Black History Month: First social study of the local Black community published — 1922

Originally from Tennessee, the Rev. Buford F. Gordon studied the (at the time) new field of sociology at Fisk University in Nashville before entering Yale’s Divinity School. He came to South Bend to lead an east side African Methodist Episcopal congregation that splintered away from Olivet A.M.E. Rev. Gordon, pictured with his wife, Thelma Pierce Gordon, used his impressive academic background to undertake the first social study of the local African American community. Published as "The Negro in South Bend," after several decades, it was largely forgotten. David Healey, a Master of Liberal Studies student at Indiana University South Bend and historian for the Civil Rights Heritage Center, found an old copy in the St. Joseph County Public Library, and in 2009, republished it through IU South Bend’s Wolfson Press. Copies are currently available at the Civil Rights Heritage Center’s lending library as well as St. Joseph County Public Library.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Black history