Cookbook collection serves up food for thought

Sweet potato casserole, macaroni and cheese, pumpkin pie – no matter what dishes may be on your table this Thanksgiving, you can surely find a version of the recipe in Wilson Library’s North Carolina extensive cookbook collection.

Alison Barnett ’03, University Libraries business services coordinator, has no trouble singling out her favorite cookbook among the more than 1,000 in the collection: “The Twin-City Housewife.” The first few pages of the book, published in the early 1900s, are covered in food splatters.

“It’s a glimpse into what people were proud of and how they lived more than 100 years ago,” said Alison Barnett ’03. The University Libraries business services collector helps manage the collection. (Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)

“Somebody used this. Somebody loved this thing. There’s handwriting where they’ve gone through and changed recipes and also written their own. It’s a glimpse into what people were proud of and how they lived more than 100 years ago.”

The collection features North Carolina-based cookbooks or those that showcase Southern cooking, both historic — the oldest dates back to the mid-1800s — and quite recent. It ranges from guides on how to best set up your home (tip: place your kitchen near a running creek to have a place to keep perishables cool) to printed works featuring recipes from some of Chapel Hill’s most beloved restaurants like Crook’s Corner and Mama Dips.

“Sometimes a cookbook is the only record you might have of a small local church or another establishment in town,” said Barnett, who has worked at University Libraries for 16 years. “It can paint a picture of the community and society at the time. You see what folks were cooking with, what was popular and what wasn’t.”

Among the many gems in the North Carolina Collection: Michael Jordan’s recipe for crabcake canapes. (Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)

The older books are particularly enlightening. “A book from the 1800s is evidence that whoever owned it was most likely wealthy because books were expensive back then,” she said. “That’s why you’ll often see much of the content refers to best practices for housekeeping and managing servants.”

Barnett and the curators at Wilson Library’s North Carolina Collection acquire new works for the collection through a variety of avenues including eBay, antique booksellers and people who find dusty books cleaning out a relative’s attic.

“When we collect, we think about the past for people living right now,” said Barnett. “I always remind my student assistants, think about 100 years from now. What’s happening is not only going to be interesting today, but in the future as well.”

Over the years, Barnett and many of her Wilson Library colleagues have combed through the collection and brought some of the more unique recipes to life through multiple team cooking challenges.

While colorful Jell-O molds and creative casseroles received mixed reviews, here Barnett shares a few recipes from the cookbook collection sure to impress at the Thanksgiving table this year.

Angus Monds mom’s dressing “Columbus County Cookbook II” by Dana G. Highsmith,

1995

Pumpkin pie “Cook Book,” compiled by Black Mountain Junior Woman’s Club, 1956

Maw Maw’s sweet potato pie “My Mother’s Southern Desserts,” by James Villas with Martha Pearl Villas, 1998

For more on the North Carolina collection, explore University Libraries’ digitized collection of cookbooks.