This week a new historical marker will go up in South Bend honoring a group of African Americans who worked to make South Bend a better place. It will be the first historical marker in the city to recognize the contributions of African Americans.

The Indiana state historical marker commemorating Better Homes of South Bend will sit at the corner of North Elmer and Keller streets — the location of the Better Homes neighborhood.

A public dedication ceremony will be held Saturday, July 8 at 11 a.m. The marker dedication will be led by Mayor Pete Buttigieg. There will be other city leaders and community members in attendance.

The marker will commemorate Better Homes of South Bend — an African American housing co-op in the 1950s.

"The marker for Better Homes sheds light on topics like housing discrimination in Indiana and the country, while also showing how this particularly group worked together to overcome these obstacles," says Casey Pfeiffer the Historical Marker Program Director for the Indiana Historical Bureau.

Leroy Cobb lived at the corner of north Elmer and Keller in South Bend for 37 years.

"This stone," says Cobb as he points to a half buried stone along the property line, "my family and I moved here in 1953 and this stone I put on this corner here in 1957."

His former home is gone now but the memories remain.

"It was a great accomplishment. it was a really great accomplishment," says Cobb.

At 87 years old, Cobb is the last surviving founding member of the Better Homes of South Bend group.

"It was a story that I really thought needed to be told because nobody knows about this," says Gabrielle Robinson. Robinson is a retired IU South Bend professor and writer. She wrote about book about Better Homes of South Bend and applied for the historical marker.

The group was formed in the 1950s. At the time, many African Americans were moving to South Bend for jobs and found it impossible to purchase homes.

"They came in the 40s when the defense industries desperately needed laborers and workers. So they knew they would get good jobs and they also thought they would get away from Jim crow," says Robinson, "and as one of them said, we thought we would get away from Jim Crow and then we met Jim Crow in the north."

Lending and real estate practices at the time were highly discriminatory. African Americans could not obtain mortgages or nice homes equal to whites and many were limited to homes in poor areas.

"We have one example in Dr. Wagner who was Gabrielle Robinson Leroy Cobb's doctor. He was a doctor and surgeon with years of experience. He wanted to buy a house and he just couldn't," says Robinson, "his wife would call up and banks would say, yes we have this available, but then when they showed up and they saw they were African American, suddenly they said that house is no longer available."

"People who tried to sell on a non discriminatory basis were really hounded. The neighbors would throw stuff, uproot their trees and hurt their kids," says Robinson.

So, a group of 22 families — workers at Studebaker, including Cobb — formed an African American building co-op. They called themselves Better Homes of South Bend. They worked in secret and with the help of an attorney were able to buy a chunk of land and have 22 homes built. It wasn't easy. Robinson says there were some lenders and contractors who wouldn't work with the group because of their race. But there is strength in numbers and by the middle of the 1950s the homes had been built in the 1700 and 1800 blocks of North Elmer Street.

"They created such a beautiful neighborhood, they kept the houses up, they had beautiful lawns, they had community things. It became a neighborhood for African American professionals," says Robinson.

Cobb agrees. He talks of block parties, parades and hours spent in backyards with the neighbors. Cobb says it was a tight-knit community that became family. In fact, he still remembers all his neighbors names.

Most of the 22 homes that were built remain standing. With the new historical marker, Cobb hopes it stands as a reminder to future generations of families who will live there.

"Proud? I'm more than proud now. After all these years and I look back it is really a great accomplishment we had. No one is aware what we went through," says Cobb.

The Far Northwest Neighborhood Association and City of South Bend helped sponsor the marker. The city underwrote the entire cost of the marker.