Froebel School opened here in 1912 as many European immigrants and southern blacks moved to Gary for jobs in steel mills. An experiment in progressive education, it served students of diverse backgrounds and the local community. Despite its early status as an integrated school, black students were excluded from many extracurricular activities and facilities into the 1940s. After World War II, Froebel made national headlines when hundreds of white students walked out protesting an integration experiment there. These hate strikes lasted several weeks in 1945 and reflected growing racial tension in the North. In 1946, the Gary school board adopted a desegregation policy, but discrimination continued. Indiana state law desegregating public schools passed in 1949. The school closed in 1977.