As she prepared to help rename a Gary street after her late father, Ragen Hatcher wanted to ensure that his heart never left the city.
“Your presence is still here,” state Rep. Hatcher, D-Gary, also executive director of the Gary Sanitary District. “Today, your name takes its rightful place in the city you loved.”
Members of the Hatcher family unveil a sign renaming Grant Street in Gary to Richard G. Hatcher Boulevard on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (Michael Gard/for the Post-Tribune)
On Monday, the city of Gary officially renamed Grant Street to Richard G. Hatcher Boulevard — an effort that was started by former Mayor Karen Freeman Wilson after Hatcher’s death in 2019.
In February 2021, the Gary Common Council voted to rename Columbus Day after Richard Hatcher, the city’s first Black mayor, according to Post-Tribune archives. Richard Hatcher was mayor for 20 years — which Gary Mayor Eddie Melton called unprecedented — starting in 1967.
Richard Hatcher died in December 2019 at 86 years old, according to Post-Tribune archives.
During Monday’s ceremony, Melton and others remembered Richard Hatcher’s impact on Black Americans, both in Gary and nationwide. Richard Hatcher’s election allowed Black people to find their voice and helped lead Gary through a time of immense challenge, Melton said.
A large group assembles outside St. Timothy Church in Gary for the renaming ceremony of Grant Street into Richard G. Hatcher Boulevard on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (Michael Gard/for the Post-Tribune)
“We shall lead the way for the whole country to follow,” Hatcher said during his inauguration, Melton read Monday. “We shall prove that urban America need not wallow and decay. … Our cities can be revived and their people rejuvenated.”
Melton said Hatcher shattered a racial barrier in urban government leadership when he was elected.
“Richard Hatcher Boulevard will be a daily, visible reminder of what’s possible,” Melton said. “It will tell the story of a man who rose from humble beginnings to the highest office in the city and used it to fight for justice, to fight for equality and a new opportunity for all people. … We won’t just see a name, we’ll see an embodiment of his inaugural promise.”
During his time as mayor, Richard Hatcher fought for civil rights and “was the driving force” behind the 1972 Black Political Convention in Gary, Melton said. He also helped fund subsidized housing, expand the airport and fund job-training programs and facilities.
Richard Hatcher was also mayor during the decline of the steel industry and the white flight that followed.
Indiana State Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, speaks during the ceremony renaming Grant Street in Gary to Richard G. Hatcher Boulevard on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. (Michael Gard/for the Post-Tribune)
“Mayor Hatcher will always be Gary’s mayor,” Melton said. “His vision and his fight and spirit lives on today.”
In addition to Ragen Hatcher, the former mayor’s two other daughters — Rachelle and Renee — spoke during Monday’s street renaming. Rachelle Hatcher said it’s important for future generations to have a reminder of people like her father, who helped pave the way for those who followed him.
“It’s our duty to ensure that history is taught and remembered,” Rachelle Hatcher said. “We have to stand up for what’s right, no matter how overwhelming things are. Dad’s favorite saying, as many of you know, was, ‘Don’t give up, don’t give in, keep on fighting until we win.’”
Renee Hatcher, during her speech, said that Gary was always in the forefront of his mind, adding that she believes he was more than a politician but a political leader and an activist.
“You’ll always hear us say that, in a way, Gary was the fourth child in our household,” Renee Hatcher said. “Thinking about Richard Gordon Hatcher Day and thinking about his many accomplishments, we cannot take his work in vain. We are charged with carrying it on in this moment.”
mwilkins@chicagotribune.com
