The Role of the Midwest in American History

First of all, I must say, I was born and raised in the Midwest - and was completely oblivious to its existence. I was as Midwestern as I could be.

I can be more specific, I was born in Ft. Madison, Iowa, close to the intersection of Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois - on the Mississippi River. We had one outstanding trait - we knew nothing of what was going on, beyond our borders. Or, for that matter - what was going on inside our borders. We were, to put it bluntly - ignorant, and proud to be that way.

To put this in yet another way - we had no social awareness.

We were however, practical, and knew how to do almost anything. I became an Electronic Engineer  (U of Illinois, 1959), and made lots of money in the Cold War building expensive Radars to protect us from Soviet Nuclear Bombers - that never existed.

I started my career in Kansas City, and had my first sexual encounter in Terre Haute, Indiana. A town as crazy, as any in existence. This brand of sexual craziness, was peculiar to the Midwest, and was part of its character.

Our family was Midwestern, in another way - we were RLDS. And our church made us feel important - when, in fact we were not important at all.