This blog post from the American Folklife Center got me thinking about oral histories and other materials in the Center's collections that could enrich the study of the Great Depression in surprising ways: To Brie or Not to Brie: National Cheese Curd Day. So many of the discussions here in the Bookmarks! group have centered on agriculture and its history and importance during the Depression years that the blog post made me wonder how familiar anyone might be with the American Folklife Center's agricultural history materials. 

The post itself is a delight to read. Did you know that Season 6 of the Center’s America Works podcast is entirely focused on food? Have you ever eaten Tillamook cheese from Oregon? Or goat cheese made by descendants of Italian immigrants near Pueblo, Colorado? This blog post covers these "artisanal" cheese makers and more. 

Joe Vasile talks with Paola Tavarelli about how he makes hard goat cheese. David Alan Taylor, photographer. June 30, 1990. Italian Americans in the West Project collection (AFC 1989/022), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

If you'd like to find local connections while learning about the Great Depression and the role of food in that period (or the lack of food), you might try exploring the resources of the American Folklife Center. I particularly like their Story Maps, and you might also find local connections in the Library's Research Guides, especially the state guides.

Or you might simply enjoy browsing through the American Folklife Center's blog posts, whether they're about cheese or not, or even the Great Depression period.

I have been in Italy for nearly a month, and in the next few days, I hope to walk through the streets of Pienza, where the waft of pecorino cheese comes out of many an artisanal shop! (It tastes better than it smells.)

  Social Studies/History    Foodways    American Folklife Center    Oral History