Reflections on a Small Town's Diaspora

My friend and former colleague Norma Elliott writes an occasional post for the newspaper in Gilman, Illinois, the small rural town where she grew up. Each post consists of a Q&A-style interview with someone who lived in Gilman and often has family or friends still living in the area. They were acquainted, in one way or another, with about everyone in town. Most attended school there and reflect on their teachers in very positive ways.

In their reminiscences, the former Gilmanites frequently cite the residents' shared "values" as something quite positive for which they're grateful. One also gets the sense those "values" do not commonly exist outside the rural Illinois world in which Gilman is situated. It's also difficult to clearly define what those "values" are, although they appear to be strongly connected to some notion of personal integrity.

I enjoy reading Norma's posts. She talks with everyday people who, it turns out, are living rather adventurous lives. Many have moved to large metropolitan areas, as their careers were their meal ticket out of Gilman. A number of subjects have lived, or are currently living, outside the United States. Some have enjoyed challenging, successful careers in business or in the armed services.

I called this one-way mobility from Gilman part of the "Illinois diaspora." When I said it, I was kidding, but upon further consideration, the notion isn't so far-fetched. When I was a young boy, I lived in Fulton, a small city of about 15,000 in central New York State. Many sentiments expressed by former Gilman residents could be easily shared by those who were raised and educated in Fulton. Also, Gilman and Fulton shared a departure of its ambitious, brightest, or most restless to just about anyplace besides their hometowns.

That urge to go elsewhere is ingrained for small town inhabitants. When one lives in a Gilman or Fulton, one is quite aware of the distances to more cosmopolitan experiences. There is a hierarchical order to life beyond the small town environment. One can step up in experience with manageable, conceivably spontaneous drives from a small town to a larger city, or take a planned trip to a major metropolis such as Chicago or New York. One can also avoid either choice and remain entirely satisfied in the small town. I have family members who embody each of those perspectives; many small-town natives have similar stories to share.

When I was a pre-teen, my family moved from Fulton to New York City. I returned for a visit to central New York about a year into my Gotham life. It didn't take me long to realize that I had crossed some sort of psychological Rubicon: there was no turning back. Fulton became part of my personal history, rich with the sort of experience the Gilman residents would have understood. However, my life would blossom elsewhere, with "values" that evolved in some different directions that what I imagine would have occurred had I stayed in a small town.

The photograph shows downtown Gilman.