[Program for] 22nd Anniversary Celebration. Hering Community Center... [Cover title]

South Bend, Indiana: Hering House Welfare League, 1947. Good. 11" x 8½". Stapled wrappers. Pp. 4. Good: horizontal crease to all leaves; lacking top staple, lightly toned.

This is a rare program which honors the anniversary of an important educational and cultural center for the African American community of South Bend, Indiana, the Hering House.

We learned how and why Hering House was founded from a 2016 article by Kevin Tidmarsh in Belt Magazine (https://beltmag.com/the-forgotten-legacy-of-buford-gordon/). Tidmarsh was discussing the 1922 book, The Ne*ro In South Bend: A Social Study, written by the Reverend B.F. Gordon. Gordon's book documented the early history and contemporary conditions of South Bend's African American residents. Tidmarsh pointed out that the book's publication had a nearly immediate impact in South Bend as it led directly to two white philanthropists, Frank and Claribel Hering, donating money for a community center for African Americans. Modeled after Chicago's Hull House, Hering House was dedicated in 1925 and served as an exceptionally important gathering place for African Americans in South Bend for nearly 40 years.

This program marked Hering House's 22nd anniversary. Its first page lists the schedule of events for the celebration, along with lists of officers, directors and the board of trustees.

Rare source material documenting an important African American community center, not found online or in OCLC. Indiana University South Bend holds a small collection of Hering House materials; it contains a few anniversary celebration programs, but not this year's.