An Interview with Diana of the Dunes

Alice Mable Gray in the Dunes.

Save the Dunes celebrating 60 years

Save the Dunes founder Dorothy Buell, left, meets with regional leaders supporting the creation of the national lakeshore. Joining Buell, from left to right, were East Chicago Mayor Walter Jeorse, Whiting Mayor Mary Bercik, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and Gary Mayor George Chacharis.

Save the Dunes celebrating 60 years

Dorothy Buell, center, receives an award with U.S. Sen. Paul Douglas, D-Chicago, in 1967.

Miller memories

For these women, a day at the beach in the late 1800s meant dressing up in long white frilly dresses to climb up and down the dunes.

Candidates in the Calumet Region

Successor: FDR's successor, Harry S. Truman, visited the region during the 1948 campaign. He caught a ride to Gary's Memorial Auditorium with Indiana gubernatorial candidate Henry F. Schricker and Gary Mayor Eugene Swartz in October. Truman garnered almost double the votes of Thomas E. Dewey…

Candidates in the Calumet Region

Challenger: In 1916, Republican presidential nominee Charles Evans Hughes seriously challenged President Woodrow Wilson's re-election bid. Candidate Hughes visited Gary in September 1916, joined on the platform by Gary Mayor Roswell O. Johnson. Wilson barely won a second term.

Candidates in the Calumet Region

Close contest: The 1960s opened with the extremely close presidential contest between Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Sen. John F. Kennedy. The No. 2 man on the Republican ticket, Henry Cabot Lodge, was very well-liked by many region voters. Note the signs of support from a number of cit…

Candidates in the Calumet Region

The '50s: Both Democrat Adlai Stevenson, 31st governor of Illinois, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower "whistle-stopped" in Lake County. Stevenson twice attempted to unseat the president in 1952 and 1956, but "Ike" proved undefeatable even in the Democratic stronghold of North Lake County, Ind.

Candidates in the Calumet Region

The '50s: Both Democrat Adlai Stevenson, 31st governor of Illinois, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower "whistle-stopped" in Lake County. Stevenson twice attempted to unseat the president in 1952 and 1956, but "Ike" proved undefeatable even in the Democratic stronghold of North Lake County, Ind.

Candidates in the Calumet Region

Rail car visits: During the Great Depression of the 1930s, candidates from both major parties "whistle-stopped" through the region. In 1936, Alfred "Alf" Landon led the Republican challenge to the enormously popular incumbent, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. From the rear of his railroad coach in…

Candidates in the Calumet Region

Seeking the nomination: Less than five years after his brother's assassination, Robert F. Kennedy sought the Democratic nomination in 1968. He campaigned in the region twice during the primaries, emerging victorious over rivals Gov. Roger D. Branigan and Sen. Eugene McCarthy. Five weeks afte…

Candidates in the Calumet Region

Response: Dismissing Republican candidate Landon's attacks, President Roosevelt also stopped in Gary during the 1936 campaign and spoke from his B&O RR coach. Flanking FDR is his son, Franklin, and Indiana Gov. Paul V. McNutt.