Historians seek revival of studying the Midwest

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A quick glance of the history
departments of universities in the Midwest will reveal courses of study
ranging from the American South to Asian, European and African cultures —
even gender and race.
What you’re not likely to find is a course on Midwest history.
"I
think parents in the Midwest would be shocked to know that they’re
paying all of this money for a college education, and their children are
learning almost nothing about their own Midwestern roots," said Jon
Lauck, author of "The Lost Region: Toward a Revival of Midwestern
History."
Historians have delved into topics such as race
relations in the South over the past 50 years, but the industrialization
of agriculture and Native American relations have received
comparatively little coverage, he said, leading to a dearth of an
overall Midwest historical account over the past 50 years.
Lauck
and his fellow historians in the Midwestern History Working Group
believe the region’s contemporary history needs to be catalogued. To
that end, the coalition is launching a new online academic journal of
Midwest history next month and a new Midwest history association this
fall — the first in decades with that sole focus.
The last true
Midwest history association, the Mississippi Valley Historical
Association, started in 1907 in Lincoln, Neb. But it fizzled out in the
1960s and was replaced by the Organization of American Historians that
has no focus on Midwest history. And unlike other regions that have
historical journals — such as the Journal of Southern History or the
Western History Association Journal — there is no Midwest journal where
scholars can publish their research.
"There were a few that were
active 20 years ago or more, but they’re all gone," said Lauck, chairman
of the coalition. "Right now, there’s a huge disincentive to write any
kind of formal academic research about the Midwest, because there’s no
place to send it."
The Middle West Review, to be published by the University of Iowa, will launch in mid-April.
Catherine
Cocks, acquisitions editor with the University of Iowa Press, said a
graduate student in the history department has taken on the role of
editor, although all submissions will be peer-reviewed.
"My
background is in U.S. history, and certainly in my education … there
was never a focus on Midwestern history," Cocks said. "The Midwest has
actually played a really central role in national history, but when
people tell the story of national history, they don’t talk about the
Midwest. So, basically … the national story is being told wrong."
And
the newly formed association, launching in late September, will call
for universities in the Midwest, particularly those in the Big Ten
conference, to make a concerted effort to revive the field.
"For
example, the University of Minnesota — which is a huge institution in
the Midwest with some 50 historians in its history department — has zero
people who teach the history of Minnesota or the Midwest," Lauck said.
"By contrast, the University of Georgia … has 10 people who teach the
history of the South and Georgia."
The group’s efforts have skeptics, of course.
American
historian K. Austin Kerr, who retired 10 years ago from Ohio State
University, rejects the idea that the Midwest’s history is being lost.
"Understand
that the Journal of Southern History isn’t … devoted to the history
of the South. It was a journal that authors who taught in the South
published in," Kerr said. "There are ample opportunities for historians
to study various topics and certainly many publication outlets."
Part of the reason more historians don’t study or write about the Midwest is because the region is hard
to define, he said.
Many
of the region’s 13 states — Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and
Wisconsin — carry dual identities. For example, the western halves of
Nebraska and the Dakotas are often defined as part of the American West,
while the eastern parts are considered to be in the Midwest.
Kerr
was born in St. Louis, grew up in Iowa and went to college and taught
in Ohio for nearly 40 years. He considers himself "a true-blooded
Midwesterner."
"But when I left for college in Ohio in 1955,
people in my community in Iowa mulled that I was ‘going back East to
college,’ " he said.
Funding the effort will also pose a
challenge, Kerr said. Faculties overall are shrinking, and there is less
money going into liberal arts education and history departments.
"How are you going to add what is going to be seen as new fields?" Kerr asked. "I think
they’re going to have a hard time."
The
group acknowledges as much, and worries that without donors to endow
the new journal, it will collapse. They’ve been told the journal would
need $500,000 to $1 million for the project to be sustainable.
"I’ve put some feelers out," Lauck said. "We’ll just keep our fingers crossed."
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