Finding a New Midwestern History

In comparison to such regions as the South, the far West, and New England, the Midwest and its culture have been neglected both by scholars and by the popular press. Historians as well as literary and art critics tend not to examine the Midwest in depth in their academic work. And in the popular imagination, the Midwest has never ascended to the level of the proud, literary South; the cultured, democratic Northeast; or the hip, innovative West Coast. Finding a New Midwestern History revives and identifies anew the Midwest as a field of study by promoting a diversity of viewpoints and lending legitimacy to a more in-depth, rigorous scholarly assessment of a large region of the United States that has largely been overlooked by scholars. The essays discuss facets of midwestern life worth examining more deeply, including history, religion, geography, art, race, culture, and politics, and are written by well-known scholars in the field such as Michael Allen, Jon Butler, and Nicole Etcheson.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations     Introduction: Toward a New Midwestern History     Jon K. Lauck, Joe Hogan, and Gleaves Whitney Part 1. The Midwest as a Region Chapter 1. The Birth of the Midwest and the Rise of Regional Theory     Michael C. Steiner Chapter 2. How Nature and Culture Shaped Early Settlement in the Midwest     James E. Davis Chapter 3. First Cousins: The Civil War’s Impact on Midwestern Identity     Nicole Etcheson Part 2. The Midwest’s People Chapter 4. Native Americans and Midwestern History     Susan E. Gray Chapter 5. American and European Immigrant Groups in the Midwest by the Mid-Nineteenth Century     Gregory S. Rose Chapter 6. Civic Life in a Midwestern Community     Paula M. Nelson Chapter 7. Politics in the Promised Land: How the Great Migration Shaped the American Midwest     Jeffrey Helgeson Part 3. The Iconic Midwest Chapter 8. Midwestern Small Towns     John E. Miller Chapter 9. The Agrarian Midwest: A Geographic Analysis     Christopher R. Laingen Chapter 10. The Role of Sports in the Midwest     David R. McMahon Part 4. Midwestern Landscapes Chapter 11. The View from the River: Another Perspective on Midwestern History     Michael Allen Chapter 12. The Midwest’s Spiritual Landscapes     Jon Butler Chapter 13. The Development of Midwestern Cities     Jon Teaford Part 5. The Midwest’s Voices Chapter 14. Of Murals and Mirrors: Midwest Regionalism Then and Now     Zachary Michael Jack Chapter 15. Midwestern Intellectuals     James Seaton Chapter 16. Midwestern Musicians     James P. Leary Chapter 17. Midwestern Writers: The Fourth Wave     David Pichaske Part 6. The Midwestern Experience Chapter 18. The Upper Midwest as the Second Promised Land     Gleaves Whitney Chapter 19. Growing Up Midwestern     Pamela Riney-Kehrberg Chapter 20. The Best of Babbitt: The Midwestern Vision of Arthur Vandenberg     Hank Meijer Chapter 21. Of Conformity and Cosmopolitanism: Midwestern Identity since World War II     J. L. Anderson List of Contributors     Index      

About the Author :
Jon K. Lauck is an adjunct professor of history and political science at the University of South Dakota and the author of numerous books, including The Lost Region: Toward a Revival of Midwestern History. Gleaves Whitney is director of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University near Grand Rapids in Michigan. He is the author or editor of sixteen books, including Colorado Front Range: A Landscape Divided. Joseph Hogan is the director of fact-checking at Retro Report, and has written for the New York Times, the Nation, and the Middle West Review.    

Review :
"In 2015, a group of historians met in Michigan to reinvigorate the study of midwestern history. The result of the meeting was a series of essays published in this engaging volume. Individual essays cover virtually every imaginable topic of the history of the American Midwest. . . . This book could be assigned in advanced undergraduate courses, and any faculty or academic staff whose teaching even remotely deals with the Midwest should read this book."-J. Shelton, Choice “Engaging, provocative, and cogently argued. . . . This collection provides an insightful, perceptive, smart regional consciousness. This book will make its mark as an important contribution to the intellectual history of the Midwest as well as to the historiography of the region.”-R. Douglas Hurt, professor of history at Purdue University and author of The Big Empty: The Great Plains in the Twentieth Century "Together the essays offer multiple ways of defining, identifying, understanding, and grappling with the Midwest and its history. They pose crucial questions and suggest some important conversations for the field."-Annette Atkins, Missouri Historical Review "Finding a New Midwestern History aims to invigorate the field of midwestern history, and its collection of essays succeeds at providing an expansive overview of potential areas of study."-Rachel Boyle, Nebraska History "Collectively, the book's contributors illuminate the richness and complexity of the field, and they articulate why the Midwest deserves consideration anew in both scholarly research and the popular imagination."-Elizabeth Grennan Browning, Michigan Historical Review "This new book reflects the laudable strengthening of Midwestern academic studies in recent years and is another important contribution to Midwestern studies by the University of Nebraska Press."-Omaha World-Herald “The result isn’t comprehensive (even ten such volumes couldn’t claim to be), but the menu is richly varied. . . There is no single ‘Midwest,’ of course, but projects such as this . . . offer a much-needed alternative to disdain and cheerleading alike.”-John Wilson, First Things   "This engaging collection of essays examines midwestern history from a wide variety of perspectives, offering valuable insights into the region."-William C. Barnett, Annals of Iowa  "This is a valuable contribution to a reenergized field of study. Students of midwestern history will need to be familiar with it, and the region’s academic and public libraries will want to add it to their collections."-Robert G. Barrows, Indiana Magazine of History "Finding a New American History [is] a valiant effort . . . like the area it treats, it's unexpected, intensely satisfying, and full of riches."-Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Review