LibGuides: CIA History: History of the CIA

Happy Birthday, CIA!

The first class of the New Haven Restaurant Institute (later renamed The Culinary Institute of America) started on May 22, 1946. Founded to provide training and job opportunities in the restaurant field for returning World War II veterans, the school quickly became “the culinary center of the nation.” The college began in a small building in New Haven, Connecticut with fifty students and three faculty. On Founders Day, we pay tribute to those students and faculty, co-founders Frances Roth and Katharine Angell, and the vision of the New Haven Restaurant Association, all of whom made it possible for the CIA to thrive and become the world’s premier culinary college.

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During World War II, the food-service industry faced a shortage of trained chefs. After the war, many veterans returned looking for work, but few had adequate training. The New Haven Restaurant Association identified this need and, under the direction of Frances Roth and with the fundraising assistance of Katharine Angell, founded the New Haven Restaurant Institute with the goal of educating returning veterans to work in restaurants.

Pictured left and below: Frances Roth (1896-1971) Founder & First Administrative Director

Pictured right: Katharine Angell (1890-1983) Founder & Chairman of the Board, 1946-1966

“There is one person making a valiant effort to perpetuate classic cookery in this country. She is Mrs. Frances Roth, a handsome grandmother and lawyer, who until twelve years ago, had never seen the inside of the kitchen of a public dining room.” –Craig Claiborne, New York Times (April 13, 1959)

Roth was a prominent attorney (and the first woman to pass the bar in Connecticut), she admitted her lack of kitchen knowledge in her handwritten history of the school:

“I simply wanted to help out a few former associates and frankly I got on a merry-go-round and did not get off [illegible] for over 20 years. Remember I had never been in a commercial kitchen in my life - I knew good food - my mother was an expert in house cooking - and of course I had travelled the world and eaten in fine establishments - this was all I knew about the prep of food but many years of teaching and working with educators had given me a valuable background in the principles of good education - expert and dedicated faculty - respect for the manual worker - the right tools and facilities to work with - supervision by qualified personnel and depts of City and State.”

The New Haven Restaurant Institute opened in this storefront location (left) in May 1946. The school moved to Angell Hall (right) on Prospect Street in 1947. The building was named in honor of former president of Yale University, James Rowland Angell, husband of Katharine Angell. The cooking school maintained a close relationship with Yale University and catered many events and provided many meals over the years.

Pictured: Graduates, August 1947

“This post-war school is unique in having achieved a 100 per cent record of placement for its graduates in high paying restaurant and hotel positions.” –Army Times, Aug. 9, 1947

Women students were always a part of the CIA. There was one woman in the first class of students to enroll. The second class had three women students.

In 1951, the name was changed to The Culinary Institute of America to reflect the school’s national reputation.

Pictured: Students relaxing and working in the kitchen on the New Haven campus.

Published Resources

Our Story: A History of the CIA
"The CIA has an amazing story, and it starts all the way back in 1946, with a daring vision shared by two extraordinary women."
Amendola, Joseph. Tastes and Tales of a Chef: A Culinary Journey with Mr. A. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, c2006.
Book - Chef Joe Amendola taught at the CIA from 1948 until his retirement in 1989.
Dixon, Jonathan. Beated, Seared and Sauced. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2011.
Book - Memoir about being a student at the CIA
Geraci, Victor W. and Elizabeth S. Demers, eds. Icons of American Cooking. Santa Barbara: Greenwood, 2011.
Book - See Chapter on The Culinary Institute of America by Christine Crawford Oppenheimer
Linder, Donna. "The Culinary Institute of America: The First 40 Years." Taste 14:1 (Winter 1986), pg. 14-20.
Article - in CIA alumni magazine (available in the Archives)
Ruhlman, Michael. The Making of a Chef: Mastering the Heat at The Culinary Institute of America. New York: Henry Holt, 1997, 2009.
Book - "The Making of a Chef is not just about holding a knife or slicing an onion; it's also about the nature and spirit of being a professional cook and the people who enter the profession."
Ryan, Tim. The Culinary Institute of America: A History. 2003
Dissertation - President Ryan's dissertation on the history of the college.
Schiff, Judith. "Angell of the CIA." Yale Alumni Magazine, Jan/Feb 2008.
Article - Spotlights Katharine Angell and the early relationship between the CIA and Yale University.
Smith, Andrew F. Eating History: 30 Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.
Book - See Chapter 23: "Frances Roth's and Katharine Angell's CIA"

