Asenath Nicholson
Asenath Hatch Nicholson | |
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by Anna Maria Howitt | |
Born | Asenath Hatch February 24, 1792 Chelsea, Vermont |
Died | May 15, 1855(1855-05-15) (aged 63) Jersey City, New Jersey |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Teacher, boarding houses, writer |
Known for | Writing, philanthropy |
Asenath Hatch Nicholson (February 24, 1792 – May 15, 1855) was an American vegan, social observer and philanthropist. She wrote at first hand about the Great Hunger in Ireland in the 1840s. She wrote about the life of Ireland both before and during the crop failures that caused famine as she walked the country distributing copies of the Bible, food and clothing.
Life
Nicholson was born in Chelsea in Vermont in 1792. Her family belonged to the Protestant Congregation Church and she was named after the biblical Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah and wife of Joseph. She trained and became a successful teacher in her hometown before she married Norman Nicholson, a widower with three children, and went to live in New York.[1] They family became interested in the diet recommended by Sylvester Graham. In the 1840s they ran a boarding house that offered this vegetarian diet.[2] Nicholson also advocated exercise and occasional fasting.[2] She published the first Graham recipes.[3]
In May 1844, after her husband's death[4]: 406 she left New York for Ireland and when she arrived she walked around the country, visiting virtually every county. She noted that people lacked work and they relied almost entirely on their crop of potatoes. She left for Scotland in August having observed Ireland just before the outbreak of the Irish Famine.[5] Upon her return to America, she wrote Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger, or, An Excursion through Ireland in 1844 & 1845, for the Purpose of Personally Investigating the Condition of the Poor, which was published in New York by Baker & Scribner in 1847.
She had a sharp eye for inequality and exploitation - exploring the grounds of Clifden Castle in Connemara she wrote of a grotto she discovered:
Now appeared a fairy castle, a house with variegated pillars and open door, made of shells of the most delicate shades, arranged in stars and circles of beautiful workmanship. These showed exquisite taste in the designer, and must have been done with great cost and care. I found that a laboring peasant was the architect of this wonderful fabric, but he was kept most religiously in his rank, laboring for eight pence a day.[4]: 397
In Roundstone a man described potatoes to her as "The greatest curse that ever was sent on Ireland; and I never sit down, see, use, or eat one, but I wish every divil of 'em was out of the island. The blackguard of a Raleigh who brought 'em here, entailed a curse upon the laborer that has broken his heart. Because the landholder sees we can live and work hard on 'em, he grinds us down in our wages, and then despises us because we are ignorant and ragged." She comments: This is a pithy truth, one which I had never seen in so vivid a light as now.
She returned in 1846 during the second of the five annual crop failures of the potatoes on which the poor of Ireland depended, which, together with high unemployment, was creating a national disaster. Nicholson was concerned that she would just have to witness the suffering but she wrote to the New-York Tribune and The Emancipator in New York and assistance from their readers was organised.[5] In the following July five barrels of corn arrived from New York. On the same ship were 50 barrels for the Central Relief Committee, but Nicholson preferred to go it alone.[5]
She wrote an eyewitness account of the Great Hunger in Ireland in the 1840s, Annals of the Famine in Ireland, 1847, 1848 and 1849, which she had observed as she walked the country distributing bibles, food, and clothing.[2]
Nicholson died in Jersey City in 1855.[6]
Vegetarianism
In 1835, Nicholson authored the first American vegetarian cookbook, Nature's Own Book.[7] Nicholson stated that "good bread, pure water, ripe fruit, and vegetables are my meat and drink exclusively." The book utilized some recipes with dairy, but Nicholson personally advocated against its use.[8]
Nicholson also authored, Kitchen Philosophy for Vegetarians.[9] The book was published by William Horsell in 1849. A review in the Vegetarian Advocate, noted that "butter and eggs are excluded" from the recipes.[10] The Vegan Society have cited the book as the first vegan cookbook.[11]
Selected publications
- Nature's Own Book (1835)
- Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger: Or An Excursion Through Ireland, in 1844 & 1845, for the Purpose of Personally Investigating the Condition of the Poor (1847)
- Kitchen Philosophy for Vegetarians (1849)
- Annals of the Famine in Ireland in 1847, in 1848 and 1849 (1851)
- Loose Papers: Or, Facts Gathered During Eight Years' Residence in Ireland, Scotland, England, France, and Germany (1853)
References
- ^ "Review: Compassionate Stranger: Asenath Nicholson and the Great Irish Famine, by Maureen O'Rourke Murphy". The Irish Times.
- ^ a b c "Review: Compassionate Stranger: Asenath Nicholson and the Great Irish Famine, by Maureen O'Rourke Murphy". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- ^ Smith, Andrew F. (2009). Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine. Columbia University Press. pp. 33-34. ISBN 978-0-231-14092-8
- ^ a b Nicholson, Asenath (1847). Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger or An Excursion Through Ireland, in 1844 & 1845, for the purpose of personally investigating the condition of the poor. New York: Baker and Scribner.
- ^ a b c "Protestant New Yorker who saved hundreds of Irish famine victims". IrishCentral.com. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
- ^ Maureen O'Rourke Murphy, ‘Nicholson, Asenath Hatch (1792–1855)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 12 November 2017
- ^ Miller, Laura J. (2017). Building Nature's Market: The Business and Politics of Natural Foods. University of Chicago Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-226-50123-9 "Asenath Nicholson's 1835 volume Nature's Own Book was the first vegetarian cookbook published in the United States; it became a stand reference work for vegetarians before the American Civil War."
