Vegetarianism and Raw Food in the 1930s

Many of us would assume that the vegetarian diets and other trends in eating one hears of so often lately are a more recent fad– a preoccupation brought on by modern life. Or, especially for those of us in the San Francisco Bay Area, we’d perhaps date them to the 1970s. However, a pamphlet from the George Williams Hooper Foundation Administrative Records, 1882-1958, collection number AR 59-1, shows us that like many ideas, vegetarianism has been around longer than we have.

The following issue of The Vegetarian and Fruitarian from March 1932, published in Lewiston, Idaho, promotes ethics, ideals, culture, health, and longevity. It describes itself as “a fund of information as to ethical and physical reasons for choosing meatless foods– for an argument or debate this booklet fits in nicely– giving ammunition for proving that vegetarianism is sound and logical.”

The Vegetarian and Fruitarian, March 1932

The Vegetarian and Fruitarian, March 1932

At the time, the vegetarian and raw food movements were, in part, tied to feminism. It was viewed as a way to free women from the confines of the kitchen and allow them to pursue other activities and interests. Notice the brief article “Vegetarian Soups for the Hurried Housewife” below on page 16. In the lower right hand corner of page 17, “Places to Visit When in Los Angeles” recommends raw food living “if you are wedded to the cook pot and would like to know of something different.” Similar to various lifestyle publications and articles today, it goes on to advise a vegetarian-friendly guest house in the area. Other vegetarian recipes appear across both pages such as Mock Hamburger– the parenthetical note for which is particularly interesting.

The Vegetarian and Fruitarian, March 1932. Hooper Administrative Records, AR 59-1.

The Vegetarian and Fruitarian, March 1932, page 16 and 17. Hooper Administrative Records, AR 59-1.

Pages 14 and 15 give voice to two other current food and health trends that have history in the early 20th century– carbohydrates as devil and raw food. A Texas subscriber wrote in that she believed that the raw food diet had cured a number of her family’s ailments, including one of her daughter’s bad tonsils. The article on page 15, “Lowly Spud Seeks Help,” attempts to make a case for the healthfulness of potatoes to help bolster decreasing potato sales. It says, “Women have a mistaken idea. Potatoes, it is claimed, do not round out the figure.”

The Vegetarian and Fruitarian, March 1932, page 14 and 15.

The Vegetarian and Fruitarian, March 1932, page 14 and 15. Hooper Administrative Records, AR 59-1.

For more information on the George Williams Hooper Foundation please see a brief history of the organization on the UCSF History Website and their current website. I’d also like to point you toward the post on Slate’s The Vault blog about 19th Century Vegetarian Personal Ads, which I found quite interesting.

Ishi: The Greatest Anthropological Treasure

Syanpse, the UCSF Student Newspaper, published a wonderful article about Ishi and his history with UCSF this week, Ishi: The Greatest Anthropological Treasure, by Yi Lu.

Portrait of Ishi in a suit and tie.

Portrait of Ishi

Read the article and follow it up with The Story of Ishi on the UCSF History website for more information. The Archives & Special Collections has information regarding published resources available here and other institutions.

Moving Mementos, 1930-1938

Take a quick 7 minute break to watch this newly digitized and previously rarely seen footage we presented at last night’s Bay Area Video Coalition’s (BAVC) program– Video Capsule: Treasures from Bay Area Archives! UCSF’s contribution was this amalgamation of clips from “moving memento” films of the 1930s. For a time the UCSF School of Medicine had a tradition of creating these dynamic mementos of each class of students of staff. The films are comprised of faculty and staff introductions and a variety of candid scenes around campus and in the hospitals.

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Or watch the video on the Internet Archive.

May 27th VIDEO CAPSULE: Treasures from Bay Area Archives

Join us next Tuesday, May 27th, at the Exploratorium at 7pm to take in some rarely seen audiovisual treasures from local archives– including some of our own! UCSF’s contribution is an amalgamation of clips from “moving memento” films of the 1930s. For a time the UCSF School of Medicine began a tradition of creating these dynamic mementos of each class of students of staff. The films are comprised of faculty and staff introductions and a variety of candid scenes around campus and in the hospitals.

Here is more information from the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), and do note that while the program is free there is a link to RSVP:

WHAT: Video Capsule: Treasures from Bay Area Archives
WHERE: Exploratorium, Pier 15: Kanbar Forum. Please enter the Exploratorium through the historic Pier 15 Bulkhead located directly on the Embarcadero.
WHEN: Tuesday, May 27 at 7PM
ADMISSION: Free

Join Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) Preservation program staff for an evening of video preservation revelry. Anchored by recent selections from BAVC’s Preservation Access Program*, tonight’s program includes archivist favorites, unexpected gems, and rarely seen treats from artists and arts organization participants from the program as well as friends from other Bay Area preservation organizations– including Stanford Media Preservation LabSan Francisco Media ArchiveUCSF Archives, the GLBT Historical Society and California Audiovisual Preservation Project. We invite you to join us as we share recent, prized work, making for a congenial celebration of archival craft and our media legacy.

