The 55-year history and legacy of the Gary Crusader was celebrated at a festive gala on Friday, June 3 at the Gary/Chicago International Airport. Nearly 600 guests packed the Bessie Coleman Aviation hangar to mark another milestone in the newspaper’s history.
On a balmy Friday evening, Honorary Chairman Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and the city’s first Black mayor, Richard Gordon Hatcher were among numerous dignitaries who congratulated Publisher Dorothy R. Leavell and the Gary Crusader staff for staying with the city through five turbulent decades.
The festive evening began with a cocktail reception that featured the Gary Symphony Orchestra, an organization that was admired and supported by the late Gary historian, Dharathula “Dolly” Millender, who was honored posthumously for her efforts in promoting Black pride and culture in the city. Elegant music filled the Black-owned hangar as guests mingled in a lavish, colorful atmosphere that featured two VIP lounges, two cocktail bars and a towering, stunning ice sculpture that included the official Gary Crusader 55th anniversary logo. Guests feasted on dozens of jumbo shrimp and hors d’oeuvres before they gravitated to the main event, a gala that left many filled with memories and appreciation of the progress that Blacks in the Steel City have achieved since the Crusader opened in a small office on Broadway in 1961.
Many distinguished Gary residents were honored throughout the evening. They include retiring State Senator Earline S. Rogers, Vernon G. Smith, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, Business Mogul Elzie L. Higginbottom, Jr., and Political Veteran Robert “Bob” Freeland. Kelly and Samuel Polk, two Nation of Islam brothers who persuaded Crusader founder Balm L. Leavell to start the Gary Crusader, were also honored.
The Crusader also bestowed posthumous honors on former Lake County Commissioner Roosevelt D. Allen, Congresswoman Katie Hall, Dharathula “Dolly” Millender and Dr. A. William Douglas Jr., a trailblazing engineer who developed the Gary/Chicago International Airport.
Another honoree, noted author and scholar Michael Eric Dyson, lit up the evening as he gave the audience a fiery keynote message from his newly released book, “The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in Black America.”
The theme of the Crusader’s 55th Anniversary Gala was “55 Years of Highlighting Our Past and Crusading for Our Future.” It was a theme that was captured in an elaborate, 48-page special commemorative edition of the Gary Crusader.
View the Gary Crusader’s 55th Anniversary Gala photos below!
BENJAMIN BRATT AS Alcaino and Bryan Cranston as Musella become very chummy in “The Infiltator”; a situation that Alcaino will come to regret in the latest film from Broad Green Pictures.
DANEEN WOODARD, M.D., ACCESS Regional Medical Director, back row center, poses with staff from the ACCESS Austin Family Health Center, located at 4909 W. Division St.
The National Black Law Students Association called for systemic and institutional criminal justice reform at St. Louis City Hall on July 15, on the eve of the 91st Annual Convention of the National Bar Association, held in St. Louos July 16-21. (Photo credit St. Louis American)
DR. JACQUELINE GIBSON, (left) Vice President, Student Affairs, Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Mississippi is pictured at the reception held at First Baptist Church in Mound Bayou for the Katie Hall Day Ecumenical Service on July 9. Standing to her right is Dr. Glendscene Hall Williams, Professor of Business, Delta State University, Cleveland, Mississippi. Dr. Williams read the Proclamation for the occasion issued by The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), United States Representative.
NEW MEMBERS OF the Gary Steelers Football Team–Members of the Gary Steelers Pop Warner Football Team for the coming year include Dikenbe Shaw, Tony Woods, Greg Broaden, Daryle Shaw, and coaches Woods and Ligon. (Photo by Ted Brown)
MORGAN KEENE WILL play the role of Katherine (center) and Jack Kelly will be played by Joey Barreiro, both are Chicago natives, in the Broadway In Chicago production.
THE MUSICAL “NEWSIES” is coming to the Cadillac Palace Theatre on August 7 through July 28. Featuring several Chicagoans in this Tony Award-winning Disney production, “Newsies” continues to break records since its 2012 debut.
Korryn Gaines, 23, appears in an Instagram photo with her 5-year-old son. Police say she was shot dead after an hours-long standoff in which she pointed a long gun at officers. (Photo credit Instagram)
WITH ONE NEW store already open in Chicago’s Hyde Park community and another scheduled to open in Englewood in a few weeks, Whole Foods Market is certainly doing their part to alleviate the food desert and bring jobs to communities. At the podium speaking is the President of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, David Doig, giving the audience an idea of the completed project.
MARTIN NESBITT, CHAIRMAN of the Obama Foundation, speaks at a press conference on Wednesday, August 3, where the organization officially announced that Jackson Park will be the site of the new Obama Presidential Center. Behind Nesbitt are (from left to right) Robert Zimmer, president of the University of Chicago, Pastor T.L. Barrett, Alderman Leslie Hairston (5th Ward) and Alderman Sophia King (4th Ward). (Photo by Jean Lachat/The University of Chicago)
“I think that first and foremost what it will do is give them the means of confidence to express themselves,” Williams said. (Photo credit YOOBI X I AM OTHER)
In partnership with Yoobi x i am OTHER, the Grammy Award-winner has developed a social impact, back-to-school collection for students this fall. (Photo credit YOOBI X I AM OTHER)
THE CHICAGO HEALTH GUIDE: Resources for the Uninsured and Underinsured was unveiled at a press briefing with health care and community leaders during the 41st Annual Conference of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN). Pictured from left to right: Kate Walsh, Regional Business Director Pfizer Inc.; Sandra Webb Booker, COL (RET), AN, USAR, Member, NBNA Board of Directors; Susana Gonzalez, MHA, MSN, RN, CNML, President, Illinois Hispanic Nurses Association; and Jose Rico, Senior Vice President, Community Impact, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.
