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By Martha: Advice from The Veteran

Posted on November 11, 2019 by

The Veteran was an independent newspaper published by Indiana University students from the Fall 1946 to Spring 1947. The intent of this paper was to provide information to incoming and current veteran students at Indiana University about current events and functions that were happening on campus.

Masthead from "The Veteran: An Independent Paper for Veterans of Indiana University", Vol. 1, No. 1, February 11, 1946, 5 cents a copy

Within The Veteran were several reoccurring columns that touched on student life, personal issues, and any questions that a veteran might have in reference to their training or education. All were very interesting and cleverly named, however, none of them seemed to catch my attention like the column By Martha.

By Martha was an reoccurring opinion column featured directed mainly towards the wives of veterans. The author of By Martha was unknown to the reader, as it functioned as an anonymous advice column. Each column outside of its first appearance, was structured around answering questions that a wife might seek advice on such as cooking, budgeting, home improvement, and childcare. The information given was very informal to the woman of that day, and frankly some of the advice is still applicable to readers today.

Newspaper clipping with the following text: Eloise Kelly Bride-elect - A wedding which will take place during the Christmas holidays is that of Miss Eloise Kelly and William Lee Small both of Indianapolis. The bride elect is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Kelly of Howe and Mr. Small is the son of Mr. and Mros Floyd Small, Knightstown. Miss Kelly is a gradaute Manchester College and the bridegroom will re-enter Indiana University this fall. He has been discharged from the Army after spending the last six months in Europe.
The Indianapolis Star, September 3, 1945, Page 7

During the last issue of Volume 1, it was stated that originally The Veteran was supposed to be a one semester project. However, due to the support from readers and faculty, its release was extended into the following semesters. During this issue they also gave thanks to the writers and staff members who made The Veteran possible each month. Here, the identity of the By Martha columnist was revealed to be co-editor Eloise Kelly Small. A graduate of Manchester College, Eloise married William Lee Small on November 22, 1945. William graduated with his B.S. in Business in 1946. After the birth of their child, Eloise took a break from writing and subsequent columns in Vol. 3 were written by various staff members whose identities remained anonymous.

Newspaper clipping with the following text: Monday, June 3, 1946 By Martha “What shall I have to eat?" Three times a day, seven days a week, this cry is heard in almost every kitchen where there is a busy working-girl housewife. In answer, here are scads of simple dinner menus. For most part these menus call for food that can be purchased now or that will be on the market very shortly. A bread and spread are not given with the menus as every person's taste differs. How­ever, since this commodity has practically disappeared from the racks in the groceries, you can bake cornbread, all types of muf­fins, biscuits, and even yeast bread IF you have the time and energy. Or you can use packaged mixes. Here are your menus: Salmon croquettes, buttered peas, red cole slaw, fruit cup. Macaroni and cheese loaf, but­tered cabbage, sliced tomatoes, grapefruit halves. Fried oysters (you can buy them canned at almost any grocery), tartar sauce, mashed turnips, escalloped tomatoes, peanut cook­ies, baked pears. Barbecued hamburgers, mash­ed potatoes, buttered carrots, cauliflower with chive butter, toasted doughnuts. Fish fillets baked in lemon sauce, baked potatoes, buttered beets, hearts of lettuce with French dressing, fruit gelatin, chocolate cake. Lamb chops, corn-on-the-cob, tomato and romaine salad, pack­aged chocolate pudding with chopped pecan topping. Tomato juice, chicken pie (make it from a jar of canned chicken giblets thickened with cream sauce and topped with biscuit crust), spinach, rice and apricot pudding. Clam chowder, cole slaw, cottage pudding. (Cheese baking powder biscuits would be wonder­ful with the chowder). Individual meat loaves, butter­ed succotash, apple and banana salad, oatmeal cookies. Sausage shortcakes (fry saus­age patties and place between two buttered biscuits. Serve with milk gravy), turnip greens, pick­led beets, diced fresh pineapple. Tomato juice, cheese rarebit on toast, buttered string beans, hearts of lettuce salad, peach shortcake (canned or fresh peaches on store sponge cake served with cream). Codfish cakes, whole kernel corn, stewed tomatoes, cole slaw, cut up bananas and oranges. Baked beans, panfried sausag­es, cabbage and pineapple salad, baked pears (Tint them pink with vegetable coloring, sprinkle with nutmeg and sugar, bake. Serve with cream.) Italian spaghetti, tossed salad fruit cup (hard rolls were mad for spaghetti dinners)."
“By Martha,” The Veteran June 3, 1946

