Heating Up the Sources: Using Community Cookbooks in Historical Inquiry

Even after immigrant women had changed to American dress and began sending their children to public school, the last aspect of life to change was their foodways. One of the ways by which women could stay within their sphere and still find a public voice was through the compilation of a community cookbook that were compiled for the benefit of their churches and a myriad of community organizations. But they were far more than just collections of recipes. A careful examination of charity cookbooks shows how women defined their roles, disseminated hierarchy within their own groups, advised others, dispensed moral teachings to a broader audience, and preserved the best parts of their own heritage for future generations. And in the process, women who probably never would have been published or remembered beyond their family ties have produced artifacts worthy of continued inquiry.