Matthew Smith explores Middletown, Ohio, in The Conversation
The Midwestern town is at the heart of JD Vance’s ‘Hillbilly Elegy’
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“With Sen. JD Vance named Donald Trump’s running mate, commentators are dusting off Vance’s 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” to explain America’s political moment,” writes Matthew Smith, visiting assistant professor of History.
“Today, with Vance on the Republican presidential ticket, national attention is once again turning to Middletown, Ohio,” Smith writes. “His hometown – just north of Cincinnati – risks becoming an abstract symbol of Rust Belt America. Ironically, it is easy to lose sight of the city’s rich, distinctive heritage, from which Vance’s memoir drew its potency.”
Read Smith’s article, that originally appeared in The Conversation.