Exhibit curated by Meg Campbell, ’25

Special Collections is home to many different books and records, but what you may not know is that we have a large collection of cookbooks! This Black History Month and Women’s History Month, we are highlighting some of our cookbooks written by Black and women authors and taking a look at how food, culture, and history all connect. In these cookbooks, food becomes a manifestation of history and the collective memory of the Black community throughout US History. From the origins of soul food to treasured family recipes and stories to complete ingredient histories, these cookbooks tell the story of a culture and its evolution. Some of the cookbooks we are highlighting include Freda De Knight’s A Date with a Dish from 1948, Inez Yeargan Kaiser’s Soul Food Cookery from 1968, and Maya Angelou’s Hallelujah! The Welcome Table from 2004. All these cookbooks from the 20th and 21st centuries show how vibrant and impactful food can be for a community. Come see the history of these dishes, the brilliance of these authors, and maybe pick up a good recipe or two.>

Featured in images: Kaiser, Inez Yeargan. Soul Food Cookery. Kansas City: Inez Kaiser & Associates, 1968. Harwood, Jim, and Ed Callahan. Soul Food Cook Book. Concord, CA: Nitty Gritty Productions, 1969. De Knight, Freda. A Date with a Dish: A Cook Book of American Negro Recipes. New York: Hermitage Press, 1948