William Wilson Cooke designed many landmarks of the city?s African-American middle class As Gary, Indiana, a formerly booming steel town, sets its sight on a comeback, many city planners and local developers have focused on the city?s rich architectural heritage as one tool to help make that happen. Between architectural tours and re-developing the city?s under-appreciated 20th century buildings and housing stock, funded in part by largesse from U.S. Steel, there?s plenty of potential, and new developments.
But like many cities working on redevelopment with limited funds, the work of certain designers gets lost in the shuffle. William Wilson Cooke, an African-American architect who worked in Gary during the early half of the 20th century, designed a number of community buildings, homes, and churches that helped define the city?s Midtown Central District. Amid a city filled with gems by Frank Lloyd Wright and George Washington Maher, the work of this pioneering African-American architect and business owners hasn?t gotten all the attention, and preservation, it deserves. ?There is knowledge and information about him within the Gary community, but it hasn?t really translated outside of that,? says Tiffany Tolbert, a field office for the National Trust for Historic Preservation who used to work in Northwest Indiana and wrote a story about Cooke?s work. ?He speaks to the emergence of the black middle class in Gary at that time.?

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