Lynne Olver

Olver graduated from the University of Albany (SUNY). She was a librarian at the Morris County Library, New Jersey, and became its director in 2009.{{Cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailyrecord/obituary.aspx?n=lynne-martin-olver&pid=174643686&fhid=17151|title=Lynne Olver Obituary - Randolph, NJ {{!}} The Daily Record|last=|first=|date=April 16, 2015|website=Legacy.com|access-date=2020-04-25}}

In 1999, Olver created The Food Timeline, a history website documenting culinary history, food history and recipes.{{Cite web |url=https://www.wbur.org/npr/186481802/picnicking-through-the-ages |title=Picnicking Through The Ages |work=WBUR |date=May 26, 2013 |first=Lydia |last=Zuraw |language=en |access-date=2020-04-25}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/whats-in-your-lunch-box-part-2-prohibition-and-the-great-depression-61470286/ |title=What's in Your Lunch Box? Part 2 -- Prohibition and the Great Depression |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine |first=Ashley |last=Luthern |date=June 23, 2009 |language=en |access-date=2020-04-25}} Unlike many other food related websites, Olver gave citations to almost every statement on her site so that readers can verify her claims. Her research has been cited in peer-reviewed journals.{{cite journal |url=https://jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(14)01767-5/fulltext |title=What We Ate: Repasts of the Academy's Past |journal=Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics |volume=115 |number=2 |pages=286–302 |date=February 1, 2015 |first=Karen |last=Stein |doi=10.1016/j.jand.2014.11.019|pmid=25636222 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |url=https://jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(14)01221-0/fulltext |title=History Snapshot: Dietetics Student Experience in the 1940s |journal=Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics |volume=114 |number=10 |pages=1648–1662 |date=October 1, 2014 |first=Karen |last=Stein |doi=10.1016/j.jand.2014.08.001|pmid=25257369 |url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1949-8535.2009.tb00237.x |title=Rediscovering the Cacao in Ecuador's Upper Napo River Valley |journal=Focus on Geography |volume=51 |number=4 |date=April 21, 2010 |first=John |last=Grimes |pages=23–30 |doi=10.1111/j.1949-8535.2009.tb00237.x |url-access=subscription}}

In 2020, it was reported that the Olver family was searching for a person or persons to maintain and possibly grow the website.{{cite news |url=https://www.eater.com/2020/7/8/21271246/food-timeline-lynne-olver |title=Who Will Save the Food Timeline? |website=Eater |date=July 8, 2020 |first=Dayna |last=Evans}}{{cite web |url=https://thetakeout.com/food-timeline-website-needs-someone-to-maintain-it-1844323119 |title=Wanted: someone to save the Food Timeline |website=The Takeout |first=Aimee |last=Levitt |date=July 9, 2020}}{{cite news |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-best-food-history-website |title=The Internet's Greatest Archive of Food History Needs a New Curator: A New Jersey reference librarian's magnum opus could really use your help. |magazine=Atlas Obscura |date=July 15, 2020 |first=Luke |last=Fater}}{{cite news |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/food-timeline-180975359/ |title=You Could Help Curate This Ambitious Timeline of Food History: The family of Lynne Olver, the librarian who launched the online portal in 1999, needs help keeping her legacy alive |magazine=Smithsonian Magazine |date=July 17, 2020 |first=Claire |last=Bugos}}{{cite news |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/626695/food-timeline-tracking-culinary-history-needs-new-custodian |title=Food Timeline: You Could Be in Charge of the Web's Most Ambitious Food History Site |website=Mental Floss |date=July 20, 2020 |first=Michele |last=Debczak}}

