Category Archives: Labor

Meals on Wheels

Business, Campus Development, Community, Labor

By Lauren Griffin, Public History MA student at Temple University

Seeing food trucks and carts along a city street is not an uncommon sight. As you walk around Temple’s campus, however, you might notice that there are a few more food trucks than normal. Some of them don’t even really look like food trucks. There’s little stalls, a shipping container, metal carts, mobile trucks, and immobile trucks hardwired into the infrastructure of the street. For the Temple community, these trucks are beloved. During lunchtime, students crowd the windows, placing orders for birria tacos, Japanese teppanyaki, hoagies, and more. Although it might be surprising for something that seems so integral to Temple’s culture as an urban university, the food trucks and their operators had to fight to be there. So, what is the relationship between Temple and the trucks, and where did it start?

Street vendors were common in Philadelphia beginning in the 1800s, but because of their transient nature it can be challenging to pin evidence of their presence. It’s possible that the first street vendor at Temple was the young Walter Johnson, selling the classic Philadelphia food item, pretzels, in 1924. 

The Temple News, December 12, 1924. (Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries)

Another early food vendor on campus was William “Bill” Bush. Like Johnson, Bush sold pretzels. He also sold ice cream, candy, and apples right in front of College Hall for over a decade. In the 1940s, the city of Philadelphia introduced new sanitation regulations and a system of licensing for street vendors. After adjusting to the new regulations and in response to the growing student population and campus in North Philadelphia, street vendors started clustering around Temple University in larger numbers in the 1960s. Students were increasingly dissatisfied with university food offerings, and the food trucks filled a need for affordable, delicious, and quick food. 

One of the most famous and influential vendors of this time were two brothers, John and Milton Street. The Street brothers started out selling hot dogs and cheesesteaks on campus, but both would go on to become major figures in Philadelphia politics. John Street was mayor of Philadelphia for two terms, and Milton was an activist that fought for affordable housing before turning his attention to public office. Milton Street rose to prominence on Temple’s campus when he began speaking out against discriminatory practices by Temple University that targeted Black vendors on campus. 

Brother Hakim (left) and T. Milton Street (right) of the Black Vendors Association at City Council protesting discriminatory regulations placed on Temple’s food vendors. Street was said to have torn up the City Council bill during this session in 1975. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Street took on both Temple and the City Council to protest unlawful tows of vendor vehicles from the street around campus. Street attributed the problems to vendor competition and confusing and discriminatory regulations regarding where and when vendors could set up their trucks. After fighting against the food trucks for decades, in 1982 Temple created a permanent space, the Vendors Mall on 13th Street, for the food trucks. Street drew attention to the ongoing problems, and Temple built a new structure, the 12th Street Food Court, in 1996. 

The 12th Street Food Court privileged the few, and the following decades introduced new struggles for food vendors. Parking has always been a concern, and Temple has different options for different kinds of trucks. Some trucks are hardwired into the campus infrastructure, while some are removable carts that can be towed to different locations across the city. In 2015, Temple and the City of Philadelphia created a special Street and Sidewalk Vending District that restricted where food trucks could officially be set up. Trucks were allowed between Diamond, 10th, Oxford, and 16th Street, but not on 13th, the original location of Temple’s Vendors Mall. This ordinance also prohibited the use of generators, enforced minimum open hours for all vendors, and limited the number of total vendors to 50. 

A helpful guide to the food trucks from the 2015 Templar yearbook that emphasized creating a personal relationship with the workers. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA).

In 2019, Temple and the city department of Licenses and Inspection (L&I) once again targeted the operations of the food trucks by announcing they would begin enforcing a particularly difficult rule: vendors would have to remove their trucks overnight, hauling the mobile kitchens in and out everyday. This rule was costly for some food trucks, and impossible for many. Students launched a petition in support of the trucks, and eventually it was ruled that trucks would not have to move each night. 

Unfortunately, a new issue was lurking around the corner: COVID-19. The university shut down, and students left campus en masse. Having a semi-outdoor business was actually beneficial during the pandemic given the indoor dining restrictions, but many of Temple’s vendors were unable to move their trucks to find enough customers. Many food trucks went under during the pandemic, and it led to many questioning whether a move to another college campus like Drexel or UPenn would be best. 

Operating a food truck on Temple’s campus presents many challenges, but students and faculty create affectionate connections with the folks that serve up delicious meals each day. The relationship and support for vendors changes with each university administration, and not all vendors are treated equally. Their presence on campus creates a unique urban environment that has become a talking point of Temple marketing. Students love to debate their favorite spots and dishes, but the truck popularity also draws attention and money away from in-house university food services. Eating at the trucks as a student is making a choice to support local business, but does Temple make the same?

Listen to the stories of Temple’s vendors over at the Oral Histories page.

