BGSU 1910: FIRST YEAR SEMINAR – FALL 2019
MEET THE DOCUMENT:
“The Editor Speaks….Migrant Rest Center To Become Small Village.” Northwest-Signal, May 4, 1974.
OBSERVE ITS PARTS:
On May 4, 1972, the editor of the Northwest-Signal, a newspaper from Napoleon, Ohio, wrote about his opinions and concerns on the Migrant Rest Center development for the general population of the Liberty Center school district.
TRY TO MAKE SENSE OF IT:
The editor first talks about what the program consists of; families being brought into the center, who would be provided housing while receiving training for job placement. While being trained, they would have received a living stipend. He then proceeds to give his opinion and concerns on the drawbacks of such a program. How the already growing population would be affected by an even larger community moving in and how it would create a “staggering local tax burden” on the people already living there. The article’s purpose seems to be to inform the area’s residents about those upcoming changes, but in a way that does not seem objective. For example, before explaining the problems with the program, he proceeds to mention how some Appalachia families, local migrants, could use this training. From the start, he shows a preference for different groups. Afterward, he ends with: “It sounds like the boys with their hands in your pockets have come up with another boondoggle-only. This one will cost you more than others because they put it right in your backyard.” It does not seem to be a well-intended end note when he is focusing on just one side of the population’s point of view and completely ignoring the potential positive consequences of the program.
USE IT AS HISTORICAL EVIDENCE:
By 1972, programs were being created to help people of different backgrounds and experiences to be able to get ahead in the workforce to earn a living wage and get a better lifestyle.