In the summer of 1946, 43 eager college juniors set sail for Geneva on the S.S. Washington to partake in Smith College’s study abroad program. If they felt apprehensive about embarking on a trip to the center of recently war-ravaged Europe, they gave no visible indication in the cheerful newspaper photos that documented their departure. Sailing to Europe allowed these American women to interact with the diverse amalgam of people who washed up in Geneva after the storm of the war. In this multicultural environment filled with refugees, immigrants, aid workers, and diplomats, the women on the Smith program attended an inordinate number of parties and formal dinners at which serious political discussions concerning the outcome of the war took place. Food was a significant aspect of their experience, from the cafés they frequented with local university students to the lavish balls they attended with members of the international elite.
At one notable dinner, the students contemplated the “pros and cons” of free trade with their professors and the “conversation was carried on in “French, German, English and Russian.” Students did not remember the food so much as the lively debate that followed. Despite the reverberations of tragedy and destruction, these dinners provided a forum for cultural exchange and signaled a return to relative normalcy.
The cultural exchange of tastes also took place on a more casual level. With the help of their friends Ivy and Malcolm Addischechiah, fellow international students from India, the Smith women hosted a “’real’ Indian dinner” at their hotel on November 3, 1946. The students knew it could not be entirely authentic because they had to substitute barley for rice due to continued rationing restrictions, but they did not let this circumstance ruin the atmosphere. With the cold winter wind battering the chalet windows, the group worked together to peel potatoes and enjoyed the meal of fried cakes and curries that their friends prepared for them. Smith junior Barbara Ann Beatty recalled this gathering fondly in her diary and remarked, “Boy, was it good, but was it greasy!”
On the same night, Barbara learned a Russian recipe from another Smithie who had recently visited Moscow and jotted it down quickly before it escaped her memory. She writes,
“Take the white meat of chicken and pound it very thin, putting all the pieces together with a bit of water. Then lay out thin strips of frozen butter. Season well up and then dip in egg batter and then in crumb and fry in deep fat. When they’re all done, you eat it with jam.”
This dish sounded sufficiently delicious to Beatty, who must have returned quickly to her chalet room to make note of it. The photo album that accompanies her diary features a few blissful scenes of dinners and picnics. However, other photos feature the remains of bombed stone buildings emerging from the earth like jagged tombstones. Given its proximity to Germany and France, Switzerland was often accidentally bombed by both Axis and Allied powers despite its neutrality. This post-War environment tainted Beatty’s experience but, as the many remarks that these students made in their letters home or their journals highlight, food offered some comfort.
References
Smith College Archives, Smith College, Northampton, Mass. 80. Class of 1948 Individuals. Beatty, Barbara Ann. JYA Geneva. Box 2164.1. Diary (August 1946- July 1947).
Smith College Archives, Smith College, Northampton, Mass. 80. Class of 1948 Individuals. Beatty, Barbara Ann. JYA Geneva. Box 2164.1. Newsletters. (September 1946-June 1947).
Smith College Archives, Smith College, Northampton, Mass. Class of 1948. Coe, Jean Winans. “Junior Year in Geneva, scrapbook and photo album, 1946-1947.” Box 22E6.
Kathleen Higgins is an English and History double major at Smith. Her work mainly focuses on the recovery of women’s voices from popular historical narratives. She can frequently be found lurking in libraries and archives and hopes to continue doing so after she graduates in 2016.
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