Calumet Regional Archives

Inventory

6.25 Linear Feet
August 1988
Inventory Written by: John Pappas

Introduction

The Purdue Calumet Development Foundation records were donated to the Calumet Regional Archives on August 3, 1977. The property rights of this collection are held by the Calumet Regional Archives; literary rights are donated to the public. There are no restrictions on access to the collection.

Linear feet of shelf space: 6.25 linear feet
Number of containers: 7 boxes
Calumet Regional Archives CRA 043
Processed by: John Pappas
Date: August 1988

Scope and Content

The Purdue Calumet Development Foundation (PCDF) Records span from 1922 to 1970, but primarily focus on the period of 1950 to 1969. The material covers virtually the entire scope of community planning and urban development in northwest Indiana.

The collection can be broken down into two sections: The general files and the case files. The general files contain federal, state and independent agency reports on many topics such as: community planning, urban development, population trends, business census', transportation (air, sea, and land), economic reports, and many others. This part of the collection is a good source of general information, and was used by the PCDF staff to make decisions for their projects.

The second section, the case files, is the material documenting the individual projects undertaken by the PCDF. These are indexed in alphabetical order and cover almost every city in N.W. Indiana. Since the Foundation was formed in conjunction with the town of East Chicago, the largest amount of material is on the development of East Chicago. On the other hand some towns are only covered by a file of newspaper articles, but there is still an abundance of information on other cities such as: Hammond, Munster, Hobart and Gary.

Researchers should note that other collections held by the Archives dealing with regional planning include the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (CRA 006), the City of Gary Collection (CRA 010), the Millie Pilot Collection (CRA 166), and the George Hall Collection (CRA 249).

Historical Sketch

The PCDF was officially incorporated in 1954. It was a nonprofit, nonpolitical organization that combined the resources and abilities of industry, commerce, public administrators, and Purdue University in meeting the housing and planning needs of Northwest Indiana.

The need for this organization arose during the economic boom that struck the region after the Second World War. Continued industrial growth led to both economic and population growth. The housing market quickly became outdated and inadequate. After two independent studies in 1952 and 1953 highlighted the urgent need for increased and improved housing, the idea for PCDF was proposed by Purdue University. The PCDF was formed in 1954 under the Indiana Foundation or Holding Companies Act of 1921.

Over the next two decades, the Foundation generated a series of studies focusing on improving housing, transportation, and urban development in the booming Calumet Region. In addition, the PCDF established a central library of reports about the Region. By 1976, however, this enterprise had floundered and finally dissolved, after providing an early example of university-community partnership for regional redevelopment.

Subject Tracings

• American Red Cross
• Burns Harbor
• Business
• Calumet Region
• Charities
• Chesterton
• Churches
• Dyer
• East Chicago
• Economic Development Projects
• Education
• Employment, Economic Theory
• Gary
• Griffith
• Hammond
• Health
• Highland
• Hobart
• Housing
• Industry
• Inland Steel
• Lowell
• Michigan City
• Munster
• Ogden Dunes
• Population
• Portage
• Railroads
• Recreation
• Roads
• Schererville
• Steel
• Transportation
• Urban Renewal
• Valparaiso
• Whiting