2. St. Adalbert Church Complex - National Register Nomination

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 St. Adalbert Church Complex St. Joseph, IN Name of Property County and State Section 8 page 15 St. Adalbert is closely associated with South Bend's industrial past, and in particular, the labor movement. Before the Flint Sit-Down strike of 1937, parishioners from St. Adalbert participated in the Bendix sit-down strike in November 1936, which was the first successful strike at a in the automotive industry and helped to usher in the way for mass-unionization of the automobile industry. The connection between St. Adalbert and mass unionization is commemorated in a 1940 mural by Chicago artist Jan Mallin in the church's north transept. Depicting men and women laborers under a vision of the fallen Christ, the mural bears a message from Genesis 3:19: "W pocie oblicza twego będziesz pożywał chleba," or "By the sweat of your brow, you shall eat bread." Instructed by a priest in Roman collar toward Christ and a smoky factory above a river, a woman in peasant dress and man in overalls cast down a hammer and sickle. Developmental History/Additional historic context information Two buildings are no longer extant on the site. The 1911 Felician Convent that was an addition to the church-school was demolished in 1974, and sheet metal currently covers the west end of the school. In 1931, a wooden parish hall/auditorium was built at St. Adalbert, its humble materials reflected the Depression economy. The structure was damaged extensively in a 1972 fire and demolished. The three non-contributing buildings are two garages and a boiler house, for which date of construction and architect are unclear.