OMAHA, Neb.—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.”
