Thursday, December 01, 2005

Unsung hero: Georgia Gilmore

As I join the bus riders here in Chapel Hill in a little bit, I'm going to be thinking about food, specifically Georgia Gilmore's pound cake. Gilmore and her "Club from Nowhere" helped to keep the Montgomery boycotters well fed for the fight. Gilmore, in fact, was a fighter. She lost her job in a Montgomery restaurant for testifying on behalf of Dr. King in a trial against him during the boycott. That's when her cooking went underground. In a new cookbook called Hidden Kitchens you'll find her story--and her recipe for pound cake. I tried it out for my civil rights seminar students. Delicious.

This book would make a great holiday gift for anyone on your list interested in American history and food.

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