Pork & Plato

Below is info about the book I was trying to remember.

I've also included info from a Web page that had been part of the apparently defunct "ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE MIDWEST"

It raises a bunch of interesting ideas that relate to our discussion this morning.

The book Robert mentioned is
Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism
(October 2005)

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Helen (Lefkowitz) Horowitz
Culture and the City: Cultural Philanthropy in Chicago from the 1880s to 1917
(The University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, 1976 hardback)
(Univ of Chicago Press, 1989 paperback)

Traces the establishment of many of the great cultural institutions of Chicago, including the Art Institute, the Newberry, the Field Museum, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Chicago.
Her argument was that "Midwestern cultural philanthropy has always combined 'pork and Plato.'"

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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE MIDWEST

SECTION 22: PHILANTHROPY AND CIVIC CULTURE

Judith Sealander, Professor of History at Bowling Green State University

THE SECTION
The Philanthropy and Civic Culture section of the Encyclopedia is organized around eight themes providing vehicles for a lively exploration of the nature of Midwestern civic culture and philanthropy.

Community Self-Help in the Midwest
This section will focus on a variety of self-help institutions Midwesterners created from the 1790s through the late twentieth century. From the granges to Ohio Representative Tony Hall's regional "gleaning" associations, through which the poor collected surplus food and other necessities on their own, Midwesterners have prided themselves on a tradition of self-help. Entries in this section will analyze that tradition. Is a reputation for self-sufficiency in the Midwest deserved? What have been the "self-help" traditions of various ethnic and racial groups? Is a culture of Midwestern self-sufficiency in decline in modern America?
"Making a More Perfect World": The Reformist Impulse in Midwestern Civic Culture
This section will range widely–from the famous Midwestern Utopian experiments of the nineteenth century such as Amana and the various Shaker colonies to other efforts to remake society from abolitionism in the nineteenth century to a search for racial justice in the twentieth.
Cultural Philanthropy
In her book Culture and the City, which focused on Chicago, Helen Horowitz has argued that Midwestern cultural philanthropy has always combined "pork and Plato." Is that true? This section will explore what in fact have been the chief characteristics of cultural philanthropy in the region.

Philanthropy and the Creation of Expert Knowledge
American philanthropy has played a major role in organizing systems of knowledge, especially in the twentieth century. In interesting ways, many new kinds of "expertise" and "knowledge" had roots in philanthropy-supported research based in the Midwest—demography, sexuality research, "child study." This section will examine that legacy.

"Institutionalizing Public Spirit": Philanthropy and Midwestern Expectations of Citizenship
The idea of crafting a “perfect” citizenry saw widespread acceptance in many Midwestern areas from the 1920s through 1945. This notion manifested itself in the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the region and enthusiastic support for the tenets of eugenics. What has been the legacy of the KKK? How did activities such as “Fit Families” contests, so popular in the state of Iowa and Nebraska, shape notions of citizenship and national culture in this period? Until after World War II, Minnesota was more likely to be known for political corruption, civil discord, and high levels of racial prejudice than for tolerance and community-based philanthropy. What changed Minnesota? Many national school reform efforts began in major Midwestern cities. What has contributed to the development of those efforts? This section will explore the shifting and complex nature of citizenship and civic expectations in the Midwest. Have Midwesterners retained notions of the importance of "social capital" in decline elsewhere in modern times?

The World of Midwestern Business Philanthropy
From John H. Patterson’s NCR Corporation to tens of thousands of late-twentieth-century firms Midwestern businesses have contributed to charity. Small and medium-size businesses, over time, have had a much more important philanthropic impact than have the better-known efforts of very large corporations. Much Midwestern philanthropy can be attributed to contributions of small and medium-size businesses. Has that made a difference? What impact have business and Midwestern business culture generally had on philanthropy?

Midwestern Attitudes About Charity to the Poor
Economist Steve Ziliac has used a century's worth of relief roll records from Indianapolis to assess community responses to poverty and the poor. He has seen much more consistency than change in poor relief programs in that city. Is that true for the region? What has been notable about Midwestern responses to poverty? Why have many of the "End of Welfare" initiatives of the late twentieth century begun in the Midwest?

The Community Foundation
The Community Foundation is a Midwestern invention. The Cleveland Foundation, created in 1914, was the nation's first. And the Midwest remains a region where community trusts remain very important. What has been the legacy and impact of community trusts?

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