Books in the Midwestern History and Culture series

Tells the story of Midwestern agriculture during a period of epochal change in farm technology, farm management, and farm life.

The Midwest - often overlooked in studies focusing on other regions, or particular cities or industries - has a distinctive labor history characterized by the sustained, simultaneous growth of both agriculture and industry. This book illuminates the importance of the Midwest in United States labor history.

The little-known history of free black farmers in the Midwest.

Drawing on personal experiences as well as a wide variety of scholarship, the authors consider what it means to be from the Midwest and why Midwesterners have traditionally been less assertive about their regional identity than other Americans.

Albion Fellows BaconIndiana's Municipal HousekeeperRobert G. BarrowsExamines the career of a leading Progressive Era reformer.Born in Evansville, Indiana, in 1865, Albion Fellows was reared in the nearby hamlet of McCutchanville and graduated from Evansville High School. She worked for several years as a secretary and court reporter, toured Europe with her sister, married local merchant Hilary Bacon in 1888, and settled into a seemingly comfortable routine of middle-class domesticity. In 1892, however, she was afflicted with an illness that lasted for several years, an illness that may have resulted from a real or perceived absence of outlets for her intelligence and creativity.Bacon eventually found such outlets in a myriad of voluntary associations and social welfare campaigns. She was best known for her work on behalf of tenement reform and was instrumental in the passage of legislation to improve housing conditions in Indiana. She was also involved in child welfare, city planning and zoning, and a variety of public health efforts. Bacon became Indiana's foremost "e;municipal houskeeper,"e; a Progressive Era term for women who applied their domestic skills to social problems plaguing their communities.She also found time to write about her social reform efforts and her religious faith in articles and pamphlets. She published one volume of children's stories, and authored several pageants. One subject she did not write about was women's suffrage. While she did not oppose votes for women, suffrage was never her priority. But the reality of her participation in public affairs did advance the cause of women's political equality and provided a role model for future generations.Robert G. Barrows, Associate Professor of History at Indiana University at Indianapolis, was previously an editor at the Indiana Historical Bureau. He has published several journal articles and book chapters dealing with Indiana history and American urba

Explores the role the Ohio played in the lives of three generations of settlers from the river's headwaters at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the falls at Louisville, Kentucky. This book studies the local, regional, and national connections created by merchants by tracing the business world of the Woodbridge family of Marietta, Ohio.

Explores the lives and world views of Indiana's southern hill-country residents during much of the 19th century. This title focuses on local institutions, and political, economic, and religious issues. It intends to give voice to the plain farmers of the region and reveals the world as they saw it.