Protestant Experience Gary Indiana: 1906-1975

The Protestant Experience in Gary, Indiana revises our view of the mainstream Protestant response to the industrial city. Until now, Scholars have viewed twentieth-century Protestant churches as fundamentally antiurban. This study, one of the few systematically examining the twentieth-century history of Protestant urban congregations in a controlled and comparative manner, demonstrates that these churches in fact were capable of responsible and even creative adaptations to urban life and conditions.
Tracing the histories of First Presbyterian and City Methodist churches in the steel city of Gary, Indiana, James Lewis finds that Gary’s Protestants were both proud of their new city and fully aware of its problems, including a flood of new immigrants, persistent political corruption, and racial animosity. Contrary to conventional wisdom, they did not immediately flee their urban environment . Instead they responded energetically to their new urban order, playing an important role in Gary’s religious, social, and political life. The churches’ determination to mold Gary’s emerging urban culture along Protestant lines reflected both evangelical and social gospel traditions within mainstream Protestantism.
Advantageously placed at the confluence of urban history and religious studies, Lewis is remarkably sensitive to the fact that religious organizations function within much larger social and political contexts. Basing his work firmly on archival materials, he brings to life the drama of Gary’s changing economic, demographic, geographical, and political life.