Interview 7 with Junifer Hall (Congresswoman Katie Hall)

Junifer Hall, the daughter of Representative Katie Hall, details her mother's work writing legislation in support of the Genesis Convention Center spearheaded by Mayor Richard Hatcher of Gary and her work on the education committee supporting educational programs for all people in Indiana.

***Transcript***

Junifer Hall: The big building, the Genesis Convention Center. She wrote the legislation for the Genesis Convention Center, Gary Deputy Mayor’s law. Chaired, while over the education committee, she wrote over 100 bills for education for all people in the state of Indiana, so it was a lot to help people, working class people, authored or co-authored a lot of legislation to help people in Indiana cities and towns, so we were very proud of her efforts here in the city of Gary. At that time in the [19]70’s, the business elite in this city did not want Gary to have a convention center, but Mayor Hatcher felt that the time was right for citizens to have something in this city that we could go to and be proud of because again, when they venture South, there were racism there, even in entertainment going to shows and things like that, and with Gary’s minority population, and for all people, not just for minorities, but for everybody to have something here that was very nice. He thought the Genesis Center would add to tourism, business and things of that nature, so it was a fight in Indianapolis just to get the Genesis Gary Center built, but eventually we got it built.