When Robert S. and Helen M. Lynd stepped off the train in Muncie, Indiana, in January, 1923, little did they know that they were
to initiate a chain of events which continues to this day. They were about to begin a study of the community which was a
pioneering effort using the same participant observation techniques anthropologists had used to study exotic societies in remote
corners of the world. Their research culminated in a book, MIDDLETOWN (1929).
MIDDLETOWN was an immediate success. It received a front page review in the NEW YORK TIMES in which Stuart Chase prophetically proclaimed, "This book should be inscribed on tablets of stone and preserved for future generations." The book has remained in print ever since and is so highly regarded that Robert B. Downs included it as one of the twenty-five books THAT CHANGED AMERICA (1970). It has proven to be a vast resource for anthropologists, sociologists, historians, and others interested in American society and culture ever since.
Robert Lynd returned to Muncie in 1935 to determine the impact of the Great Depression upon the community. The second trip produced MIDDLETOWN IN TRANSITION (1937) which emphasized the exercise of power in Muncie by the "X" family and the persistence of older values in a town relying heavily upon federal relief funds. The second book in the series was not as popular as the first, but it, too, has become part of the canon of community studies.
The interest in community studies, however, waned among sociologists in the post-World War II era and the Middletown books were relegated to a position of historical classics, read but not emulated. The situation changed in 1975 when Theodore Caplow, a professor of sociology at the University of Virginia and a former student of Robert Lynd, along with two colleagues from Brigham Young University, Howard M. Bahr and Bruce A. Chadwick, determined to replicate the work of the Lynds and returned to Muncie.
The team spent more time in Muncie than had the Lynds; they employed a larger number of assistants; and, of course, they had, and used, sophisticated computers to process data. The scholars' effort resulted in a flood of articles, which still continues, and two books, MIDDLETOWN FAMILIES (1982) and ALL FAITHFUL PEOPLE (1983). These works, although not yet challenging the Lynds' in importance, have nonetheless had considerable impact upon scholars and the general public. As the work of Middletown III continues, one may expect that the impact will increase.
At exactly the same time that MIDDLETOWN FAMILIES was published a media event also appeared on national public television which probably made Middletown more familiar and famous than any of the articles or books written about the town. It was the Middletown Film Series, which was composed of six films on life in Muncie made by Peter Davis. The series became controversial when one segment, "17" was written by the producer after a dispute with the head of PBS. The withdrawal stimulated interest; and when the film was finally shown in theaters, it further publicized the community. The dispute and the critical reaction to the films and to the withdrawal of the films also generated many newspaper and magazine articles, both from those interested in films and from those interested in community studies.
Finally, during the '80s, the Center for Middletown Studies was established. The Center has several goals, among them to encourage research on Muncie and to promote the name of the center. The Center, as part of its mission, collects materials, both historical and contemporary, pertaining to Middletown. It has sponsored this book whose purpose is to aid and further scholarship on Muncie and the efforts to understand the community. Those connected with the Center as research associates or fellows have also expanded the list of available materials on the community.
All of this activity has occurred at a time when community studies has once again attracted more favor and interest in the scholarly community. Particularly in Great Britain, sociologists are returning both to the idea of doing community studies and to the method of participant observation. The realization that national statistics tend to smooth over regional and local variations, especially at times when certain areas are enjoying much prosperity while others are depressed, has in part, contributed to the revival.
This annotated bibliography is offered in the hopes that it, too, will add to the growth of community studies in general and
Middletown in particular.
Dwight W. Hoover