A common theme in the By Martha columns centered on food frugality, it is obvious that providing their families nutritious meals without spending too much on groceries was important to veteran families on campus. Here are some tips that Martha gave on making your shopping last:

“Help your shelf and help yourself”. “Take advantage of the variety of canned foods that line the grocers’ shelves.” “Take for example the humble can of tuna fish. You can have tuna salad, tuna sandwiches, creamed tuna on toast squares, tuna served with spaghetti or macaroni, tuna with rice and cheese sauce, or tuna chow mein …” (Vol 1. No. 1, pg. 2

“Topmost in the minds of most housewives these days is what can be done to conserve on food, especially wheat.” “In the first place buy only bread you absolutely must use. Reduce your family’s bread diet to a minimum.” “If you must use flour, remember it will be an emergency flour. Emergency flour is a creamy white to beige colored wheat product.” “Emergency flour does not keep as well as white flour. It should be bought in small quantities and stored in a dark, cool place.” (Vol 1 No. 8, pg. 2)

“Be sure your meals provide best food value for money spent.” “Don’t wait to plan your meals at the grocer’s. Make out menus two or three days ahead, taking into account the perishable foods you have on hand.” “It’s the cost of the food you actually eat that counts.” “Avoid leftovers, but use well those you have. Work them into the day’s meals.” “Compare prices of canned, quick-frozen and market vegetables and fruits. The canned or quick-frozen foods are often cheaper than the fresh, and require less fuel, time and effort to prepare.” (Vol 2 No. 4, pg. 3) 

The advice that By Martha gave seems like advice that would be useful to someone now. I know that I am someone that needs to be more frugal with food, so I am sure that her readers found the advise useful.  Along with cooking tips, By Martha also offered cleaning and gardening hacks. Here are some tips to help you spend less time and yield the same results:

“A dash of salt is wonderful on grapefruit. It brings out that natural flavor and decreases the sourness, to say nothing of helping on short sugar rations.” “Lemon-soured milk can replace natural sour milk or buttermilk in any recipe.” “Small apartments and trailers are wonderful to keep clean and have a cozy atmosphere, but what to do about cigarette smoke, a stale odor or the lingering breath of cooked cabbage or onion? Worry no more – get a bottle of Air Wick. Pull out the wick of the magical little bottle and the air soon is sweet and clean.” (Vol 1 No. 5, pg. 2)

“You who make your home in temporary quarters must garden, if you garden at all, in pots and window boxes.” “Don’t make the window box too small. Make it as long as it is wide. Extend it past the window opening four to six inches on either side rather than fit it into the sill.” “Choice of soil depends on the type of roots on the plants you decide to grow.” “In this type of box, watering is required almost daily.” (Vol 1 No. 6, pg. 3) 

“Are you freshening up your apartment with a coat of paint? If so, mask your windowpanes when you paint woodwork and you won’t have to spend tedious hours removing paint spatters. Just cut newspaper to fit the glass, dampen the paper and press it in place. It’s far easier to remove than hardened paint.” (Vol 1 No. 2, pg. 2) 

