Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 July 2026
Discusses the importance of prioritizing evidence from the formerly enslaved, while using a multiplicity of primary evidence, especially when researching highly unequal and complex systems such as slavery. It stresses the dominance, for too long, of the records of powerful enslavers within slavery’s history. Considers how the context of the 1930s influenced the comments of the WPA respondents about cooking and eating while enslaved. Some interviewees had nostalgia for food in the past, while others continued to provision in a manner akin to slavery, conveying longer-run continuities of oppression. Addresses longer-term and rising food inequalities within the United States and their implications, drawing on the writings of other historians and activists. A lack of adequate, nutritious food choices began in slavery. People in poorer neighborhoods more likely to live in “food deserts” and to suffer from poorer health outcomes. Summarizes the book’s interventions into the histories of feminism, slavery’s capitalistic machinations, and how historians can deploy primary evidence in ways that seek to overcome archival absences. Cooks in the quarters, while exploited, should be celebrated.
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