Final paper

Presentations were done tonight, I think it went fairly well. I’m posting the final version of my paper below. Feel free to ask questions or give feedback!

“For the improvement of the rising generation of Females”: Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery and the Development of the American Woman

While traditionally ignored by scholars due to their position as utilitarian rather than literary/expressive texts, cookbooks have somewhat recently become an object of cultural and historical analysis. They provide a valuable window into the foodways of the culture publishing and purchasing them, and food not only literally sustains the population but its regional and class differences help to define that population’s culture. Much of this work, therefore, has sought to demonstrate the function of cookbooks to inscribe and reproduce national and ethnic identity. While this analysis of the overall culture has been illuminating and valuable, however, the fact that numerous cultures have generally assigned cooking responsibilities to one gender—women—demands greater acknowledgment in their analysis; what can these texts tell us specifically about the circumstances, social roles, and opportunities of the individuals who will be actually carrying out their instructions?

A cultural identity-based pattern of inquiry can be clearly seen when dealing with the first cookbook authored by an American, Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery (1796). The two declarations of the book and author’s American identities on the title page alone begin to demonstrate that this text was part of an effort to define a unique identity for the United States of America, distinct from its British origins even down to its food. Simplified recipes and local ingredients such as corn and pumpkin, originally adopted out of necessity, now became a marker of hardy, egalitarian American sensibilities. As James McWilliams notes in his survey of the development of American foodways, these local crops “were symbolic reflections of the ceaseless toil that Americans and their slaves, servants, and children invested in the ongoing quest for self-sufficiency” (145). The use of corn in particular was frequently rejected and ridiculed by European commentators; as Glynis Ridley points out, “when repeated dislike and disdain is expressed by writers of one nation toward a bulwark of the diet of another, then dietary insults shade into national insults” and thus Amelia Simmons’ cookbook serves as a defense of corn as legitimate and enjoyable alongside other remarks on its quality from figures like Ben Franklin (118).[1] In her analysis of American Cookery’s political functions, Glynis Ridley also notes how Simmons herself becomes a part of the discourse defining American independence; the author, identified as an American Orphan, revives “easily the most common trope of anti-British satire in the period 1763-83,” that of America as the child of overbearing Britain in a relationship so soured that “America is effectively an orphan” (115).

The author and the intended audience of American Cookery were not simply Americans, however, but specifically American women. Simmons’ introductory preface shows an almost strange fixation on development and change, stating that the cookbook is “calculated for the improvement of the rising generation of Females in America” (3). Young women, presumably like Simmons herself, live in a “world … so variable, that old people cannot accommodate themselves to the various changes and fashions which daily occur … while the young and the gay, bend and conform readily to the taste of the times” (Simmons 3). This statement, in the middle of a preface to a cookbook discussing the problems of orphans, seems strange until one considers that like America overall, women after the Revolution experienced great changes in domestic responsibilities, educational opportunities, and the significance of their gender’s social role. As an aide for a core domestic pursuit, American Cookery not only participates in a developing discourse of national identity but also illustrates and argues for a changing image of urban, educated Republican womanhood. Thus the figure of Amelia Simmons as author and the components of her cookbook, while aimed for “all grades of life,” primarily reflect the urban female population and advocate in new debates over public education for women (Simmons 1).

Undergrad Study Guide

As part of this project, we were required to think not only about conducting our research and writing papers, but how we might teach this focus area to others — specifically, an undergraduate class studying Early America. I’ve put together a study guide for a unit, and I’m basically thinking that this would cover a week, for a class that meets two or three days during that time.

This assignment was challenging for me, as unlike most of my peers in the program I am not actually teaching classes and have no experience putting together lesson plans. I think this plan and guide captures the major ideas in my paper, but managing the amount of reading for undergraduates who will have other courses in their workload was difficult. This is probably still too much reading for an undergrad unit, but I’ve attempted to cut it down by dropping some of the longer and more dense articles I originally intended to use (even excerpts were quite long in order to cover the key material) and leaving out some of the primary sources on education. Perhaps I should have relied more on those primary sources than the secondary ones I did include, but I was unsure about adding the work of parsing out ideas like Republican Motherhood onto their core requirement to connect cookbooks to wider cultural issues.