- ^ Smith, Andrew F. (2015). Savoring Gotham: A Food Lover's Companion to New York City. Oxford University Press. p. 617. ISBN 978-0-19-045465-4
- ^ Burns, Arthur; Innes, Joanna. (2003). Rethinking the Age of Reform: Britain 1780-1850. Cambridge University Press. p. 208
- ^ Anonymous. (1849). Kitchen Philosophy for Vegetarians. The Vegetarian Advocate 11 (1): 10.
- ^ "Key facts". The Vegan Society. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
- v
- t
- e
Veganism | |
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Vegetarianism | |
Lists |
Secular | |
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Religious |
and drink
- Agave syrup
- Chicken fillet roll
- Coconut burger
- Coconut milk
- Fruits
- Grains
- Gelatin substitutes
- Jambon
- Meat alternative
- Miso
- Mochi
- Mock duck
- Nutritional yeast
- Plant cream
- Plant milk
- Quinoa
- Quorn
- Seitan
- Soy yogurt
- Tempeh
- Tofu
- Tofurkey
- Cheese
- Vegetables
- Vegetarian bacon
- Hot dog
- Vegetarian mark
- Sausage
- Sausage roll
- Beer
- Wine
- Veggie burger
and events
reports,
journals
- On Abstinence from Eating Animals (3rd century)
- An Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food, as a Moral Duty (1802)
- Vegetable Cookery (1812)
- A Vindication of Natural Diet (1813)
- Reasons for not Eating Animal Food (1814)
- Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (1824)
- Nature's Own Book (1835)
- Fruits and Farinacea (1845)
- The Pleasure Boat (1845)
- The Ethics of Diet (1883)
- What is Vegetarianism? (1886)
- Shelley's Vegetarianism (1891)
- Behind the Scenes in Slaughter-Houses (1892)
- Why I Am a Vegetarian (1895)
- Figs or Pigs? (1896)
- Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898)
- Thirty-nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian (1903)
- The Meat Fetish (1904)
- The New Ethics (1907)
- A Fleshless Diet (1910)
- The Benefits of Vegetarianism (1927)
- Living the Good Life (1954)
- Ten Talents (1968)
- Diet for a Small Planet (1971)
- The Vegetarian Epicure (1972)
- Moosewood Collective Cookbooks (1973)
- The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook (1975)
- Laurel's Kitchen (1976)
- Moosewood Cookbook (1977)
- Fit for Life (1985)
- Diet for a New America (1987)
- The Sexual Politics of Meat (1990)
- Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (1997)
- The China Study (2005)
- Skinny Bitch (2005)
- Livestock's Long Shadow (2006)
- The Bloodless Revolution (2006)
- Eating Animals (2009)
- Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows (2009)
- The Vegan Studies Project (2015)
- Animal (De)liberation (2016)
- The End of Animal Farming (2018)
- Vegetable Kingdom (2020)
- Making a Stand for Animals (2022)
- Meat Atlas (annual)
- The Animals Film (1981)
- Diet for a New America (film) (1991)
- A Cow at My Table (1998)
- Meet Your Meat (2002)
- Post Punk Kitchen (2003–2005)
- Peaceable Kingdom (2004)
- Earthlings (2005)
- A Sacred Duty (2007)
- Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (2010)
- Planeat (2010)
- Forks Over Knives (2011)
- Vegucated (2011)
- Live and Let Live (2013)
- Cowspiracy (2014)
- PlantPure Nation (2015)
- What the Health (2017)
- Carnage (2017)
- Dominion (2018)
- Eating You Alive (2018)
- The Game Changers (2018)
- Maa Ka Doodh (2023)
- You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment (2024)
activists,
authors,
physicians
cookbook authors
- Nava Atlas
- Mayim Bialik
- Carleigh Bodrug
- Gypsy Boots
- BOSH!
- Martha Brotherton
- Edward Espe Brown
- Tabitha Brown (actress)
- Suzy Amis Cameron
- Hannah Che
- Pinky Cole
- Chloe Coscarelli
- Yamuna Devi
- Sue Donaldson
- Crescent Dragonwagon
- Rose Elliot
- Rip Esselstyn
- Toni Fiore
- Carol Lee Flinders
- Alexis Gauthier
- Dick Gregory
- Richa Hingle
- Madhur Jaffrey
- Mollie Katzen
- Frances Moore Lappé
- Deborah Madison
- Linda McCartney
- Mary McCartney
- Hetty Lui McKinnon
- Tracye McQuirter
- Joanne Lee Molinaro
- Moosewood Collective
- Charity Morgan
- Isa Chandra Moskowitz
- Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
- Gaz Oakley
- Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
- Mathew Pritchard
- Satchidananda Saraswati
- Derek Sarno
- Miyoko Schinner
- Alicia Silverstone
- Hannah Sunderani
- Bryant Terry
- Anna Thomas
- Haile Thomas
- Lauren Toyota
- Jeeca Uy
- Umberto Veronesi
- Nisha Vora
- Alan Wakeman
- Cranks (restaurant)
- Food for Thought (restaurant)
- InSpiral Lounge
- Lentil as Anything
- Minerva Café
- New Riverside Cafe
- Nix (restaurant)
- Penny Cafeteria
- Pink Peacock
- The Hollow Reed
- The Pitman Vegetarian Hotel