The LGBTQ Center's 20th Anniversary

About this episode

This episode celebrates the 20th anniversary of the LGBTQ Center in South Bend, featuring oral histories from key figures in its development.

In the small, midwestern city of South Bend, Indiana, for members of the LGBTQ+ community, having a space for themselves is life changing. And for twenty years, people here have had that space. Today, it’s called the LGBTQ Center. As the Center approached its twentieth anniversary, Dr. Jamie Wagman and students from Saint Mary’s College students preserved the history of the Center by conducting oral histories of fourteen people who were foundational to the Center’s evolution. For the Center’s anniversary gala in 2025, Dr. Wagman and student Phoenix McClellan pulled clips and organized them into this presentation. Featuring the voices of some of the many people whose time and dedication have shaped the LGBTQ Center throughout its two decades, including Rhonda Redman, Hank Mascotte, Phillip Schatz, Meghan Buell, Eli Williams, Drew Gardner, Nancy Mascotte, H.R. Jung, Michael McMillion, Krista Cox, Angela Hankins, Kathryn Kirk, J.D. Schock, Jamie Morgan, Derek McDowell, and Rhiannon Carlson. This episode was produced by Dr. Jamie Wagman and Phoenix McClellan from Saint Mary’s College, by Jon Watson and Caleb Matz from the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend, and…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Jamie Wagman

Guest: Phoenix McClellan

Topics covered

• LGBTQ history
• community spaces
• oral histories
• anniversary celebrations
• local activism

Keywords

• LGBTQ Center
• South Bend
• oral history
• anniversary
• community
• activism
• Dr. Jamie Wagman

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Saint Mary’s College, Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend, Civil Rights Heritage Center

Places: South Bend, Indiana

More episodes of South Bend's Own Words

• DeAnn Gatto on winning the Mr. South Bend male impersonator competition · June 3, 2026 · 15 min
• Dorothy Smith on the price of being the first · April 8, 2026 · 20 min
• Doris Grady Howell shares her days of glory in an all-African American girls softball league · February 4, 2026 · 20 min
• Tom Singer, lawyer and ally, on discrimination in South Bend · December 17, 2025 · 17 min
• Father John Phalen on the founding of La Casa de Amistad · September 10, 2025 · 22 min
• Ms. Adeline Wigfall-Jones, legendary west-side barber and community builder · February 3, 2025 · 18 min