Due to formatting complexity, rather than paste in the guide as I do with other work, I have attached a PDF: Graffeo-UndergradStudyGuide

I’d appreciate feedback from any of my peers with teaching experience, as well as from Dr. Logan. I don’t expect to go into teaching any time soon, but understanding how to teach something is a great way to help ensure you understand the material yourself. Besides, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared for unexpected career changes!

Annotated Bibliography of Secondary Sources

Here, I’ve compiled an annotated bibliography of all the secondary sources I consulted that wound up being relevant to my topic, even if they were not directly cited within the paper. I obtained several books and articles not reflected here because they were not as closely related as I initially hoped, or as the focus of my project shifted they became irrelevant and I did not read them fully.

Initial Draft

Coming up on the end of the semester, am excited to finish up and read the outcome of everyone’s research! First draft peer review is up first, though – for anyone who’s curious, I’m posting the current draft of my paper below. I think I’m still too close to it at this point to judge whether it’s decent, so hopefully it’s worth the read.

Contextual Documents

This post contains a listing of primary and secondary sources selected for use in an undergraduate study unit on Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery (1796). Most sources will only use selected excerpts in order to keep the amount of reading reasonable. Of course, these documents will be assigned in addition to the text of American Cookery itself.

Primary Sources

Glasse, Hannah. The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy: Which Far Exceeds Anything of the Kind Yet Published… London: Printed for W. Strahan, J. and F. Rivington, and J. Hinton, 1774. Google Books. Web. [Read here]

This was a popular cookbook from England during the Revolutionary period. The table of contents and a few excerpted recipes from this book will allow a comparison with American Cookery so students can identify similarities and differences in ingredients and recipe techniques.

Trist, Elizabeth House. “The Travel Diary of Elizabeth House Trist: Philadelphia to Natchez, 1783-84.” Journeys in New Worlds: Early American Women’s Narratives. Ed. Annette Kolodny. Madison: U of Wisconsin P, 1990. 201-32. Print.

Selected excerpts from Trist’s diary will illustrate divides in foodways and the scope of women’s housework during the post Revolutionary period. This will facilitate exploration of growing urban vs. rural and class divides in household responsibilities and opportunities, which relates to Simmons’ status as an orphan and servant, as well as a wider understanding of Republican womanhood.

Ulrich, Laura Thatcher. A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812. New York: Vintage, 1990. Print.

Martha Ballard discusses housework over the course of keeping her diary, including the food she prepared for her family, the vegetables she commonly grew in her garden, networks of female apprenticeship and assistance within the home and the general grueling scope of her responsibilities within the household. Selected entries will further the understanding of female domestic roles and the informal processes of female education in important household skills.

Secondary Sources

Images and Video

“American Heritage Vegetables.” Center for Digital Humanities of South Carolina. Web. http://research.cdh.sc.edu/vegetable/index.php

This website offers images and descriptions of vegetables common in the early American diet, which will add a visual component to the discussion of foodways.

“Museum Objects.” Feeding America: The Historic American Cookbook Project. Web. http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/html/museum.html

This website has a listing with photographic images of common kitchen implements and technologies used in early America, which will help students visualize the environment and processes that went into cooking during this period.

Griffith Morgan House. “Hearth Cookery at Harvest Celebration 2009.” YouTube. Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVB53R6Hoo4&feature=related

Rural Heritage Museum. “Hearth Cooking Demonstration at the Rural Heritage Museum 2010.” YouTube. Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUZXp-jtFAw&feature=related

These two videos offer demonstrations and descriptions of hearth cooking practices from early America, within the setting of actual colonial homes. Viewing at least part of these will further assist in developing a mental image and procedural understanding of the scope of work involved in early American cooking.

Foodways in Early New England

Janowitz, Meta F. “Indian Corn and Dutch Pots: Seventeenth-Century Foodways in New Amsterdam/New York.” Historical Archaeology 27.2 (1993) : 6-24. Web. 7 Oct 2011.

