. The objects show the quality of life here, the nature, the cities and industry."
New artifacts were added like a model of the Pullman neighborhood and videos that explain the history of the local steel mill. "Calumet Voices, National Stories" includes a marriage record book from Crown Point's days as a marriage mill when people flocked there to get married because of looser laws. There's a picture of the line going at the door at the courthouse and a ledger signed by two pages of people who got married there one day.
People can see the apron and key of the Pullman factory worker who put the finishing touches on the last rail car to roll off the line. They can learn about the history of the Tuskegee Airmen in Northwest Indiana and how their trainers were trained in the airport in south suburban Robbins.
The exhibit includes Native art and Calumet Baking Powder cans that were staples in many homes on the reservation. There's also an indigenous snake that looks like its taxidermy but was actually made with celluloid back in the 1950s.
"There's a lot of objects and artifacts with cultural and historical importance on display," he said. "The whole goal is to make people realize Northwest Indiana and the Region have the capacity and assets to build a quality of life and strive toward a future to look forward to. I was listening to 'Sound Opinions' interview Jlin and was almost laughing she chose to live in Gary, Indiana and she had to explain she had family there. The hope is to rebut the popular perception there's nothing in the Rust Belt. We're fighting against that perception nationwide and even here in the Region. It's a perception that makes people want to leave and gives others an unwillingness to come here or share resources."
A look back at Northwest Indiana businesses that closed in 2023
A look back at Region businesses that closed in 2023
Beer Geeks, one of the Region's first, most beloved and most influential craft beer bars, closed after more than a decade and is being reimagined as a new concept.
The landmark 88-year-old castle-shaped White Castle in Whiting is coming down to be replaced with a newer, larger, more modern White Castle restaurant.
A longtime staple in downtown Crown Point poured its last drink.
The longtime Westforth Sports gun shop is closing.
The Silver Line Building Products plant at 16801 Exchange Ave. will be shuttered permanently.
Brewfest in Highland will close in what's been called "an end of an era."
David's Bridal filed for bankruptcy and could close all stores if no buyer emerges to save it.
The 88-year-old Whiting White Castle will be remembered with displays at museums in two different states.
For years, the "millionaire's club" met every morning in the corner booth of the historic 88-year-old White Castle at Indianapolis Boulevard and 119th Street in downtown Whiting. The landmark restaurant served its final slider Tuesday.
One of Northwest Indiana's most popular and enduring hobby shops is looking for a buyer after the longtime owner died.
J&L This N That Consignment Shop, a popular thrift store, closed in downtown Whiting after a run of several years.
A Calumet Region institution, Calumet Fisheries on the far South Side of Chicago, is temporarily closed after failing a city health inspection.
Just days after reopening after city health inspectors shut it down, Calumet Fisheries suffered a major fire.
Pepe's Mexican Restaurant is no mas in Valparaiso.
Beer Geeks in Highland rebranded as B-Side Bar & Lounge and then closed within a few months.
Troubled retailer Bed Bath and Beyond will permanently close its Valparaiso location as it shutters more stores nationwide as it looks to restructure and shrink its footprint to save the struggling business.
Peoples Bank has shuttered its branch in downtown Hammond.
Viking Artisan Ales will soon pour its last craft beer at its Merrillville taproom.
Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom is closing after 15 years at one of Northwest Indiana's most prominent highway interchanges.
The Chicago Auto Show, the nation's largest auto show, returns to McCormick Place Saturday, running through Feb. 19.