Cara Siliakus

AMST 276

7 November 2018

 

Photo Caption #2

Citation: Armstrong, Martha. The Quest of Food Substitutes. In Training School Quarterly. Vol. 4, no. 3 (Oct., Nov., Dec. 1917). Greenville, N.C.: East Carolina Teachers Training School, 1917, p. 215-216 <https://docsouth.unc.edu/wwi/armstrong/armstrong.html>

The object I chose for my second time period, Food and Social Reform in the Progressive Era (1900-1919), is an excerpt from the Fall 1917 version of The Training School Quarterly, a professional journal published by the East Carolina Teachers Training School. This included articles from scholars about public education and also information related to food, including gardening, canning and agriculture information that would be useful for students at the training school at this time, because the need for students in food production was especially great in the middle of the first World War.[i] [ii] The excerpt I chose was written by Martha Armstrong, a graduate of ECTTS with a B.S. in Domestic Science and later a professor in Household Economics at the school.[iii] [iv]

The article analyzes the importance of locating substitutes for several food items that were rendered scarce or even inaccessible because of World War One. It lists possible food substitutes for sugar, fats, and making bread and cakes by using North Carolina native resources that were cheapest and most accessible at the time. For example, Armstrong suggests substituting certain fats with butters made from North Carolina nuts. She also discusses the importance of this information for students, because they could use it to serve a broader purpose in their post-graduate life. This is why it is applicable to the Chapel Hill area. ECTTS (now East Carolina University) was located in Greenville, North Carolina, which is less than two hours away from Chapel Hill. The food substitutes Armstrong is suggesting are applicable to the entire state of North Carolina, especially in Chapel Hill, because the university served as a training camp site for preparations for the war.[v] The effects of the war were especially felt in this area of North Carolina as the university continued its academic pursuits but also was influenced by the war both indirectly with food source availability and directly with training preparation; this is why this object is quintessential for understanding North Carolina at the time. The university had experienced previous wars in its history, so it can be compared to earlier accounts of war affecting the campus and the Chapel Hill area but the way this affected the region was probably referenced when preparations were made for the second World War. This object was particularly interesting to me for my caption assignment because it details how North Carolina and the Chapel Hill region were affected by an international event such as war in regards to food availability.

Signed: Cara Siliakus

[i] “School Gardens.” School Gardens – East Carolina University. Accessed November 06, 2018. https://lib.ecu.edu/heritagehall/about/gardens.

 

[ii] “TIMELINE.” Timeline – East Carolina University. Accessed November 06, 2018. https://lib.ecu.edu/heritagehall/timeline#section1.

 

[iii] “Ninth Annual Catalogue of the East Carolina Teachers Training School 1917-1918.” Full Text of “Ninth Annual Catalogue of the East Carolina Teachers Training School, 1917-1918”. Accessed November 06, 2018. http://archive.org/stream/ninthannualcatal09east/ninthannualcatal09east_djvu.txt.

 

[iv] Images, Internet Archive Book. “Image from Page 57 of “The Teachers College Quarterly [serial]” (1922).” Flickr. July 30, 2014. Accessed November 06, 2018. https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14596771487

 

[v] “Yackety Yack 1918.” Documenting the American South Homepage. Accessed November 06, 2018. https://docsouth.unc.edu/wwi/yack1918/yack1918.html.