Co-presented with BAVC by the Exploratorium Cinema Arts.

Let us know you’re coming. RSVP here.

Please note: there will be no Museum access during this program. Join the Exploratorium during adult evening hours on May 29th, 6-10pm, which will include a film screening co-curated by Walter Forsberg and Exploratorium Cinema Arts.

*The Preservation Access Program is made possible through the generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

 

National Hospital Week (May 11-17)

More historic images brought to you this week in honor of National Hospital Week! Celebrated May 11-17, Hospital Week serves to recognize the dedication of all hospital professionals.

Operating Room at City County Hospital, circa 1890

Operating Room at City County Hospital, circa 1890

UC Hospital Men's Ward, circa 1920s

UC Hospital Men’s Ward, circa 1920s

UC Hospital, circa 1918

UC Hospital, circa 1918

UC Hospital Lobby, 1920s

UC Hospital Lobby, 1920s

UC Hospital Kitchen, 1924

UC Hospital Kitchen, 1924

Read more about the history of San Francisco’s hospitals on the UCSF History website.

Celebrating National Nurses’ Day (May 6) and National Nurses’ Week (May 6-12)

Happy National Nurses’ Day! Here’s a selection of a few of our favorite images of nurses from the UCSF Historic Photograph Collection. For more images, check out our Digital Collections.

Moffitt Hospital Nurses' Station, circa 1970s.

Moffitt Hospital Nurses’ Station, circa 1970s

UC Nurses, World War I, Base Hospital # 30

UC Nurses, World War I, Base Hospital # 30

Nurses at the 30th General Hospital, June 1943

Nurses at the 30th General Hospital, June 1943

Tuberculosis service, circa 1930s.

Tuberculosis service, circa 1930s

Three UC Nurses-- Rigney, Dubois, and Catton-- in the nursery with infants an unidentified man in 1912.

Three UC Nurses– Rigney, Dubois, and Catton– in the nursery with infants an unidentified man, 1912

UCSF School Of Nursing students watching TV in the Nursing Dorm, circa 1955

UCSF School Of Nursing students watching TV in the Nursing Dorm, circa 1955

UCSF School of Nursing students in the Nursing Dorm archway, circa 1950s.

UCSF School of Nursing students in the Nursing Dorm archway, circa 1950s

UCSF School of Nursing class in Toland Hall, 1941.

UCSF School of Nursing class in Toland Hall, 1941

UCSF Archives Lecture Series: Lessons at UCSF from the Early AIDS Epidemic, April 16, 2014

Join us on Wednesday, April 16th for a special program featuring prominent UCSF faculty. This is the second lecture in a series launched by UCSF Archives & Special Collections.

Learning from Our History: Lessons at UCSF from the Early AIDS Epidemic

UCSF played a leading role in the early response to the AIDS epidemic. UCSF faculty and staff helped create important models of care, made many key discoveries into the nature of the disease and its management, and faced the many emotional and ethical burdens at a time when personal safety could not be assured in patient care. This event will be less a lecture and more a conversation of those early days with four prominent UCSF faculty members, each of whom were present and active from the very first days of what would become a massive epidemic. They will offer their own perspectives on this history and engage with each other and the audience in this program.

Presenters: Drs. John Greenspan, Paul Volberding, Molly Cooke, Jay Levy (UCSF) Date: Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:15 pm
Location: Lange Room, UCSF Library, 530 Parnassus, 5th floor

This lecture is free and open to the public. Information on how to sign up or donate to AIDS Walk San Francisco will be available before and after this event. AIDS Walk San Francisco benefits HIV/AIDS programs and services throughout the Bay Area, including some at UCSF.

About the UCSF Archives & Special Collections Lecture Series

UCSF Archives & Special Collections launched this lecture series to introduce a wider community to treasures and collections from its holdings, to provide an opportunity for researchers to discuss how they use this material, and to celebrate clinicians, scientists, and health care professionals who donated their papers to the archives.

Women’s History Month: The first female graduates of UCSF

March is Women’s History Month and, in keeping with the spirit, we’d like to honor a few of the trailblazing women in UCSF’s history.

Portrait of Luzy Field Wanzer

Portrait of Lucy Field Wanzer

Lucy Field Wanzer became the first woman to graduate from UCSF, then officially known as the Medical Department of the University of California, in 1876. Lucy grew up in Wisconsin and cared for her mother who had tuberculosis during her childhood. This early and significant exposure to the field of medicine convinced Wanzer that she wanted to become a doctor. The family later moved to California, where Lucy fought for the right to realize her dream– her initial application to the University of California program was rejected based on gender. After a lengthy appeals process, she was accepted and the regents adopted a resolution stating that “young women offering themselves for admission and passing the required examination must be received to all the privileges of the Medical Department.”

