Description
Book SynopsisPrompted by the overt omission of Muncie''s black community from the famous community study by Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd, Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture, the authors initiated this project to reveal the unrecorded historical and contemporary life of Middletown, a well-known pseudonym for the Midwestern city of Muncie, Indiana. As a collaboration of community and campus, this book recounts the early efforts of Hurley Goodall to develop a community history and archive that told the story of the African American community, and rectify the representation of small town America as exclusively white. The authors designed and implemented a collaborative ethnographic field project that involved intensive interviews, research, and writing between community organizations, local experts, ethnographers, and teams of college students. This book is a unique model for collaborative research, easily accessible to students. It will be a valuable resource for instructors in an
Trade ReviewA puzzle is complete only when the last piece is in place. With this fascinating study, the path breaking 1929 book Middletown is finally complete. Now the true flavor and feel of middle American life emerges. This is a breakthrough. -- Juan Williams, political analyst and author of Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965
Readers who are interested in the black experience in Indiana will value this work. Still others will find the university/community collaborative approach fascinating and may be inspired to adopt it. * Indiana Magazine of History *
The Other Side of Middletown truly captures the voices of Muncie's black community, which the Lynds admittedly ignored in their book Middletown, published over three-quarters of a century ago. The depiction of the 'other side of Middletown' I knew as a youth is accurate, authentic, and in many cases painfully recalled. Unfortunately, this work shows that some of the division between black and white which existed in Muncie in the 1920s and 1930s and even into the 1950s and 1960s when I was a youngster still exists in my hometown. While showing that black citizens were always an important part of Muncie's history and development, this book also shows that Muncie has much work to do to be able to come together as a model for America to emulate. -- Gregory H. Williams, president, The City College of New York, author of Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was B
Table of ContentsForeword Introduction: The Story of a Collaborative Project PART I. Middletown and Muncie's African American Community Chapter 1. The Enduring Legacy of Muncie as Middletown Chapter 2. A City Apart PART II. Collaborative Understandings Chapter 3. Getting a Living Chapter 4. Making a Home Chapter 5. Training the Young Chapter 6. Using Leisure Chapter 7. Engaging in Religious Practices Chapter 8. Engaging in Community Activities Conclusion: Lessons Learned about Muncie, Race, and Ethnography Epilogue Afterword Appendix A. Notes on the Collaborative Process Appendix B. House Concurrent Resolution 33 About the Authors and Community Advisors
