Child Labor and Nourishing Culture: Stella Ress's Other Lives

Stella Ress, the Information Commons Evening Supervisor, recently had an article on Child Labor published in the Encyclopedia of American Urban History. Stella, who considers herself a scholar (albeit new one) on the history of children, childhood, and youth, wrote the 1500-word article over two years ago when she was finishing her MA degree from Loyola University.

Stella is now enrolled in the PhD program at Loyola. When she first thought about obtaining her PhD in American History, her advisor suggested that she start to volunteer at a local museum. Being half-Greek, she chose the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center in Greektown. Thinking that she would spend her days there licking envelopes and brewing coffee for staff members, Stella was pleasantly surprised when she became the assistant curator on the latest exhibit, Nourishing Culture: Greek Immigrants & Food in Chicago. The exhibit chronicles the close and intimate relationships that Greek immigrants to America and their descendants have to food. Tracking Greek and Greek American food culture from nineteenth century Greece to present day Chicago, Nourishing Culture uncovers the connections between food, culture, identity, and tradition. Additionally, it recreates the kafenia, a coffee shop where a young Greek man sits drinking coffee and playing backgammon; a marketplace where visitors can hear the cry of a food peddler while perusing his wares; and a 1970s-style traditional Greek restaurant complete with a waiter firing up saganaki (flaming cheese) and a belly dancer!

The exhibit runs through September 28th. For more information, visit the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center.

Denise Shorey
Head of Reference