Class of 1876

Medical Department of the University of California, Class of 1876

At the time, a few medical schools on the East Coast had admitted and graduated female students, but none in the West. For the fifty years following Wanzer’s graduation, female students comprised approximately 10% of UCSF medical graduates in the midst of a 4% national average.

Much more has been written about Wanzer elsewhere. For more information, check out the History of UCSF website, this article by a current School of Medicine student, or this extensive paper by a UCSF School of Medicine alumnus.

Blue and Gold, 1890, page 33

Blue and Gold, 1890, page 33

 

The next woman to breakdown gender barriers in a UCSF school was Maria Angelina Burch who graduated from the College of Dentistry in 1883. Maria grew up in nearby Pescadero, CA. Burch passed away at the age of 27, just five years after receiving her dental degree. Her obituary, on right, published in the 1890 Blue and Gold, the annual for all of the University of California, refers to Burch as the Dental Department’s ambitious and intelligent “pioneer lady graduate.” Burch established a private practice in San Francisco in 1884 which prospered quickly. She was described as “fast climbing the hill to fame and fortune” at the time of her death.

 

The Graduate, 1912, page 60

The Graduate, 1912, page 60

Following closely on Burch’s heels was Josephine Eugenia Barbat in the College of Pharmacy class of 1884. Barbat was a native San Franciscan. University records in the 1890’s show that after graduation, Josephine became an instructor of Botany within the College of Pharmacy– no doubt one of the first women to teach the subject, as well. Not quite satisfied, Barbat went on to graduate from the College of Medicine in 1903. She’s listed in the 1904 Directory of Physicians and Surgeons as having a practice at 1310 Folsom St. The 1912 issue of The Graduate, the College of Pharmacy’s annual at the time, features a photograph of Josephine as the President of W.P.A.P.C. (the Women’s Pharmaceutical Association of the Pacific Coast).

The creation of the Training School for Nurses within the University of California in 1907 also served to up the number of women in the field of medicine. Two years later, the school produced its first graduate, Lillian Cohen, pictured below in the unique white mortarboard cap and square blue and gold pin.

Lillian Cohen

Lillian Cohen, 1909

A three-year nursing degree was standard at the time in the Nursing program, and the following year the University of California graduated its first full class.

Training School for Nurses, Class of 1910

Training School for Nurses of the University of California, Class of 1910

Today, UCSF celebrates the diversity of its students, staff, and community in many different ways. In 2012, 54% of all incoming students were female. Do you have a favorite woman in UCSF history? Let us know!

Historic Panoramic Photograph of San Francisco, circa 1933-1935

Use our slideshow below to view this beautiful panoramic photograph of San Francisco taken in the 1930s from the Parnassus campus of UCSF. The photograph is comprised of ten discrete photographs taped together to form an almost seamless panoramic image measuring 4.5″ x 54″ looking north and spanning west to east.

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge the images and see the slideshow.

Unfortunately, the photograph lacks accompanying information about its creation, however, several significant qualities have helped us to narrow down the date. Most significantly, in the second portion of the close-ups, on the right side, the unfinished Golden Gate Bridge is visible. The pylons closest to San Francisco can be seen, but not the suspension cables which, according to the Golden Gate Bridge Construction Timeline, puts the image somewhere in 1933-1935.

Other things of note include the presence of the original Kezar Stadium (former home of the SF 49ers and Oakland Raiders), the absence of the Bay Bridge (which was also under construction from 1933-1936), and the generally bare Presidio area.

What strikes you most about the photo? Let us know! We’d love to hear your insights into the old San Francisco landscape.

 

UCSF on Historypin

Historypin is a website that allows users to view and post historical photos that have been digitally “pinned” to a map– thereby highlighting the location which may be unrecognizable in the photo. It allows photographs to be searched by place, time, or channel– channels are accounts that have been set up by various people and organizations.

We created our channel on Historypin– UCSF Archives & Special Collections— in part to begin celebrating the 150th anniversary of UCSF! Toland Medical College began in 1864 in the heart of San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, moved to the wide-open countryside of the Parnassus/Inner Sunset area, and has continued to change and grow.

We will continue to add images and information throughout the coming year. Check back often for new and interesting images of the ever-evolving UCSF campus. We encourage you to add comments or information to our pinned images!

One of the niftiest features of Historypin is the ability to pin an image directly onto street view. If the photograph was taken from the street (or similar angle and location), it can be placed on the map over the Google street view image of the image’s location– just like the image of Market Street Earthquake Damage, 1906 shown below. You can toggle the fade slide bar to play with photograph’s opaqueness.

Capture

For more detailed information on the history of UCSF, please see A History of UCSF.