The Facts
The Getty Research Institute, co-steward of the Johnson Publishing Company Archive, is spotlighting the legacy of Freda DeKnight, the first food columnist for Ebony magazine. DeKnight, hired in 1946 after impressing founder John H. Johnson with a rose petal pudding, created the popular "Date with a Dish" column. Her 1948 cookbook, "A Date with a Dish" (republished as "The Ebony Cookbook" in 1962), was the first major cookbook by an African American for African Americans. The column spurred construction of the Ebony Test Kitchen in JPC's Chicago headquarters in 1972, designed with cutting-edge appliances and featuring diverse recipes beyond soul food, including celebrity favorites from Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, and Michael Jordan.
The Signal
The archive, comprising over four million objects, offers an unparalleled record of 20th-century Black history, and archivists are now cataloging "Date with a Dish" materials, including fragile color transparencies and slides. The column's influence extends to contemporary food sovereignty movements, with community dinners in Chicago led by Chef Fresh Roberson and organized by Beet Street Zine, drawing from DeKnight's recipes. This institutional focus underscores the Getty's commitment to preserving and making accessible the cultural and culinary history of Black America, highlighting how DeKnight's work set the stage for Black chefs to publish recipes for their own communities.
- People: Freda DeKnight, John H. Johnson, Charla Draper, Charlotte Lyons, Donna Battle Pierce, Fresh Roberson, Jehoiada Calvin, Jacob Wolf
- Museums: Getty Research Institute, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Locations: Chicago
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