Lost In Middle America (and what happened next)

wanted to locate a community of less than 50,000 to tell this story and they settled on the community of Lima, Ohio. To date, most of the stories about America's industrialized rust belt have focused on large communities - Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland, Youngstown - yet it is the smaller communities where the winds of economic change have buffeted the most.

This PBS documentary tells a story about how one community in Ohio is trying to adapt to the historic economic crosswinds sweeping the world today. Lima is a town of 45,000 residents in the agriculturally rich northwestern part of the state. Lima's journey, through the 20' century, is a microcosm reflecting many of the economic trends that have effected millions and has reshaped this country.

America was built on communities like those found in northwest Ohio and most flourished through the first 100 years after the civil war. But due to a combination of economic factors - some regional, some national, some global - many saw their way of life over the past 25 years change dramatically.

Lima and towns like it in the Midwest built vast agricultural and industrial sectors with immigrants who came to farm the land and work in the factories. These same immigrants bi-passed the major cities of America to find employment in the great workable lands west of the Hudson River and a chance to begin anew in the breadbasket of America. And then after WWI, the great northern migration began by African-Americans seeking opportunities in places like Lima.

This documentary is a discovery process where people help tell the story of Lima through their own personal stories. This is a story of every industrial town struggling to find its way in a new age. It's a story of lost pride, enduring hope, and the strength of the human spirit.

For the better part of this century, Lima was a major transportation, industrial, and farming hub for the Midwest and points beyond. It was a key player in the development of the tail, auto, and oil industry in this country. In fact it was the discovery of oil in the 1880's that transformed this small village into a thriving city.

Toward the end of the last century, Lima emerged as an international leader in the refinement of oil. In 1886 John D. Rockefeller bought 151 acres of navy bean fields in Lima and founded the Solar Refinery, later known as Standard Oil of Ohio (Sohio) For the next decade more oil was pumped into its refineries and under its streets than any other place in the world. Oil fever led to the growth of Lima's second major industry, trains. The Lima Loco Works was the largest producers of trains in the United States. It's Shay engines and A-1 super-power steam locomotives made Lima famous worldwide.

With oil and trains as its backbone, the towns economy grew. From the Gramm-Bernstein Motor Truck Company came Liberty Trucks, nationally renowned during WW1. From the Lima Depot came tanks. Superior Coach Company produced more buses, ambulances, and hearses than any other company in America. The Diesel - Wemmer cigar company rolled out 2,000,000 cigars monthly, becoming one of the largest manufacturers in the country. Yet prosperity brought some unsavory elements to Lima. Prostitutes, gambling, gangsters. Enough vice to earn Lima the nickname Little Chicago". And like much of the nation at the time, Lima imposed segregation on the black community.

Towns like Lima thought they were insulated from any substantial job Ion primarily because they were not reliant on one single industry. Just when it seemed that Lima would continue growing forever, it all began to change. This change was not precipitated by any one great single event, just a hundred smaller ones that formed a critical mass of negative economic news that proved to be disastrous to not only Lima but for communities like it around the Midwest and beyond.

With the decline of the industrial sector in the 1970s, and 1980's thousands of families were displaced. Lima's large African-American community felt this hardship the most and tensions rose as the jobs went away. By the mid-1990's, Lima had lost 14,000 jobs and the prospect of replacing those lost jobs seemed impossible.

The emergence of a global economy has had a dramatic effect on communities the size of Lima. This program looks in-depth at how decisions being made thousands of miles away, sometimes in a foreign country, are effecting communities like Lima. By examining a town of 45,000 the viewer will be able to gain an understanding of the global economic forces that now control us all ... and in this documentary we see it on a human scale. This program will go a long way in explaining why it happened and where the city stands today. Will Lima rebound? Can it compete in a global market? Furthermore, is what took place in Lima over the past two decades now being played out in Japan? To a large extent Americas future will rely on communities like Lima finding the answer to economic growth and vitality.

This documentary will bring a greater awareness to these issues and illuminate the vital lessons of Midwestern value and the strength of the human spirit. It is the story of one towns triumphant spirit to remain relevant and vibrant during rapidly changing times.

> Purchase The Video