Press Release: March 12, 2010

National Archives at Kansas City

Award-winning journalist Stephen Fried to discuss "Appetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire that Civilized the Wild West"

For More Information Contact:
Kimberlee Ried, 816-268-8000

Kansas City, (MO)…The National Archives at Kansas City will host award-winning journalist Stephen Fried at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 8, for a discussion of his new book Appetite for America. Fried will be available to sign copies of the book after the discussion. A 6:00 p.m. reception will precede the event. In addition, a special Harvey House Restaurants display of memorabilia, including flatware, china, postcards and menus will be available for viewing.

Appetite for America details the story of Fred Harvey, an immigrant who came to the United States in the 1850s as a penniless teenager working saloons and the railroads and at the age of 40, had a brilliant idea that changed America. His trackside eatery in Topeka, Kansas, grew into a powerful family business—based in Kansas City--that forever changed the way Americans eat, drink, sleep, travel and spend leisure time.

Fred Harvey ended up building a revolutionary company feeding train passengers along the upstart Santa Fe Railroad. With his son, Ford, he expanded into the first national chain of restaurants, hotels and bookstores from Chicago to California – including Kansas City’s Union Station-- where the company was headquartered, and the historic hotels still in use at the Grand Canyon. His beloved “Harvey Girls” were some of the first working women in America, later inspiring an Oscar® winning movie starring Judy Garland. His firm introduced the country to Native American arts and culture and “Santa Fe Style. Ford Harvey became one of Kansas City’s most important business leaders, and his wife and children were fixtures on the city’s social and cultural scene through the 1930s; their story is revealed in the book for the first time.

Stephen Fried is an award-winning investigative journalist and essayist, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University's graduate school of journalism. He is the author of the highly praised books Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia, Bitter Pills: Inside the Hazardous World of Legal Drugs, The New Rabbi, and Husbandry. A two-time winner of the National Magazine Award--the Pulitzer Prize of magazine writing--Fried has been a prolific writer of feature stories and personal essays for Vanity Fair, The Washington Post Magazine, GQ, Rolling Stone, Glamour, Ladies' Home Journal and Philadelphia Magazine.

Copies of Appetite for America will be available for purchase at The Kansas City Store at the National Archives. For more information or to make a reservation call 816-268-8010 or register by e-mailing: kansascity.educate@nara.gov.

The National Archives at Kansas City is one of 13 facilities nationwide where the public has access to Federal archival records. It is home to more than 50,000 cubic feet of historical records dating from the 1820s to the 1990s created or received by nearly 100 Federal agencies. Serving the Central Plains Region, the archives holds records from the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The facility is located at 400 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108. The National Archives at Kansas City is open Tuesday–Saturday 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. for exhibits viewing and Tuesday–Saturday from 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. for research.

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NREA 10–19

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