Impact Stories – Page 7

Back at the end of April, during the early days of self-isolating (coronavirus pandemic), I was following a writer on a Facebook group called “Nostalgic Nawlins Memories.” Every day, this person, Derby Gisclair, posts a New Orleans-related photograph from the past – with a short commentary. As I was trying to think of something I could do to “help” during these trying times, I was inspired by Mr. Gisclair. I thought: I can write, I do genealogy, I love local history (Columbus, Georgia), and I like research (retired Columbus State University librarian). I got the idea to post something every day on the “Early Columbus Georgia” Facebook group I belong to. However, instead of using photographs, I realized I would use historic Columbus newspapers – available to all from the Georgia Historic Newspapers site. And that’s what I have done – starting on April 28, 2020, I began posting a “Today in Columbus History” piece on the Facebook group.

May 1, 1856 – Ad for daguerreotypes by A.J. (Andrew Jackson) Riddle

Every day I search the Georgia Historic Newspapers database for papers published on the date (month and day) I’m working with – no matter the year. I usually do a “Browse” search by “City” and randomly go through the titles; then I search the “Calendar” view. When I find an issue for the right date, I pull it up.

Usually, there are four pages. I have the best luck finding articles and ads on pages 3 and 4. Early nineteenth–century Columbus newspapers basically had 4 pages. Page 1 would usually include a lot of ads and national news. Page 2 would usually be comprised of politics and reported news from other places. Pages 3 and 4 would have more local stuff – as well as ads and legal notices.

I try to find a piece that I know a little bit about. I have to remind myself I am just writing a short blurb – I’m not writing a paper for publication. I try not to spend over an hour on each piece – although sometimes I do. Footnotes are not required (although I do try to cite my sources – particularly for the pictures I use). I also try to keep the commentary to one or two paragraphs. Sometimes I go over. And I usually include a couple of photos along with the newspaper clipping.

Subjects I have written about run the gamut: from sweet potato pudding recipes to the hiring of enslaved people to build a railroad, to picnics in the country, to the death of a little child. I have used ads for sewing machines, fine silver, guano, and sheet music. There is a lot to choose from!

May 6, 1888 – Death of Mrs. Lucy McNorton due to ice cream poisoning

So far, the response to these posts has been good. I get a lot of “likes.” The number of comments may vary from five or six to forty! There are many people in Columbus who have a much deeper and broader knowledge of Columbus history than I do. I love it when they add more to my short piece!

I don’t know how long I’ll keep this up. It is time-consuming, but, nerd that I am, I enjoy it (the tedious research part). Plus, what else do I have to do? Well, I could always be vacuuming or cleaning out closets or watching “Midsomer Murders” or talking on the phone or cooking up a fabulous dish or…

–Callie McGinnis
former Dean of Libraries (now retired)
Columbus State University

Newspapers have always been one of my favorite sources of work, and the DLG Georgia Historic Newspapers collection is one of my favorite sources of full-text searchable newspapers to use for this type of research. There are many different approaches to examining newspapers, but one that you may find useful is finding global connections in local sources. One global thread that interests me is how diverse foodways are introduced to new communities. Marketing methods tell us how customers were enticed to try food that may be new to them.

This marketing idea led to thinking about the special connection of the Jewish community to the Chinese culinary scene. The relationship between Jewish communities and Chinese food is particularly evident around the Christmas holidays. Yong Chen’s Chop Suey, USA, explores the topic of Chinese food in the United States and pays some attention to cultural connection centered around food between Jewish and Chinese communities. The Southern Israelite proved to be an excellent source to ask questions about how the Jewish community in Atlanta was sold on Chinese food.

While this project is still in its early stages, I have discovered a few interesting facets of the marketing of Chinese food to the Atlanta Jewish community. A few quick facts:

From the 1930s to 1960s, I found twelve restaurants serving Chinese cuisine concentrated mostly in downtown Atlanta.
During the early twentieth century, there was an attempt to market Chinese food as “authentic” either by highlighting the origins of the chefs or the type of food served.
Many restaurants, as late as the 1960s, advertised both American and Chinese dishes. During the 1950s many restaurants began to emphasize their Chinese dishes over their American dishes.
The first true “take-away” Chinese restaurant, Young China, did not appear in the Southern Israelite until the 1950s.
The most prolific advertiser in the Southern Israelite was the restaurant Ding Ho which was open by Chinese-American Veteran Tom P. Wong in 1948.

There’s more research to be done, but thanks to the Georgia Historic Newspaper Project at the DLG, the ease of accessing resources like the Southern Israelite will allow for deeper discoveries that allow us to make global connections with a local context.

This project originated as a class project during this past semester in Dr. Ian Fletcher’s History 8490 at Georgia State University. In this course, we spent the term coming to an understanding of the importance of global history and how each student in the class might use elements of global history in their research and teaching. Students in this course decided to conduct a research project on food and global context in Atlanta.

The final map for the class was created by Curt Jackson and is available here:

https://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=2fd02952e89c457bb4701816b2b7d9de&extent=-84.3652,33.8704,-84.163,33.9553

–Joshua Kitchens
Director, Archival Studies Program
Clayton State University

Category: Impact Stories

Sharing Columbus History in “Early Columbus Georgia” Facebook Group

Even Santa Claus Eats Here: The Southern Israelite and the Marketing of Chinese Food