Join us in the Archives & Special Collections Gallery to hear directly from the curator about the new exhibit Dig In! Exploring the Culinary World Through Rare Books and Archives. Then, visit the Text & conText Lab to make your own recipe book!

The rare volumes and archival materials on display provide insight into past culinary trends, allowing us to trace the evolution of the American dinner table throughout history. Most importantly, they capture the complex social, political, and cultural significance of cooking in our daily lives and society at large. Items on display include a cookbook by Bessie Gant, a Black restaurateur who rose to national prominence as the cooking columnist for the Pittsburgh Courier; The Suffrage Cook Book, featuring recipes from contemporary celebrities to advance the cause of women’s suffrage; a World War II-era cookbook urging Americans on the home front to embrace cooking as their patriotic duty; A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, which argues that a wife’s culinary skills can guarantee marital bliss; and diverse ethnic cookbooks that show the centrality of food to cultural identity. All featured items are part of the University of Pittsburgh Library System’s Archives & Special Collections.

Location: We will start in the Archives & Special Collections Exhibit Gallery, then move to the Text & conText Lab, a collaboration between the Center for Creativity and the University of Pittsburgh Library System. Both spaces are located on the third floor of Hillman Library.

Advanced registration is required.