Event

What is the Midwest?

The Midwest is a place of movement and encounter, sometimes peaceful, often contested, and frequently violent. Utilizing surprising materials from the Newberry's collections, this seminar will tell stories of people who moved within and through the Midwest to demonstrate broader trajectories of forced and voluntary migration and immigration in the region. Participants will draw connections from the local to the regional, Nebraska to Ohio, and past to the present. The content will especially center the stories of Indigenous peoples past and present, examine the historical dynamics of European immigration, and consider the role of African Americans in the Midwest before, during, and after the Great Migration.