FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) -- From West Central to Forest Park and Waynedale, Fort Wayne is home to several historic neighborhoods with many stories and ties to the Summit City. Thanks to a City of Fort Wayne program and a local filmmaker, a new documentary is shining a light on the past, present an d future of an area connected to arguably the most important company in the city's history: the Harvester Neighborhood. Harvester History Bound by Reynolds Street to the north, Pontiac Street to the south, Coliseum Boulevard to the east and Edsall Avenue to the west, the Harvester Neighborhood -- known in its early days as "The East End" -- formed around the 1920s through efforts to entice International Harvester to come to Fort Wayne. Edsall Avenue and Reynolds Street represent the western and northern borders of the Harvester Neighborhood. At its peak, the company employed a sizeable portion of Fort Wayne and served as an anchor for the city. “It was by far the best employer. It had about 10,000 [employees] … it had the best pay, it had the best benefits. It was looked to as the finest of jobs,” former Fort Wayne Mayor Winfield “Win” Moses told WANE 15 in August 2024. 40 years ago, General Motors brings hope to Fort Wayne after Harvester departure Nate Lefever, a historic preservation and culture planner for the City of Fort Wayne, noted the Harvester Neighborhood shared a close proximity to other industrial heavyweights that used to call that area of Fort Wayne home. "It's also not fair to ignore other industries that were hugely impactful in that exact same neighborhood at the same time," Lefever said. "Of course, you had the Zollner pistons ... you also had Magnavox and Farnsworth [Radio and Television Corporation]. So, you had the same area that was making the Scout was also making the first television sets [and] was making jukeboxes." Eventually, the aforementioned businesses left, including International Harvester in 1983, leaving the neighborhood and the rest of the city reeling from high unemployment and economic uncertainty. Shouting Out Summit City Neighborhoods The documentary came to fruition through a program called "SHOUT-OUT: Fort Wayne" that aims to "empower neighborhoods to develop and activate their unique identities through public art." The program is overseen by the Fort Wayne Public Art Commission, which is comprised of 17 members and advisory members who work to govern the city's Public Art Program and serve to facilitate public projects. Lefever said the Public Art Commission has invested roughly $150,000 into SHOUT-OUT in the past three years. The City of Fort Wayne tasked Bryant Rozier, a local filmmaker who grew up near Harvester Neighborhood, to be the project manager for SHOUT-OUT, and Rozier also served as the documentary's producer and writer. "My job as a producer was to support [the director] but also as the writer of the documentary, I was able to still infuse my personality and my voice in that role," Rozier said. Lefever said Rozier was the perfect choice to oversee the project due to his various experiences with journalism, filmmaking and community engagement. "[We] were still hoping to find a unicorn and Bryant happened to be one of the respondents," Lefever said. Rozier collaborated with the Harvester Neighborhood Association (HNA) on the project, and the organization chose the idea of having the neighborhood's story told through a documentary. "We were allowed to ask the members to vote on what project they wanted, so I gave them three options, and the option that won was a documentary film," Rozier said. From there, Rozier worked alongside John Burkett, the documentary's director and editor, and spent roughly one year conducting research, gathering interviews, and getting things approved by the Public Art Commission. Interviews ranged from current business and organizations, HNA members and former residents who lived in the Harvester Neighborhood when the various industries were still around. "Identity and Renewal" The documentary runs more than 13 minutes long and touches on the rise and fall of International Harvester while highlighting recent efforts in the neighborhood to foster community connections and business growth. While working on the documentary, some of the main themes Rozier focused on included identity and renewal. Rozier, Lefever and the various people in the documentary acknowledge that the Harvester Neighborhood will never return to the time when International Harvester loomed over the area as a sign of stability and prosperity. However, they all also believe that the community can grow and change into something new. "Even though you may have lost a major employer that had a historically major impact -- not just on that neighborhood but on the entire city -- it is an homage to that neighborhood's resilience for it to continue to be as strong as it is," Lefever said. Rozier also said it is important to still promote and preserve the history that made the neighborhood into what it is today, a goal he hopes the documentary will achieve. "All of my decisions were predicated on protecting the legacy and the history of this neighborhood, a neighborhood that I've grown to love and appreciate," Rozier said. The neighborhood still features a variety of features from its past. McCormick Park, established in 1927 thanks to land donated by International Harvester, is still nestled in the heart of the area. Other longtime churches and businesses also remain such as Jesus Name Church and O'Neil's Glass with its iconic upside down signs. O'Neil's Glass has been in the Harvester Neighborhood since opening in 1961 and is known for having all of its signs upside down. The business is one of many featured in the Harvester Neighborhood documentary. Mi Tierra is located along New Haven Avenue and is featured in the Harvester Neighborhood documentary. The documentary also highlights modern additions to the neighborhood such as Mi Tierra Supermarket. The Harvester Neighborhood also recently celebrated the completion of a new bus shelter next to Jesus Name Church that had been identified as a priority by the HNA. Harvester Neighborhood celebrates new bus shelter Looking to the future, the documentary also showcases other things residents and community leaders hope to add to the neighborhood such as more businesses and dining options. Public Showcase While the documentary has been finished since October, Rozier and the Public Art Commission will be unveiling the Harvester Neighborhood documentary to the public for the first time Saturday with a showing at the Allen County Public Library's downtown branch. Following the showing, Rozier and neighborhood leaders will be available for a Q&A session. For those able to attend the showing, Rozier wants viewers to walk away with a newfound appreciation for the communities in Fort Wayne. "Hopefully, what the project does for other people -- as it did for me -- is that it allowed me to understand and really kind of get to know my neighbors ... this allowed me to kind of just stop and smell the roses," Rozier said. The showing starts at 2 p.m., and anyone unable attend can watch the documentary through Rozier's website. ...read more read less