1946 : The Year in Menus

Bright Angel Lodge Coffee Shop, April 19, 1946 The Bright Angel Lodge was built at a time when the country’s fascination with the western United States was growing and travel was made easier by the development of the railroads. The first buildings of the lodge were built on the south rim of the Grand Canyon in 1896 before being bought by Grand Canyon Railroad in 1905. In the 1930s, owned by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, the lodge was replaced with a newly-designed wood structure that is now listed on the historic register.
The Breakers, Palm Beach, Florida, April 7, 1946 In the late 19^th century, the railroad brought new visitors to the east coast of Florida and Henry Flagler, who pioneered the Florida railway system, built hotels to accommodate them. First built in 1896, the hotel suffered two destructive fires over the years in 1903 and 1925 before it was rebuilt in fireproof concrete. These two table d’hôte dinner menus from 1946 are typical for hotel and resort menus in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. The meals would have been inclusive with the stay and therefore do not list prices.
Fred Harvey, Santa Fe Dining Car Service The cover of this dinner menu for on board the Santa Fe Railroad features a still of Judy Garland in the MGM musical production, The Harvey Girls, which was released in 1946. A chain of eating houses along the railroads in the western United States was developed by Fred Harvey in the late nineteenth century. Harvey's high standards and expectations helped elevate dining in the West and encouraged tourism. Harvey advertised in newspapers around the country for single, educated women to work as waitresses in his restaurants--who became known as The Harvey Girls. They were expected to be clean-cut and well-mannered and in exchange many were able to live independently and travel to new parts of the country (or even marry). History has sometimes credited them with "civilizing" the West.
Les Amis d’Escoffier dinner celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the birth of Auguste Escoffier, Held at the Waldorf-Astoria, October 28, 1946 Les Amis d’Escoffier hosted this dinner in honor of their namesake Escoffier’s birth in 1846. The Society, founded in 1936, regularly hosted dinners for its members who all “appreciate good food and good wines; men who believe in the adage Live and Let Live; men who place sincere friendship above all else.” Notice the “Dinner Rules” and “Warning.” Happy 170^th birthday, Escoffier!
Park Row, Stevens Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, July 28, 1946 “The Stevens Hotel is co-operating in the voluntary food conservation program recommended by the President’s Famine Emergency Committee.” President Harry S. Truman established the President’s Famine Committee on March 1, 1946 to aid in the fight against famine in the world post World War II. In a radio address to the nation on April 19, 1946, Truman said, “Once again I appeal to all Americans to sacrifice, so that others may live. Millions will surely die unless we eat less. Again I strongly urge all Americans to save bread and to conserve oils and fats. These are the most essential weapons at our disposal to fight famine abroad. Every slice of bread, every ounce of fat and oil saved by your voluntary sacrifice, will keep starving people alive. By our combined effort, we will reduce starvation and, with God's help, we will avert the worst plague of famine that follows in the wake of war. I ask every American now to pledge himself to share.”
Pocono Manor Inn, August 6, 1946 Rationing and convenience foods are seen on most American menus from the 1940s, including this one from the Pocono Manor Inn, a popular resort in the Pocono Mountains. Although the food might have nourished but not stimulated, movies were able to serve as an escape from real-life worries and resorts often entertained summer guests with popular big screen films. On this night, guest at this resort would have enjoyed Her Kind of Man, a crime film noir about a love triangle between a nightclub singer, a gangster and a newspaper columnist.
San Francisco Overland Limited, 1946 The Overland Route between Chicago and San Francisco traveled through the High Sierras and advertisements sold the trips by touting the scenery and the fine food available on board. A 1923 advertisement that shows a similar image of a covered wagon proclaims, "West, the route of the explorer, Indian, pioneer, Forty- niner, is the route of the Union Pacific, which pursues the very paths they made to California's wonderlands. Now, on the old Overland Trail which they blazed in privation you may travel in luxurious ease in the splendid trains of the Union Pacific." In contrast to travelling by horseback or covered wagon train, this 1946 beverage list offers up whiskey, scotch, some classic cocktails (Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Dry Martini), sherry or port, mineral water, soda, lemonade, Alka Selzer, and playing cards.
U.S.S. Mission Bay, July 4, 1946 The USS Mission Bay was a Navy escort carrier that served on Atlantic anti-submarine duty during World War II. After the war, it became part of the 16^th Fleet in reserve out of Norfolk.
Toffenetti Triangle Restaurant, December 4, 1946 Dario Toffenetti, an Austrian immigrant, opened his first restaurant in Chicago in 1914. Six more Chicago locations opened and then his first East Coast restaurant opened in Times Square, New York in 1940. The restaurant sat 1,000 guests and was open 24 hours a day. The Toffenetti chain was known for its descriptive menus. This late night menu from 1946 offers a juicy one for its ham and sweet potatoes!
Arnaud’s, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 13, 1946 Arnaud’s was founded in 1918 by Frenchman Arnaud Cazenave and served authentic Creole food in the French Quarter. In the 1940s, the restaurant was run by Cazenave’s daughter, Germaine Wells, who was known for her joie de vivre. This à la carte menu from 1946 highlights the restaurant’s signature dishes in red, including Shrimp Arnaud, Bouillabaisse Louisianaise, Chicken Coquille à la Reine, Filet Mignon Orléanaise, and Crêpe Suzette Arnaud. Arnaud’s is still one of the most popular restaurants in New Orleans.