I would like to thank the people who assisted in the preparation of this book. I benefited from the help of the following readers of the manuscript as it developed: Anne van Willigen, Julie Maruskin, Rona Roberts, and chef Bob Perry. Their comments were very useful.
Of course, having access to cookbooks was important. Esther Edwards, Rona Roberts, Betty Abdmishani, Lonnie Williams Jr., and Anne van Willigen gave or lent cookbooks from their collections. Library collections were important sources. Julie Maruskin, director of the Clark County Public Library, made both her personal cookbook collection and the library’s holdings available for study. Joe Hardesty of the Louisville Free Public Library assisted with obtaining an early Work Projects Administration cookbook. Jonathan Jeffery of the Western Kentucky University Library’s Special Collections helped get a copy of an early and rare Kentucky cookbook. Sharyn J. Mitchell helped find historical materials at the Hutchins Library at Berea College. The collections of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, the Kentucky Room of the Lexington Public Library, the Special Collections of the University of Kentucky Library, and the Special Collections of Eastern Kentucky University, as well as many public libraries throughout the state, were invaluable in the process of finding cookbooks. A number of community organizations also provided cookbooks. These included the African American Heritage Center of Franklin, the Hart County Historical Society of Munfordville, the Magoffin County Historical Society of Salyersville, and the Hopkins County Genealogical Society of Madisonville.
My visit to Riverside at Farnsley–Moremen Landing, part of the Jefferson County park system, was facilitated by Patti Linn, historic site manager, and Jay Stottman of the Kentucky Archaeological Survey. I was also able to look at early manuscript cookbooks at Liberty Hall in Frankfort with the help of Kate Hesseldenz, the curator of collections. At Liberty Hall during special events it is possible to see hearth cooking demonstrations. Lucy Cooper and Lyn Layton of Paris, Kentucky, helped me better understand cookbook author Nannie Talbot Johnson. Mary Margaret Bell, of the Jefferson County Public Schools Archives, provided information about Atholene Mary Peyton, an African American cookbook author who was on the domestic science faculty of Louisville’s Central Colored High School.
Juliana van Willigen compiled the index. Angela Hensley of South Hill Gallery in Lexington scanned many of the images used in the book.
As always, I thank my wife, Jacqueline van Willigen, for assisting and for tolerating the clutter of piles of cookbooks.