The Library of Congress has traced the story of the American community cookbook through five dated milestones, from a Civil War fundraiser in 1864 to a recipe collection published after Hurricane Katrina. Together they show how recipes were used to raise money, build clubs and help communities recover.
The details below come from the Library’s own blog posts and from background reference sources.
1. The Poetical Cook-Book, June 1864
The earliest milestone dates to the Civil War. According to a Library of Congress blog post, “The Poetical Cook-Book” by Maria J. Moss was sold at the Great Central Fair in Philadelphia in June 1864. The Library calls it the first known example of the genre.
Community cookbooks were first sold during the Civil War at sanitary fairs in northern cities to fund aid for wounded soldiers and their families, the same post explains.
Wikipedia’s entry on the Great Central Fair says it ran from June 7 to June 28, 1864, at Logan Circle in Philadelphia, and raised money for the United States Sanitary Commission. It brought in over $1 million. Abraham Lincoln and his family visited on June 16, and he donated 48 copies of the Emancipation Proclamation, sold at $10 each, all autographed by him.
Readers who enjoy the history of what people ate may also like these 15 foods from the 1960s that boomers loved.
2. More Than 5,000 Charitable Cookbooks, by 1918
The second milestone is a count. By the close of the First World War, the Library’s blog says, more than 5,000 charitable cookbooks had been published to support various causes.
The blog adds that around the turn of the twentieth century, church groups, improvement associations and women’s clubs published community cookbooks in increasing numbers.
Wikipedia’s article on community cookbooks notes that the books document home cooking and local traditions. Some have been used to tell counter-narratives of history, with examples such as the 1958 “Historical Cookbook of the American Negro” and the 1976 “People’s Philadelphia Cookbook.”
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3. The Congressional Club Cookbook, 1927
The third milestone came in 1927, when the Congressional Club issued its first cookbook. The Library says the book gathered family recipes from members of Congress, Supreme Court justices and other officials, and that thirteen more editions followed.
The club itself was created in May 1908, according to Wikipedia, and is the official club of congressional spouses. It calls the Congressional Club Cookbook the club’s major fundraiser. The same entry says it is the only club in the world incorporated by an act of Congress.
Bess Truman’s Ozark pudding is one example of the recipes contributed by members over the years. The club also hosts an annual luncheon for the First Lady, a tradition held since 1912 and its largest yearly event. For holiday baking inspiration, see 10 classic Christmas candies that filled stockings for generations.
4. The Library’s Own Cooking Club, 1975 and 1987
The fourth milestone is closer to home. The Library of Congress Cooking Club issued cookbooks in 1975 and 1987 with recipes from Library staff, according to the Library’s blog.
The Library has also highlighted its baking shelves. A separate Library of Congress post on baking lists titles from the General Collections, including “Perfection in Baking” from 1899, “Best Recipes for Baking” from 1907, “Book of American Baking” from 1910 and “Cooking and Baking on Shipboard” from 1945.
The same post mentions a 1926 volume, “One Hundred Four Prize Radio Recipes with Twenty-Four Radio Home-Maker’s Talks,” by Ida Cogswell Bailey Allen.
5. Cooking Up a Storm, 2008
The fifth milestone followed Hurricane Katrina. In 2008, “Cooking Up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans” was published. A local newspaper had served as a clearinghouse for recipe swapping, according to the Library, and the book includes the history behind the recipes.
The newspaper dates to 1837, when Francis Lumsden and George Wilkins Kendall founded The Picayune, and it merged with the Times-Democrat in 1914. It was also known for its coverage of the storm itself. Wikipedia’s entry on the paper says staff who stayed behind published online-only editions from August 30 to September 1, 2005, and that the paper won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
The cookbook shows a different side of the same pattern as the 1864 fair book. Both came out of a moment when a community needed to pull together, and in both cases recipes were the vehicle.
What the Five Milestones Add Up To
Each entry on the list is a snapshot of American home cooking in its own decade.
Lining up the five dates shows a clear thread. The 1864 fair book raised money for wounded soldiers. The 5,000 charitable books of the First World War era raised money for many causes. The 1927 Congressional Club volume funded a club, the 1975 and 1987 Library cookbooks celebrated staff, and the 2008 Katrina book preserved memories.
The examples the Library’s blog highlights run from 1872 through 1965, which gives researchers a long record of what ordinary kitchens made. The blog does not state the total size of the Library’s community cookbook collection.
For anyone who wants to read more, the posts linked above are the place to start.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: William Henry Jackson – Public domain/Wikimedia Commons