Newspaper clipping with the following text: February 25, 1946 By Martha (Send your home - making questions to Martha, The Vet­eran, 302 South Madison.) From time immemorial the fate of women has been to spend all her waking hours chained to her home (particularly the kitchen) and children. The modern woman slowly is growing away from this but there's no doubt that even the working wife gives a great deal more time and effort to housework than she feels should be necessary. Occasionally a single suggestion can save precious minutes and even hours, not to mention frayed nerves. To simplify shredding lettuce, dicing celery and many other sim­ilar tasks buy a pair of shears from the dime store-or if you're more flush most hardware stores have regular kitchen scissors for sale. This single purchase saves time and often a cut finger or a scrc1tched table top when you don't own a chopping board. Turning stale bread and crack­ers into crumbs need not be messy if you slip a paper bag over the head of your grinder. It will catch those flying particles and you won't have to wipe a film of crumbs off the floor. You can grind the crumbs right into an­other paper bag if you want to. Are you freshening up your apartment with a coat of paint? If so, mask your windowpanes when you paint woodwork and you won't have to spend tedious hours removing paint spatters. Just cut newspaper to fit the glass, damp­en the paper and press it in place. It's far easier to remove than hardened paint. While we're on the subject of woodwork, have you been having a daily hair-pulling session when you try to remove fingerprints? To remedy this put several coats of a good grade of paste wax sparing­ly on your woodwork and rub each well into the grain of the wood. Fingerprints will disappear with one swish of a damp cloth. Incidentally, this wax treatment does away with a lot of surface film and spots. Have you ever tried paper dust­cloths? The latest type on the mar­ket is packaged in a roll. You dampen one piece and wipe the dusty surface. Then you polish with a dry sheet. This paper is created with a polish which makes wood surfaces gleam. It's truly a remarkable innovation. And what do you do with Junior or little Susan while you try all these wonderful time savers? For one thing you might give them a nickel's worth of cranberries or similar fruit and a box of tooth­picks and show them how to make tables, chairs, wigwams, etc. Lack­ing these materials, hand over your clothespin bag. Or better still let them paint shell macaroni with water colors.
“By Martha,” The Veteran, February 25, 1946.

Another important topic of advice in By Martha centered around childcare. This topic however wasn’t as frequent as other topics discussed and only appeared in two columns. The columns mainly focused on how to prepare for a new addition to the family, and the types of items one should get before the new arrival. One column in particular was all about diapers and here are a few tips:

“If you are a new mother or even not so new, you’ll agree to one thing. Diaper washing is the hardest, most time-consuming job in your daily routine.” “Of course the best solution to the problem would be a good diaper supply service, but if you can’t do that, decide on a regular time for the job and stick to it.”

“An excellent diaper to use when traveling, or for contagious diarrheal condition, is one which can be disposed of after it is soiled. Such a diaper is on the market and consists of two layers of gauze between which is a soft, highly absorbent cellulose fiber.”

“Wash the diapers thoroughly in hot suds, either by hand or in the washing machine, and put them in fresh suds for boiling. Boiling diapers is really a safety measure, and although it is sometimes inconvenient, and time-consuming, it is not wise to omit. (Vol 2 No. 5, pg. 3) 

The final topic of advice shared from By Martha is centered around budgeting. Given the advice shared above, it would be fitting that they would all filter down to the unspoken idea of having a budget. Budgeting was a very important and useful skill for the veterans to have, as most of them were given monthly bonds based on their family size or marital status. To help those families and veterans from being financially burdened, here are some helpful tips:

“It must be custom-made to meet the particular needs of your family group. There is no such thing as a ready-made or standard budget, because no two families spend their money in exactly the same way. So when you start to plan your budget, sit down and decide what you want to get out of life.”

“Successful budgets are based on past experience. Before you start yours, keep a written record of all personal and household expenditures for a month. Total all of these items and multiply by 12. This give you the part of your annual income which may be used for running expenses.”

“How well the budget works is up to you. The best budget can’t help you unless are resolved to stick with it religiously. If you feel you need more help than given here you might want to consult the library shelves. Two particularly good books on the subject are: Managing Personal Finances by David F. Jordan and How to Make Your Budget Balance by E.C. Harwood and Helen Fowie. “ (Vol 1 No. 7, pg. 2) 

If you would like to view The Veteran in its entirety, contact the IU Archives to set up an appointment.

Walter Q. Gresham: 19th Century Judge and General

Posted on November 11, 2016 by

gresham001
Letter from Gresham addressed to his wife

As you walk across campus, you may notice that most buildings have names. Some names may be familiar or well-known, but others may not particularly stand out. However, the people behind some of those names can have fascinating stories. One such person is Walter Q. Gresham. Gresham, an Indiana native, was born in 1833. He attended Indiana University Prep for a year and then became a student of law. By 1854, he had been admitted to the Bar and was on his way to an illustrious career. He briefly served his home state as a member of the Indiana General Assembly; Gresham then went on to serve his country during the Civil War, rising through the ranks to become a brigadier-general. He also organized the 53rd Indiana Infantry and was wounded at Atlanta during the war, ending his time of service.

