Schoon

Kenneth Schoon believes the only way to fully understand the Calumet region is to take a look at its ancient history.

In his book Calumet Beginnings: Ancient Shorelines and Settlements at the South End of Lake Michigan, Schoon, a science education professor at IU Northwest, outlines how the area’s transportation and settlement patterns are directly related to underlying landforms. The book, written partially as a teaching tool for elementary school children, is a tapestry of geological and oral history.

Schoon tackles a variety of facts and falsehoods surrounding the origins of northern Indiana’s geography. His goal is to debunk false history. One misconception he takes on is the belief that Lake Michigan was once part of the ocean. “It’s not salty,” he said, shaking his head. “Melting glaciers formed the lake. She is the daughter of the Ice Age.”

Full of similar tidbits collected from years of research, talking with historians and from local lore, Schoon tells readers how agricultural lifestyles became possible thanks to rich moraines, found prominently in Valparaiso and across the region. Before glaciers leveled the area, pushing down fertile land from Canada, it was made up of steep hills like those found in southern Indiana’s city of Bloomington and Brown County. Forces of nature created the Valparaiso, Tinley and Lake Border moraines, the kettle lakes and the modern and ancient shorelines of Lake Michigan.

In the book’s prologue, Schoon writes “. . . although I have lived here practically all of my life, I am always learning new things about this extraordinary region. With my roots in the Calumet area, degrees in geology and education, a fascination with history, and decades of teaching experience, I feel uniquely qualified to combine the geology and early history of this special place into one integrated story.”

Published by the IU Press, Calumet Beginnings: Ancient Shorelines and Settlements at the South End of Lake Michigan contains 161 photographs and illustrations, many never before published and others not published since 1897. One such photograph includes Anna Maria “Mother” Gibson, who is claimed to be the first permanent settler in Gary’s midtown section. Because an understanding of the geology of the area is so essential to understanding the region’s history, a full-color surface geologic map appears at both the front and back of the book.

Schoon is a life-long resident of the Calumet area. Prior to his tenure at IU Northwest, he taught junior high and high school science for 22 years. He is the membership director for Indiana Science Olympiad, second vice president of the Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center and secretary of the Munster Board of Parks and Recreation. He is also a member of the Association for the Education of Teachers of Science, the Indiana and Munster historical societies and active with the Northwest Indiana Historical Community.

One of his primary goals for the book is that it be used in Indiana schools, perhaps as a resource for the statewide fourth-grade curriculum on Indiana history.