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Editorial
August 17, 1927
The Manning Times
Manning, Clarendon County, South Carolina
What is this article about?
Dr. Frank Crane defends the Midwest against ridicule from intellectuals like Mencken and Sinclair Lewis, portraying it as a source of banality and morons. He highlights Midwestern heroism in WWI at Belleau Wood and Argonne, figures like Pershing, Grant, and Lincoln, and a Swedish aviator's solo Atlantic flight, arguing it's not a bad place despite Chautauquas and prayer meetings.
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DR. FRANK CRANE
Says
NOT A BAD PLACE-
THE MID-WEST
The man from the mid-West is usually the goat of all the intellectuals.
The mid-West is supposed to be the home of banality. This region is inhabited, according to Mencken, Sinclair Lewis and others, almost predominantly by morons. They are the people who form the favorite butt of almost all kinds of ridicule.
They are the hayseeds of the world. The mid-West Chautauqua circles, fitting descendants of former camp meetings. The inhabitants are low brows who come in for the contempt of all the emancipated and advanced Europeans and Easterners.
Did they not put across prohibition?
Did not their wives and daughters even go to prayer meetings?
What could be commoner!
When the world war came, however, those boys from the mid-West, Kansas and thereabouts, did a pretty job at Belleau Wood and in the Argonne. They fought well and the heroes of Balaklava and Thermopylae had to move aside and make room for them in the Hall of Fame.
A Missouri boy named Pershing and a couple of Illinois men named Grant and Lincoln demonstrated that something worthwhile could come from Nazareth.
And now another mid-Westerner, a "dom" Swede, has startled the world.
He took his life in hand, shoved a tooth brush in his pocket and flew unaided and alone across the perilous Atlantic.
Personally, I think it makes no difference what country a man comes from. A Japanese, a Mexican or a Nebraskan is quite as liable to horn in and monopolize the front page as a noble Roman or distinguished Britisher. Man is man and you can't tell what part of the human race is going to develop a remarkable shoot.
Mr. Babbitts country, with its chautauquas and rotarian clubs and prayer meetings is not such a bad place after all.
Says
NOT A BAD PLACE-
THE MID-WEST
The man from the mid-West is usually the goat of all the intellectuals.
The mid-West is supposed to be the home of banality. This region is inhabited, according to Mencken, Sinclair Lewis and others, almost predominantly by morons. They are the people who form the favorite butt of almost all kinds of ridicule.
They are the hayseeds of the world. The mid-West Chautauqua circles, fitting descendants of former camp meetings. The inhabitants are low brows who come in for the contempt of all the emancipated and advanced Europeans and Easterners.
Did they not put across prohibition?
Did not their wives and daughters even go to prayer meetings?
What could be commoner!
When the world war came, however, those boys from the mid-West, Kansas and thereabouts, did a pretty job at Belleau Wood and in the Argonne. They fought well and the heroes of Balaklava and Thermopylae had to move aside and make room for them in the Hall of Fame.
A Missouri boy named Pershing and a couple of Illinois men named Grant and Lincoln demonstrated that something worthwhile could come from Nazareth.
And now another mid-Westerner, a "dom" Swede, has startled the world.
He took his life in hand, shoved a tooth brush in his pocket and flew unaided and alone across the perilous Atlantic.
Personally, I think it makes no difference what country a man comes from. A Japanese, a Mexican or a Nebraskan is quite as liable to horn in and monopolize the front page as a noble Roman or distinguished Britisher. Man is man and you can't tell what part of the human race is going to develop a remarkable shoot.
Mr. Babbitts country, with its chautauquas and rotarian clubs and prayer meetings is not such a bad place after all.
What sub-type of article is it?
Social Reform
Satire
What keywords are associated?
Midwest Defense
Regional Stereotypes
Wwi Heroism
Intellectual Ridicule
Atlantic Flight
Prohibition
Prayer Meetings
What entities or persons were involved?
Mencken
Sinclair Lewis
Pershing
Grant
Lincoln
Dom Swede
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Defense Of The Midwest Against Stereotypes
Stance / Tone
Supportive And Ironic Defense
Key Figures
Mencken
Sinclair Lewis
Pershing
Grant
Lincoln
Dom Swede
Key Arguments
Midwest Mocked As Home Of Morons And Banality By Intellectuals
Midwesterners Contributed Heroically In Wwi At Belleau Wood And Argonne
Figures Like Pershing, Grant, And Lincoln Prove Value From Midwest
A Midwestern 'Dom' Swede Flew Solo Across Atlantic
National Origin Irrelevant; Anyone Can Achieve Greatness
Midwest With Chautauquas And Prayer Meetings Not Bad