Historical Methodology

The University of Alabama Libraries is proud to hold the David Walker Lupton African American Cookbook Collection, one of the largest collections of African American cookbooks in the country. The collection consists of almost five hundred volumes covering the period from 1827. It has not been digitized but the list makes an excellent bibliography.

During Carson Gulley’s (1897-1962, branch lead with the NAACP) 27-year tenure as head chef of the Housing Division’s Food Service at UW-Madison, he introduced what would become a famous campus fudge-bottom pie; a chocolate and custard dessert wrapped in nostalgia for the thousands of students and faculty who fondly remember consuming it in campus dining halls over the years. In 1949 Carson Gulley published some of his recipes, including fudge-bottom pie, in a book called Seasoning Secrets: Herbs and Spices. The book was later revised and republished under the name Seasoning Secrets and Favorite Recipes of Carson Gulley.

An interview with Chef Edna Lewis is featured on Chef Joe Randall's website in his Hall of Fame section.

Cuisine Noir is a multicultural digital food, wine and travel lifestyle magazine that shares delicious and entertaining stories from around the African Diaspora that ...

"ESSENCE Communications is the number one media, technology and commerce company dedicated to Black women and inspires a global audience of more than 20 million through diverse storytelling and immersive original content." This lifestyle section is dedicated to food and drink.

A pop-up exhibit associated with a book (same title) curated to explore the culinary treasures African American cooks left behind in the cookbooks they wrote. The blog, which stopped updating in 2015, explores news and some of those books.

Here you will find a database of pre-1865 English-language manuscript cookbooks held in U. S. public institutions as well as a database of kitchen artifacts used at the time these manuscripts were written.

The CIA has digitized 1600 items from their enormous collection of 30,000 menus.

This is a database of menus stored in the Rare Book Room of the Central Library. This is a full database with some images.

NYPL has digitized nearly 18,000 menus, primarily from the Miss Frank E. Buttolph American Menu Collection, 1851-1930.

Tulane has digitized about 1000 items from their Louisiana Menu and Restaurant Collection.

UNLV has digitized about 1700 menus in "The Art of Dining" exhibit.

Nearly 100 items have been digitized from Iowa's Szathmary Culinary Manuscripts collection. The contents are also being transcribed by volunteers.

American cookbooks, including many well-known authors of the 19th century. About 200 titles.

Feeding America is an online collection of some of the most important and influential American cookbooks from the late 18th to early 20th century. The digital archive includes 76 cookbooks from the MSU Libraries' collection as well as searchable full-text transcriptions. Includes several African American cookbooks and guides.

Includes many church & charity cookbooks. About 90 titles.

Recipe booklets from food companies, extension service publications, and charity cookbooks. About 100 titles.