On November 11, 2020, the Olver family announced on the Food Timeline's Twitter account that they selected the Virginia Tech's Food Studies Program to be the new curators for Olver's website after reviewing over 80 other applicants.{{cite tweet |user=foodtimeline |number=1326611930363072521 |title=Thanks to over 80 people who offered to be Foodtimeline's next editor(s). It had started as the history of the Plymouth Thanksgiving meal, so it's fitting this month to say: Virginia Tech and their multidisciplinary food program are FT's new curators |date=November 11, 2020 |author=Food Timeline}} The Food Studies Program thanked Eater writer Dayna Evans for bringing the Virginia Tech unit in contact with the Olver family.{{cite tweet |user=VTFoodStudies |number=1326642137518264321 |title=We are so thrilled to help make a new home for the beloved @foodtimeline, an absolutely invaluable culinary history resource. Thanks to @Eater and @DaynaEvans_ for helping bring us together! |date=November 11, 2020 |author=Food Studies at Virginia Tech}} The Food Studies Program is headed by history professor Anna Zeide.{{cite web |url=https://liberalarts.vt.edu/news/articles/2020/11/introducing-the-flavor-of-community-and-humanities-to-food-studi.html |title=Introducing the flavor of community and the humanities to food studies |date=November 16, 2020 |first=Andrew |last=Adkins |work=Virginia Tech}} In December 2020, Virginia Tech acquired the "website and accompanying physical library" and planned to "carry on Olver's legacy and create space for new research and student internship opportunities".{{cite web |url=https://liberalarts.vt.edu/research-centers/food-studies-program/projects.html |title=Food Studies Program Projects |work=Virginia Tech |access-date=2020-12-16 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201217004602/https://liberalarts.vt.edu/research-centers/food-studies-program/projects.html |archive-date=2020-12-17}}

The Food Timeline was adapted in 2024 by The Secret Ingredient, a culinary culture newsletter.{{cite web |url=https://thesecretingredient.substack.com/p/when-did-your-favorite-foods-originate |title=When did your favorite foods originate |work=The Secret Ingredient |date=December 25, 2024 |first=Harrison |last=Chapin}} The adapted article includes illustrations and archival visual media.

• {{cite episode |url=https://www.wbur.org/npr/186481802/picnicking-through-the-ages |title=Picnicking Through The Ages |series=The Salt |network=NPR |date=May 26, 2013 |first=Lydia |last=Zuraw}}
• {{cite episode |url=https://heritageradionetwork.org/podcast/a-taste-of-the-past-episode-135-lynne-olver-and-foodtimeline-org/ |title=Lynne Olver & FoodTimeline.org |number=135 |date=May 9, 2013 |series=A Taste of the Past |network=Heritage Radio Network |first=Linda |last=Pelaccio}}
• {{cite podcast |url=http://www.restaurantguysradio.com/sle/rg/content/shows/index.asp?show_id=324 |title=Lynne Olver / The Food Timeline |website=The Restaurant Guys |date=May 15, 2007 |first1=Mark |last1=Pascal |first2=Francis |last2=Schott}}
• {{cite podcast |url=http://jfolse.com/radio_show/jfolse012514.mp3 |title=Lynne Olver Interview |date=January 25, 2005 |website=Stirrin' It Up |first=John |last=Folse}}

• {{cite episode |url=https://rss.art19.com/episodes/e31885e2-97b3-4611-9340-835c29b2a3a5.mp3 |title=The Curious Curator of Culinary History |season=7 |number=2 |date=April 29, 2021 |series=Proof (Podcast) |publisher=America's Test Kitchen |first=Bridget |last=Lancaster |type=mp3}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://foodtimeline.org/index.html The Food Timeline website] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20200425070510/http://foodtimeline.org/index.html archived] 25 April 2020)
• [https://virginiatech.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,lynne%20olver&tab=Everything&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&vid=01VT_INST:01VT_INST&lang=en&offset=0 The Lynne Olver Memorial Book Collection at Virginia Tech]
• [https://thesecretingredient.substack.com/p/when-did-your-favorite-foods-originate The Food Timeline (Illustrated Edition)]

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Category:Food historians

Category:1958 births

Category:2015 deaths

Category:University at Albany, SUNY alumni

Category:American women historians

Category:20th-century American historians

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:21st-century American historians

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:American librarians

Category:American women librarians