Meet Celia Jimenez

Business, Gender, Labor

Walking along Montgomery Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets sits a bold food truck that goes by the name Sexy Green Truck. Celia Jimenez and her family have operated Sexy Green Truck for the past few years. Jimenez has been working in the Philadelphia food industry for the last decade, and she also owns her own catering business on the side.

Jimenez says the best part of working at Sexy Green Truck is being able to see students enjoy her cooking. Working in such a small environment can be challenging, however. Only three people can work inside the truck at a time, and it can get hectic in the small space.

Jimenez and her family are not the owners of the truck, but they ensure its smooth operation. Listen to Celia Jimenez’s dual language interview (English & Spanish) below.

Oral-History-Listening-Guide-Sexy-Green-Truck

Meet Peter Shin

Business, Immigration, Labor

Burger Tank is run by Peter Shin, a man passionate about the people he serves. His
parents, Korean immigrants, opened a convenience store when they came to America. Peter’s adventure into the food industry started when he opened a breakfast store on Broad and Girard Avenue.

Peter purchased Burger Tanks and has been running it since 2013. His mother operates the Top Bap food truck just a few trucks over. His sister also graduated from Temple University, so his family has deep ties to the university. He actively works to employ Temple students to help give back to the community.

In this interview, Peter touches on how he’s seen the food trucks and their culture change over the past decade. Peter’s business, like many of the food trucks on campus, was hit hard during the pandemic, and he’s recently faced issues with finding workers to help him keep his truck open to meet the requirements set by the license agreement. He’s been an advocate of vendors at Temple since taking over Burger Tank, but he is concerned about his business’s survival.

Listen to Peter Shin’s interview below.

Burger-Tank-Oral-History-Indexed-Listening-Guide

Mitten Hall: Serving Students for Decades

Business, Campus Development, Class, Community, Labor, , ,

By Lauren Griffin, Public History MA student at Temple University

The first generation of students that attended Temple sourced their meals from a variety of different places. Some students commuted from home, some sought out meals at diners and lunch shops, or some students ate their meals at their nearby boarding houses. One of the early restaurants near campus was the Temple Restaurant, a lunch shop that was in operation until at least 1911. In 1908, they even served supper for students attending night classes. At this time, men and women had to dine in separate rooms. 

The Temple Restaurant was the first instance of university dining. The Great Depression interrupted the growth of Temple, but the administration responded by offering financial aid and by expanding services available to students. In the 1920s and 1930s with enrollment recovering after World War I and the Depression, Temple began constructing its own buildings near the Baptist Temple. One of those buildings was Mitten Hall, which permanently changed the campus environment as a student activities center. Not only a space for students to host club meetings and study sessions, it also offered a brand new cafeteria space. 

Photo of the cafeteria in Mitten Hall, c1930s. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

In addition, Temple started building dorms for students to live on campus. The construction projects in the 1930s under Temple President Charles Beury marked the beginning of Temple’s significant expansion into the surrounding neighborhood. Temple transformed from a university of row houses and commuters into a more idealized version of a university campus. Those row homes were not empty, however, and it was during this time period that Temple began demolishing the homes of its neighbors and erasing the former history of North Broad Street. 

For students and faculty, life on campus was good for a while. Mitten Hall was the center of student life. The cafeteria, dubbed ‘Casa Grilla,” hosted theatrical performances, poetry readings, dances, and special dinners. Things would change in the 1940s, however, when World War II came to campus. Students were drafted and left the university to fight overseas, and educational programming was modified to better assist a country at war. The US government also established a rationing system and in 1942 began restricting the quantity of high-demand food items that individuals could purchase. The annual Founder’s Dinner celebrating the legacy of Russell Conwell was even canceled one year due to rationing. While individuals were encouraged to plant victory gardens and start canning their vegetables, Temple’s student dining facilities struggled.

Article from The Temple News, March 23, 1945. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

After World War II ended, enrollment at Temple once again surged as veterans returned home and used their GI Bills to go to college. Temple expanded and built more dormitories and student dining facilities. Since the 1930s, the meals at Temple dining halls were prepared by Slater Food Company. Founded by Philadelphian John F. Slater, the company specialized in corporate and university cafeterias that focused on feeding large groups of people as quickly as possible. The relationship between Slater Food Service and the students of Temple was tenuous. In the 1970s, it came to a head with the Brown Bag Boycott.

A photo from the 1968 Temple University Alumni Review depicting two stylish boycotters. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Starting in the 1960s, students expressed their frustrations with how dining halls were managed. Cafeteria “bouncers” would kick students out of the dining room if they weren’t actively eating, food prices fluctuated randomly, and students regularly complained that dishware was dirty and servers got their orders wrong. The Dorm Senate Food Committee met to try and figure out a solution to students’ concerns, but Slater services also had complaints. Slater claimed that they had to devote a significant amount of their budget to replacing stolen dishware, coffee pots, and utensils. If students would stop stealing, Slater pledged to serve sirloin steaks and lobster in the dining halls. The cafeteria bouncer was actually an employee of the university in place to keep the student areas under control, and the dining halls had been notoriously overcrowded for years.

