Harvest for War: Fruits, Nuts, Imperialism, and Gas Mask Manufacture in the United States During World War I

This session has been POSTPONED to Tuesday, May 9, at 5:15 PM.

Part of a larger book length study, this essay examines the use of seemingly exotic foodstuffs and industrial waste in the form of fruit pits for the manufacture of a high-density carbon filter critical for defense against chemical weapons. It involves not only environmental and military history but also the history of science and biology. The essay includes analysis of transportation networks within the context of 19^th-century US imperialism, especially from a resource allocation perspective.