“The Doctors Banquet Tonight.” The Raleigh Times, May 6, 1907. https://www-newspapers-com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/image/58029037
This primary source is taken from The Raleigh Times published on May 6th, 1907. This column in the newspaper is about a doctors banquet that evening. The writer in this column is an individual that knows about the event and is informing the public. The attendants of the banquet are the faculty of the University medical department at Raleigh and the banquet is for their graduating class. Drs. Abernethy, Stevens and Moncure, and the committee are the ones that arranged the menu for the evening [1].
The menu includes, queen olives, salted almonds, caviar canape, consommé royal, soft shell crabs, Strasburg potatoes, chicken financier, fillet of beef pique, new potatoes in cream, asparagus hollandaise, terrapin Maryland, Italian salad, ice cream and strawberries, layer cake, Roquefort, Bent’s water crackers, and coffee. The column includes the men from the graduating class that have passed all examinations. The commencement for these new doctors will be held in Chapel Hill the following week [1].
In the “Eating in an Age of Decadence and Empire” chapter of American Appetites, between 1880 and 1920, more than four million Italians immigrated to the United States, for a better economic opportunity. Many of these immigrants developed a pan-ethnic cuisine which was influenced by Americans. The menu in The Raleigh Times includes an Italian salad [1]. The information in American Appetites reveals that Chapel Hill’s dishes were affected by these immigrants and the diversity of the people and food was present [2].
This column in the newspaper is important because it exemplifies how universities celebrated their students for their academic accomplishments and how newspapers announce details to social events during this time period. One is able to understand the kind of menus and the type of food served at these events from this document. The Chapel Hill and Raleigh areas are very close; therefore, the menu at the Raleigh commencement will be very much like the one held in Chapel Hill the following week. It is interesting to see some foods are still used for meals at social events like soft shell crab, cake, and coffee for dinner. Today, food is an important aspect at large gatherings and social events on the Chapel Hill campus and this document communicates a similar importance of food for the people in the Chapel Hill area [1].
[1] “The Doctors Banquet Tonight.” The Raleigh Times, May 6, 1907.
https://www-newspapers-com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/image/58029037
[2] “Eating in an Age of Decadence and Empire.” In American Appetites: A Documentary Reader, edited by Wallach Jennifer Jensen and Swindall Lindsey R., 101-22. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2014. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1ffjhj8.11.
Avery Ward