Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1999 The (loess) hills: power and democracy in a "new" landform Peggy Petrzelka Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Geography Commons, Geology Commons, and the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Petrzelka, Peggy, "The (loess) hills: power and democracy in a "new" landform " (1999). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 12601. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/12601 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced firom the microfilm master. 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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell &HoweIl Infimnation Company 300 Noith Zed> Road, Ann Aibor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 The (loess) hills: Power and democracy in a "new" landform by Peggy Petrzelka A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major; Sociology Major Professor: Michael M. Bell Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1999 Copyright © Peggy Petrzelka, 1999. All rights reserved. UMX Ntimbeir: 9924755 Copyright 1999 by Petrzelka, Peggy All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9924755 Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ii Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the Doctoral dissertation of Peggy Petrzelka has met the dissertation requirements of Iowa State University Signature was redacted for privacy. Signature was redacted for privacy. For the•Major Program Signature was redacted for privacy. iuate College Hi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v ABSTRACT vii L PACKING FOR THE TRIP I ONE. SETTING THE BOUNDARIES 2 n. CONSTITUTING THE DISCOURSE 14 TWO. TOURISTS AND SCIENTISTS AND JOURNALISTS...OH MY!!!! 15 THREE. MAKING A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A (LOESS) HILL 42 in. SOCIAL IMPACTS OF THE DISCOURSE 76 FOUR. PRIDE AND PROPRIETORSHIP, OR; NEW NAME, NEW QUESTIONS 77 FIVE. POWER AND DEMOCRACY IN A "NEW" LANDFORM. 125 IV. UNPACKING 165 SIX. ORANGE AVE., OR"JUST NORTH OF HICKORY NUTT' 166 NOTES 171 REFERENCES 182 iv LIST OFnGURES Figure I. Landforms of Iowa Figure 2. Fall in the Loess Hills Figure 3. Widest Main Street in USA Figure 4. Map of Iowa Figure 5. Map of research area V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To individually acknowledge all those who have helped get me to this point, the last pages I will write of my dissertation, would be to (almost) write a dissertation length paper once again. And so I apologize for the generalizations I am about to make, but sincerely hope that those who have helped me maintain some semblance of sanity these past three years know who they are. First and foremost, I thank those individuals from the hills, no matter where they "actually" live, who opened up their homes and their world, and shared many hours of conversation with me. My intention was to represent your voices correctly, and well. I hope I have done so. I also hope that in the places where I appear critical, my criticism is taken in the way in which it is intended, from one friend to another. So to all "Hill People"— wherever you are located—Thank you\ There are several individuals who deserve specific mention. These include my major professor and friend. Mike Bell, and my employer and friend, Steve Padgitt. I am quite proud to say I am a student of Mike Bell's (in fact at times I flaunt it). Mike has not only accepted my unconventional ways but encourages them. He has patiently sat, listened, and offered advice for hours while I muddle not only through thoughts of analysis but also thoughts on life. Steve Padgitt as well has accepted my unconventional ways, and has wholeheartedly supported me through this venture. The importance Steve places on students first, and their research assistantship duties second is exemplary, as is the trust he has placed in me, and the opportunities he has given me these past 5+ years. Every graduate student should be so lucky to work with Mike and Steve. Everyone would also do well to have friends like Joan Steffen-Baker, Renea Miller, Wendy Wintersteen, and Robert Waggoner. Without Renea and Joan I'd still be mired in transcribing of tapes and sitting at the computer trying to figure out why my page numbers aren't centered. These two helped me in the less exciting work in this piece, but their work builds the foundation of it. Wendy and Robert have given me nutritional support by often providing me dinner, but also personal support, with their continuous encouragement for me to follow my heart, and my dreams. vi I apologize to those who had hoped to see their names on the following pages. Time did not permit me to verify with everyone how I used their comments. In my future revisions, I hope to use real names, to tell the story most accurately. Here I would like to personally thank ±ose who made my stay and work in the hills never seem like work. These include; Mary Jane, Thayer and Eric Brown, Tom and Shirley Bruegger, Denny and Janelle Thoreson, Jeanne Kuhlmann, Sheila Lindsey, Wilbur and Leone Mann, Chris Miller, Thelma Miller, Walter and Mary Ordway, Ruth Pickle, Colleen Shol, Ardith Sporleder, Electa Strub, Ivan Struble, former and present members of the Lx)ess Hills Hospitality Association Board, and "the gang" at the Waterin' Hole. I wrote my dissertation in a manner to open up the discourse of sociology. Some will argue that it is not "scientific"—and in the conventional sense of the word I agree. Yet "science" in that conventional sense at times erects boundaries, when my attempt throughout this work is to tear some boundaries down. For those who were willing to accept this different way of "doing science," I sincerely thank you. These include my additional committee members, Jackie Litt, Pete Korsching, Clare Hinrichs, and Mark Chidister. Their insightful comments on this work already have my mind reeling about the direction I will take this dissertation into its final product. Finally, thanks to all my friends in East Hall and Ames, as well as my family, who understood when I disappeared for long periods of time. In the following pages, I hope to finally answer your question, "what is she doing out in that farmhouse anyway?" Without any of these above individuals, I honestly don't know how or if this work would have been completed. I have been truly blessed to have encountered so many wonderful people. Thank you all. vii ABSTRACT In the 1970's a new landform appeared in western Iowa—the "Loess Hills." The hills were there before, but scientists, primarily geologists, were the first to give these landscape features this specific name and document their boundaries. These hills, said the scientists, are significant because they are one of only a few landforms in the world made wholly of wind-blown glacial deposits, called loess, which were left after the last ice age ended millennia ago. Until the late I980's and early 1990's, most residents in the area called the area "the bluffs" or "the hills." Yet use of the new name is on the increase with each year. The primary goal of my research was to study this collective space called the Loess Hills, searching an answer to the question: When proclamations are made by natural scientists and the constitution of a place occurs, what are the social consequences? With the new name—a purely scientific name—a new array of social dynamics has emerged within the area. Identifying these dynamics, and the larger social processes which have occurred during and with this name change, are the principal issues I examine, using ethnographic research. The principal dynamics stem from the interactions between external actors (scientists, journalists, tourists, and the State) and the residents of the region. Issues of power and democracy have emerged from these interactions. Residents are now grappling with the scientific facts surrounding the hills. A change in collective identity, from "hill people" to "Hill People" has also arisen.