McMahon, Sarah F. “A Comfortable Subsistence: The Changing Composition of Diet in Rural New England, 1620-1840.” The William and Mary Quarterly 42.1 (1985) : 26-65. Web. 7 Oct 2011.

Brief excerpts from these papers will describe common ingredients and cooking practices in New England, as well as highlighting changes due to improved agricultural practices, imports, and the beginning of industrialization that would follow after 1800.

Women’s Work and Changing Roles

Plante, Ellen M. The American Kitchen 1700 to the Present: From Hearth to Highrise. New York: Facts on File, 1995. Print.

The very beginning of this book provides details on the technologies available to early American women in the kitchen; it should work well in combination with the images found at the Historic American Cookbook Project.

Norton, Mary Beth. Liberty’s Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1996. Print.

Norton provides a richly detailed overview of the changing situation, roles, and identities of American women from before the Revolution to the beginning of the 1800s. Selected excerpts from the early sections will allow me to demonstrate and provide context for women prior to Revolutionary upheaval, and then later selections will allow the comparison in order to understand how Simmons’ cookbook reflects and participates in these developments. Later selections will also introduce the post-Revolutionary focus on female public education, an important context due to the textbook’s framing of Simmons as an illiterate serving woman.

Cott, Nancy F. The Bonds of Womanhood: “Woman’s Sphere” in New England, 1780-1835. New Haven: Yale UP, 1977. Print.

Cott focuses in great detail on the specifics of women’s domestic lives, specifically in relation to the way social and emotional bonds between women interact with their household responsibilities. Excerpts will highlight informal structures of female education and support in domestic issues, as well as the way these begin to break down and change due to urbanization and industrialization. In combination with Norton, this will contextualize Simmons’ cookbook in relation to questions of female education and the need for shifting domestic training and female networks into the published, public information network.

Food and American Politics/Identity

McWilliams, James. “‘How Unripe We Are’: The Intellectual Construction of American Foodways.” Food, Culture & Society 8.2 (2005) : 143-160. Web. 7 Oct 2011.

McWilliams focuses on food’s relation to the Revolutionary construction of American identity and political efforts toward independence. Excerpts further illustrate how domestic practices suddenly intersected with public, political space, as well as the significance and cultural need for “officially” outlining American foodways that deviated from the British.

Ridley, Glynis. “The First American Cookbook.” Eighteenth-Century Life 23.2 (1999) : 114-123. Web. 7 Oct 2011.

Ridley discusses the political and social significance of Simmons’ text, but excerpts also highlight the political significance of the author’s orphan identity within the context of Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary discourse that positioned Britain as parent and the American colonies as children.

Research Proposal

Sorry this is up late – I’ve been pretty sick lately, and the increased tiredness and stuffy head have made my brain malfunction even more than normal for this point in the semester. So I submitted in WC, but completely forgot to post here.

Below is my research proposal for our Dec 8 conference on Early American Women in/and Cultural Studies. Hopefully this clears up what my paper will be doing. If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions please let me know!

Article Abstract: The First American Cookbook

Ridley, Glynis. “The First American Cookbook.” Eighteenth-Century Life 23.2 (1999): 114-123. Project Muse. Web. 11 Oct 2011.

Abstract

The first cookbook written by an American author, Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery embodies the efforts of the newly independent nation to develop a cultural as well as political identity that was distinct from their British origins. Both title page and preface position the author as an orphan, a resonant symbol when much of the pre- and post-Revolutionary political rhetoric positioned America as a child in relation to England. Similarly, many recipes in Simmons’ text rely upon native and/or locally plentiful ingredients rather than imports from England, and privilege simple dishes over more complex European fare; this serves both to establish a distinct American culinary culture and to bolster political boycotting of foodstuffs that profited England. The cookbook is compared with other Early American texts, including The Contract (1787) and Barlow’s Hasty Pudding (1793) to contextualize the political nature and thrust of Simmons’ orphan imagery and focus on local foods. Thus, we can see that twenty years following the revolution, as conditions in America are becoming more stable, Simmons’ cookbook reaches out to the domestic network of women as part of the development of an independent American identity characterized by simplicity, hard work, and distinct foodways.

