The Bachelor’s Indiana Hometown Once Burned Books For ‘Low Love’

The Bachelor Ben Higgins of Warsaw, IN (ABC)

On The Bachelor, before Ben Higgins takes one of the bachelorettes to Chicago’s Wrigley Field, he takes all six ladies to his hometown of Warsaw, Indiana (population 13,559). While there isn’t a whole lot to do in the “Orthopedic Capital of the World,” Ben does give a private tour to one lucky lady. The town’s main cultural attractions include the Wagon Wheel Center For the Arts, one of Indiana’s oldest theaters, and the Warsaw Biblical Gardens — inspired by all the plants, trees, and flowers mentioned in the Bible.

One of Warsaw’s most notable residents was Theodore Dreiser, author of the 1925 novel An American Tragedy. The protagonist of the novel is social-climber Clyde Griffiths who suggests that his impregnated lover get an abortion; when she doesn’t, he kills her. In 1933, Nazis in Germany burned copies of the book because it “deals with low love affairs.” In 1935, the library trustees of Warsaw, Indiana, ordered that all the library’s works by Dreiser should be burned. Today, residents of Warsaw, Indiana, can find copies of An American Tragedy on the shelves. The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8pm on ABC.