Exhibitions: Fire and Freedom: Food and Enslavement in Early America”

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself by Harriet A. Jacobs

Thayer & Eldridge (first) | 1861 | ISBN: 9780486419312 | 176 pages | grades 6+ | Nonfiction

Genre: classic/history/African American/slavery/autobiography/memoir

In this autobiography originally published in 1861, Harriet Jacobs (1813–1897) recounts being enslaved in North Carolina under a particularly brutal plantation owner, and how she escaped and reunited with her children in the North. She also addresses sexual abuse suffered by by slaves, and the indifference of White women in the North toward slavery and abolition. This is one of the first personal narratives of slavery written by a woman.

Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley by Ann Rinaldi

Harcourt Brace & Co. | 1996 | ISBN: 9780152053932 | 352 pages | high school | Fiction

Genre: historical fiction/African American/Revolutionary War/women/biographical/slavery

A fictionalized biography of Phillis Wheatley, an eighteenth-century African woman who, as a child, was brought to New England as a slave and after publishing her first poem when a teenager, gained renown throughout the colonies as an important black American poet.

High on the Hog; A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by Jessica B. Harris

Bloomsbury Publishing Inc. | 2011 | ISBN: 9781608191277 | 304 pages | grade 12+/adult | Nonfiction

Genre: African American/history/slavery/foodways/cooking/identity

Acclaimed cookbook author Jessica B. Harris has spent much of her life researching the food and foodways of the African Diaspora. High on the Hog is the culmination of years of her work, and the result is a most engaging history of African American cuisine. Harris takes the reader on a harrowing journey from Africa across the Atlantic to America, tracking the trials that the people and the food have undergone along the way. From chitlins and ham hocks to fried chicken and vegan soul, Harris celebrates the delicious and restorative foods of the African American experience and details how each came to form such an important part of African American culture, history, and identity. Although the story of African cuisine in America begins with slavery, High on the Hog ultimately chronicles a thrilling history of triumph and survival. The work of a masterful storyteller and an acclaimed scholar, Jessica B. Harris's High on the Hog fills an important gap in our culinary history.

Slavery in New York by Ira Berlin and Leslie M. Harris (editors)

The New Press | 2005 | ISBN: 9781565849976 | 403 pages | Adult | Nonfiction

Genre: African American/history/slavery/New York

Edited by Ira Berlin, the Bancroft Prize-winning author of Many Thousands Gone, and Leslie Harris, Slavery in New York brings together twelve new contributions by leading historians of slavery and African American life in New York. Published to accompany a major exhibit at the New-York Historical Society, the book demonstrates how slavery shaped the day-to-day experience of New Yorkers, black and white, and how, as a way of doing business, it propelled New York to become the commercial and financial power it is today. Powerfully illustrated with images from the New York Historical Society exhibit, Slavery in New York will be the definitive account of New York's slave past.

Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made by Eugene D. Genovese

Vintage | 1974 | ISBN: 9780394716527 | 864 pages | Adult | Nonfiction

Genre: African American/history/slavery/race/Civil War

A profound, learned and detailed analysis of Black slavery. This book covers an incredible range of topics and offers fresh insights on nearly every page... the author's great gift is his ability to penetrate the minds of both slaves and masters, revealing not only how they viewed themselves and each other, but also how they contradictory perceptions interacted.

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High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America directed by Roger Ross Williams, Erik Parker, Jonathan Clasberry, Yoruba Richen

Netflix | 2021-2023 | 100% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer | 2 seasons, 8 episodes, 45-58 minutes each | documentary

Genre: African American/foodways/cooking/history/race/identity/Arican

Food, community, culture, resiliency. Based on Jessica B. Harris’ award-winning book, High On The Hog traces the moving story of a people's survival and triumph via the food that has knit generations together and helped define the American kitchen. From Gumbo to fried chicken, our culinary journey stretches from Africa to enslavement, to the Harlem Renaissance, up to our present-day; we celebrate the courage, artistry, and resourcefulness of the African American people. This is not just an African American story; it’s an American story.

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