Civil rights leader Hurley Goodall recalls a time when blacks in Muncie were excluded from the classic sociological studies on Muncie as Middletown.
However, the work of 15 Ball State University students, the contributions of 50 black residents such as Goodall and the help of multiple scholars paved the way for the first publication examining the black population. The book earned co-author and former Ball State anthropology professor Eric Lassiter the 2005-06 Margaret Mead Award in Vancouver, British Columbia, last week.
The book, called "The Other Side of Middletown," serves as a "benchmark for the African-American community here" by highlighting the group ignored in the 1929 book "Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture" and following studies, Goodall said.
Jim Connolly, director of the Center for Middletown Studies at Ball State, said the 2004 book was based on the idea of collaborative ethnography, a controversial yet increasingly common research method that involves using information from actual subjects.
"I'm sure some people argue that you're not getting an objective look at the community if your subjects are shaping the final results of the research," Connolly said.
Goodall, a retired state legislator, said he had worked with a team from the University of Virginia in the 1980s to complete a similar study. However, a year after the team returned home, Goodall discovered a falling out at the university had put a halt on the project, which was sponsored by a $250,000 grant from the federal government.
"I felt kind of betrayed when they didn't produce the product," Goodall said.
LASSITER'S DEPARTURE
Lassiter, who could not be reached for comment, is now director of the graduate humanities program and professor of humanities and anthropology at Marshall University. He left Ball State in 2004 after about eight years because of a conflict between his and the anthropology department's academic interests, Ron Hicks, department chairman, said.
The anthropology department has had some problems with other young professors since Lassiter's departure, Goodall said.
"I think some of the older faculty out there felt threatened by smart, ambitious young faculty," Goodall said.
Hicks said Lassiter even applied for the position of Ball State director of Middletown Studies but withdrew his name.
"I know he wanted to be able to devote more time to his research and the like than he was able to in this department because we have a fairly heavy teaching load," Hicks said.
The department requires instructors to teach an introductory class each semester and a specialized anthropology class, Hicks said. Since Lassiter's departure, faculty have not really raised an issue with the teaching requirements, he said.
"If they have, they have been less vocal about it," Hicks said. "You never get a group like this to agree on everything, but for the most part, we get along reasonably well and agree on most things."
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