Smiling students protesting in the dining halls with a sign stating “don’t buy slater.” (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA)

In 1968, students had finally had enough. The Brown Bag Boycott Committee instituted a full boycott of Temple dining halls and Slater Food Services and encouraged all Temple faculty and students to bring bagged lunches from home. The catalyst this time around was Slater raising the price of a cup of coffee from 10 cents to 12 cents. This might seem minor, but Slater had been gradually increasing food prices over the past decades. The radicals behind the boycott were successful – prices were lowered. This wasn’t the end of Temple’s relationship with corporate food services, however. Slater would be replaced with Sodexo, and in 2017 the Sodexo contract was replaced with Aramark Food Services.

An inside look at a day in the life of a Sodexo employee, from the 2016 Templar yearbook. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

By the 1970s, Temple and its students had outgrown Mitten Hall. They needed a new space for the growing student population, so they built the Student Activities Center (the SAC) in 1971. The SAC continues to be a hub for student life on campus, offering expansive cafeteria and dining space, offices for student services, entertainment options, a bookstore, and more. It’s been renovated and expanded since the 1970s to continue to meet the needs of the shifting student population.

A sketch from 1984 depicting some proposed changes to the SAC. Is that a pile of boxes being unloaded, or is that little umbrella the formation of a food truck? (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Even though Mitten Hall is no longer the center of student life on campus, it holds a special place in Temple University’s history as a space of community, protest, and development. Students struggled against the corporatization of their meals, but there was a new answer to this problem: food trucks.

Women and Food Production

Gender, Labor,

By Lauren Griffin, Public History MA student at Temple University

Soon after Temple College was established, the administration debuted its Department of Household Science, later to be called the Women’s Department, in 1894. This department offered courses related to home economies, which included cooking, sewing, and household management. This department was initially headed by Sarah Conwell, Russell Conwell’s wife. It was then taken over by Laura Carnell, Temple’s first dean, and courses included “Scientific Cooking” and “Food Preparation.” This path of study would eventually transform into the four-year Home Economics degree, open to both women and men.

Course Catalog for 1936-1937 showing some of the offerings in the Home Economics program. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

In 1917, the federal government invested in home economics and passed the Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act. Universities could now receive federal funding for their home economics programs. Home economics would remain a popular degree choice for primarily women into the 1950s, but the Vocational Education Act of 1963 cut back federal aid for universities. The decrease in program funding coincided with second wave feminism and changing perspective on gender dynamics when it came to appropriate and available courses of study. More women moved into careers focused outside the domestic sphere, but it is important to not diminish the role that Home Economics played in providing avenues into education and economic opportunities for women for decades.

A Temple student in the Lunchroom Practicum course preparing hoagies for a South Philadelphia high school, 1950s. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Home economics was not the only path open to women at Temple in the early days. In 1911, the first classes were held at the Pennsylvania Horticulture School for Women. Jane Bowne Haines, the founder, established the school on farmland in Ambler, PA.

Students tilling the land on the Ambler campus, 1911-1912. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

Women could take courses in farming, vegetable gardening, shrubbery maintenance, animal husbandry, chemistry, bee keeping, and carpentry. Unlike Russell Conwell’s night classes on Temple’s main campus, the courses at the Horticulture School were held from 7:30am to 4pm. At the beginning, class sizes were rather small and students lived together in a nearby dormitory. When World War I began, students at the Horticulture School enrolled in specialized “war courses” that focused on food production and preservation. These war courses would be replicated again during World War II as students focused on supporting the war effort domestically through the growth of Victory Gardens. 

List of “war courses” offered at the Pennsylvania Horticulture School for Women found in the March 1918 edition of Wise Acres, the school’s yearbook. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

In the late 1950s, courses at the Pennsylvania Horticulture School for Women were opened up to men, and in 1961 the campus was officially absorbed into Temple University. The programs at Ambler expanded to include new degree programs like Landscape Architecture, but the legacy of the Horticulture School and the women that built it are still present on the campus.

Women could translate the knowledge picked up in Home Economics courses into careers in nutritional science, or from their Horticulture School classes into careers in food service. While some Temple students were learning about food production at a university level, others were actively engaged in food production through their employment at Temple. Women were behind the scenes cooking up food to fuel the university over the decades as fraternity house mothers, hostesses at dining halls, and service workers.

A photo of Mary Ross and Mrs. Whitten, two hostesses at Mitten Hall. (Courtesy of Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA.)

To hear first hand what it is like to work as a food truck vendor on campus, listen to Celia Jimenez’s oral history interview.