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Handwritten copy of a letter from Gresham to his wife from Vicksburg. The handwritten copy was written by his son, Otto.

During this time, he sent letters to his wife, Matilda, which can be seen in the picture above and the picture to the left. The letter pictured above includes details of his recent experiences in the war, but it also includes a touching note to his wife and children:

“Don’t be uneasy if you don’t hear from me regularly for some time for I will have very few opportunities to write. Write often & continue to direct your letters as heretofore. I think of you often, yes every hour in the day I think of my dear wife & children. It is hard to be thus separated but a man must do his duty to his country in a time like this. God bless you & the children & take care of you is my purpose. I must lay down & take a nap for I will be up at 3 o’clock in the morning. Good night.

Your Officer Husband,

W. Q. Gresham”

In the copy of the letter transcribed by his son Otto, Gresham writes from Vicksburg in July of 1963 and describes how his regiment has marched over fifty miles over only a couple days. He takes great pride in the Indiana 53rd, saying, “Never did the 53d show its superiority over other regiments as it has on this March.”

After the war, Gresham’s career rose to a national level. From 1869 to 1883, Gresham served as a US District Judge. Indiana University then conferred an honorary LL.D. upon him in 1883. President Arthur then appointed Gresham as Postmaster-general, followed by appointment as Secretary of the Treasury; however, he was not in these positions very long. In 1884, he became a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court and served in this position until 1893. Gresham was a candidate for the Republican presidential ticket in 1888, although he did not receive the nomination. In 1893, he served as Secretary of State for President Cleveland. Gresham did not serve in this position for a lengthy time, as he died in 1895.

Gresham’s legacy lived on, however, as his family donated his sword from the war to Indiana University in 1911. Sadly, IU no longer has Gresham’s sword, but his legacy lives on through the dining hall with his name on the Bloomington campus. A large collection of Gresham’s papers can also be found at the Library of Congress.

Display card for General Gresham's sword
Display card for General Gresham’s sword

American Veterans Commitee – Bloomington Chapter

Posted on December 16, 2014 by

American_Veterans_CommitteeFormed in 1943, the American Veterans Committee was meant to serve as a more liberal alternative to other veteran’s organizations such as the American Legion. Chapters were formed across the country and the organization sought to undertake political and social issues such as civil rights and civil liberties.

A local chapter of the organization was formed on the Indiana University Bloomington campus and was largely comprised of male students who were attending college on the G.I. Bill. History Professor C. Leonard Lundin served as the group’s faculty sponsor during the chapter’s short existence in Bloomington. In oral history interviews conducted in 1972, 1985, and 1994 Professor Lundin comments that the organization was “supposed to be a sort of liberal version of the American Legion, and it was for a while and then petered out…it didn’t last very long here.” (1985) He also told interviewers that while the organization existed on campus, he was very actively involved. “I think it’s strongest hold almost everywhere [was] among the veteran students at universities. This campus was no exception. It took a decided interest in community affairs.”(1972) “They had been roused by the war,” Lundin notes. “Then of course came the McCarthy years” (1985).

Image from The Arbutus yearbook, 1946
Bloomington AVC, Image from The Arbutus yearbook, 1946

National membership in the AVC dropped dramatically during the late forties and early fifties as worries about communism swept the nation. Members of the American Communist Party had originally been opposed to their members joining the AVC because they felt the organization was too “ivy-league” but later reversed their position. As the AVC gained communists members, the Second Red Scare, or McCarthyism, was taking hold in America. In order to avoid scandal, the AVC dismissed its communist members. However, their membership significantly decreased and remained low for the rest of its existence. The organization formally disbanded in 2008 when the last two chapters folded.

Despite its short tenure, the Bloomington chapter of the AVC actively worked to better the Indiana University campus and larger community through efforts towards desegregation on campus and the larger Bloomington community, as well as better housing and payment for veterans.

The Archives holds a scrapbook of the local chapter, which has been fully digitized. Take a look and let us know if you have any further questions!