Response / Analysis

This article was interesting and will be useful, though its somewhat short length prevents it from going into much depth or detail. Ridley examines the text itself in some detail, focusing initially on the significance of the title page’s wording in establishing this cookbook as a part of the political and cultural processes happening in post-Revolutionary America. Later, she discusses several aspects of the recipe content, including both what they contain (particular ingredients, complexity of instructions) and what they omit (knowledge the audience is assumed to have). Though fairly brief, Ridley demonstrates a familiarity with the content and does not shy away from engaging with its details.

Ridley employs a cultural studies approach by contextualizing elements of the text through a mixture of other literature, political rhetoric, and historical events. For the most part, this satisfactorily establishes—and fits American Cookery into—patterns like the positioning of America as a child and the conceit of egalitarian, simple American society opposed to a hierarchical and wealth/indulgence obsessed Britain. Occasionally, however, I wished for more detail: more excerpts of primary material would have been helpful in the discussion of activism through boycotting British imports, and the attitudes of the English to American foods like corn.

The use of secondary sources and engagement with the broader scholarly discussion felt lacking to me. I’m glad Ridley gave space to her own thoughts and argument given the article’s length, but I would have appreciated a greater sense that she fits in with other established criticism. I’m unsure yet whether this lack is due to authorial oversight, however, or simply to the fact that cookbooks seem to be a fairly small area of literary and cultural analysis.

This article should be useful for me going about my research. In addition to being one of the few items I’ve found that focuses on American Cookery, it supports some of my instincts regarding the title and shows how I might, if needed, engage with other cultural items beyond cookbooks to make my point. Perhaps unfortunately, however, this paper (and some other items I’ve reviewed) seems to indicate that I cannot focus on cookbooks and American identity, as it has already been done. Therefore, I am starting to look specifically at American women to find how this book and others may reflect their developing identity and social role.

Note taking

Notes are always tricky for me. I never really learned a formal note taking methodology, or had a class that required me to do it rigorously, so I’ve always just sort of done whatever. By default this usually ends up being outline style notes occasionally supplemented by diagrams if the information seems to call for it.

For this project I’m attempting the Cornell method, as it seems the most friendly to later review due to the brief summaries and key questions in the left column. So far it seems to be working well. Now if only I could teach myself a method of shorthand that I can remember later – usually if I try to abbreviate a lot, when I go back to study I’ve forgotten what my notes mean.

Just in case anyone is curious, here’s a photo of my notes on the introduction to Levenstein’s Revolution at the Table.

Preliminary Bibliography

Since I’m still attempting to narrow down a thesis, my initial exploration list of primary and secondary (with some tertiary) works is a bit broad. I’ve provided a list of items I’ll be looking at, both to take notes and to help refine a direction for further research. To make things a bit easier, I’ve subdivided the items into rough subject or purpose groups.

If you have specific thoughts on any of these sources, or recommendations for other authors and texts I should consider, please let me know!

Putting out feelers

I haven’t had as much time as I’d like lately to explore my topic further, but I’m starting to feel my way out from Simmons’ book to larger issues. There are a number of promising books and articles (unfortunately one or two important prospects seem to have been misplaced by the library) that I’m preparing to dive into this weekend.

Right now, thinking about cookbooks and American food in general – and Simmons’ book in particular – is spawning a lot of intriguing questions:

• How do we use food to define and transfer concepts of community and identity?
• Is Simmons the first American cookbook author for a reason? Is her identity and story useful culturally? Similarly, what is the significance to Americans previously relying on European texts? Does it demonstrate a cultural attitude rather than simply a matter of practicality?
• How did cultural interaction between Native Americans, settlers, and slaves affect dietary practices?
• Women’s knowledge and skills were traditionally passed down within the family, through apprenticeship and oral traditions. Does the transition to printed cookbooks written by women tell us something about concepts of gender, knowledge, and authority?
• Were printed or written local recipes circulated in America before Simmons’ book?
• Food is discussed a great deal in Rowlandson’s captivity narrative. Does it feature heavily in other texts? If so, what does this say about the relationship of cooking to culture and to media?

Hopefully my research and our work in class will help me narrow these thoughts down to a concise thesis. There isn’t much time until abstracts are due!