From Warm Center to Ragged Edge: The Erosion of Midwestern Literary and Historical Regionalism, 1920-1965: Resource Recommendation 8

Wow, that was a long title…

Anyways, this was a pretty interesting read as well. Pretty much everything recommended by The Public Historian and History News I gobble up these days. From Warm Center to Ragged Edge, etc., etc., by Jon K. Lauck was one of the more interesting reads I’ve come across recently. The subject matter is incredibly specific, and quite cumbersome at first glance. Lauck’s primary goal is to assert that local and regional histories have historically gone through periods of becoming incorporated and watered down by larger national narratives. An example of this is how many prominent Midwestern artists and authors, Sinclair Lews for example, were treated by biographers and journalists alike as east coast elites, despite their Midwestern upbringing. In a sense, the regional history of the Midwest from 1920-1965 was appropriated by the eastern seaboard. Lauck has many theories as to why this happened – from the fact that during the early part of this period Civil War vets still ruled Midwestern politics to the Boosterish or promotional nature of much of Midwestern history. Midwestern exceptionalism is a pretty dry subject, but it’s understandable. When presenting the stories of individuals like Lewis in a Midwestern setting he seems out of place in, the message of a Lewis biography becomes lost. For Lauck, more focus should be made on grounding the regional history of the Midwest with greater context, such as folklore, heroes, customs and simple and digestible histories. Instead in 1964 the only Midwestern historical society, the Mississippi Valley Historical Association became the Organization of American Historians. It went from regional to national, just like the rest of Midwestern history. Lauck’s work has helped me understand that grounding regional histories in local events and not national context preserves the intent of the piece – to reflect a local and regional history, not that regions place in the nation.

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