Land of the Millrats

by Richard M. Dorson

Most of Richard Dorson's thirty years as a folklorist have been spent collecting tales and legends in the remote backcountry, far from the centers of population. For Land of the Millrats , he extended his search for folk traditions to one of the most heavily industrialized sections of the United States. Can folklore be found, he wondered, in the Calumet Region of northwest Indiana? Does it exist among the steelworkers, ethnic groups, and blacks in Gary, Whiting, East Chicago, and Hammond? In his usual entertaining style, Dorson shows that a rich and varied folklore exists in the region. Although it differs from that of rural people, it is equally vital. Much of this urban lore finds expression in conversational anecdotes and stories that deal with pressing the flight from the inner city, crime in the streets, working conditions in the steel mills, the maintenance of ethnic identity, the place of blacks in a predominantly white society. The folklore reveals strongly held attitudes such as the loathing of industrial work, resistance to assimilation, and black adoption of middle-class-white values. Millworkers and mill executives, housewives, ethnic performers, storekeepers, and preachers tell their stories about the region. The concerns that occupy their minds affect city dwellers throughout the United States. Land of the Millrats , though it depicts a special place, speaks for much of America.

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[globulon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the second chapter which was mostly the "folklore" of the steel workers themselves about their work. This part was cool. The rest of the book I browsed through but it didn't have the same degree of interest. Perhaps if you were particularly interested in the academic study of folklore the other segments of stories and arguments would be more interesting.

Much of the material Dorson collects does seem to walk a line between what I imagine folklore as being as opposed to random banter. Again, I wasn't terribly interested in the arguments Dorson makes to justify the label, or to point out the function of the stories.

I also wonder somehow about the nature of the interview responses. I found myself wondering how much it mattered if the stories were embellished for the sake of the interviewers. On the one hand it doesn't seem to matter because the they are still the stories of these people and still reflect their concerns and the way they conceive of their environment. On the other hand, who cares what a bunch of mill workers thought it would be funny to tell some academic interviewing them about their lives?