Following the Civil War, community cookbooks—along with bake sales and craft sales—became an important means by which women in the United States raised funds to support charitable endeavors. The Mississippi Community Cookbook Project, the nucleus of a book manuscript, seeks to document Mississippi community cookbooks published before 1970, and the influence of these cookbooks on life in Mississippi.
Rials Creek Methodist Church (Magee, Miss.) 1951
Collectively, these cookbooks are the basis for Kissin' Don't Last, Cookery Do, the tentative title of a book I am preparing that looks at the history of community cookbooks as a means of understanding the role of community cookbooks in American life.
Using Mississippi as a case study, it explores how women shaped local life through their cookbooks and the charitable works the cookbooks funded, yet it also examines how national trends in cooking influenced women's understanding of food.
Young Women's Christian Association (Laurel, Miss.) 1968
This website will be updated nearer to the book's publication with some of the more compelling statistical findings, but for now it serves as a taxonomy, providing insights into when, where, and who published cookbooks in Mississippi.
The largest collection of Mississippi cookbooks resides in the archives of The University of Southern Mississippi. In partnership with Jennifer Brannock, Curator of Mississippiana and Rare Books at Southern Miss, I have worked with University Libraries to amass over two hundred cookbooks published before 1970. Additional Mississippi cookbooks are held at university and public libraries throughout the United States as well as at Mississippi's Department of History and Archives. Not all cookbooks have survived. There may be dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of cookbooks that have been lost.
Cookbook Inventory List
What follows is a master list of community cookbooks published in Mississippi before 1970. It is incomplete. I've excluded some items that I have been unable to date (currently no more than a dozen titles). For some of the cookbooks listed, the dates are estimated. However, I have only included cookbooks where I have been able to narrow the estimated date of publication to within a few years. A few of the cookbooks I have not personally viewed. Most I have.
If a cookbook is owned by Southern Miss, I've listed it as USM (even if other locations have it). If Southern Miss has made it available online, it is listed as USM Online and linked to the source. Other large collections at Mississippi institutions are listed by abbreviations: UM is the University of Mississippi, MSU is Mississippi State University, and MDAH is the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. For all other institutions, I have provided a name. In some cases, it is possible I have listed a location that does not own the exact copy listed, but generally I have tried to list the location that owns the catalogued edition. If the location is listed as “Unknown”, I have credible information that the cookbook exists (usually newspaper references) but have not located a copy.
If you know of a cookbook that should be included, please contact me at mscommunitycookbook@gmail.com. If you have a copy of a cookbook that is not listed or is listed as “Unknown,” please contact me. I would love to see it.
Showing all 350 cookbooks
Book of Favorite Recipes, A
Episcopal Church of the Redeemer (Biloxi, Miss.)
1970
BiloxiHarrison CountyChurchUSM
Kitchen Gems: A Collection of Recipes Simple to Gourmet from Oustanding Southern Kitchens
Lamar School Foundation Board (Meridian, Miss.)
1970
MeridianLauderdale CountyCivic/ClubUSM
United Methodist Youth Fellowship Cook Book
Sardis United Methodist Youth Followship Group (Southern Reporter) (Sardis, Miss.)
