Cornbread: “Hot Water Cornbread” and Deep Traditions

Cornbread is a staple food within Black communities. Cornbread and corn specifically carry a rich history along with other key grains within our communities. Jessica B. Harris (1948-), a culinary historian and English professor explains: “Well yeah, but also it a way that makes it immediately apprehendable to everybody. You don't have to be a scholar, you don't have to have a high school degree, a college degree or even a grade school degree to know dinner, but if somebody comes to you and say, "What you got on your plate for dinner?" and you say, "I got some chitterlings and some black-eyed peas and rice and some collard greens with some hot sauce, and maybe some cornbread or some corn pone," and that person can get back to you and say, "well you know your history's on that plate," 'cause the corn pone comes from the lake with the Indians [Native Americans] 'cause the word pone is basically a Native American word, and the corn was part of the three sisters: corn, squash and beans, because they grew in symbiosis. The corn provided the stalk, the beans grew around it and the squash could shade things. That's the corn, the rice--most of us don't know still to this day that West Africa has its own native rice. We all think of rice, China, rice, Asia. West Africa has its own native rice, it's a wet rice, it grows a particular way, it is its own genus and species, it's oryza glaberrima. It's that rice that made the wealth of Carolina, and that agricultural system is a phenomenal book called 'Black Rice[: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas,' Judith A. Carney] that runs all of that down, but the whole idea of the task system, the dikes and the raising and lowering of water, that's now how they grow rice in China. That's how they grow rice in Senegal, that's how they grow rice in Liberia, that's how they grow rice in Sierra Leone and it's that rice, that agriculture, that rizzi [ph.] culture that is what happened in South Carolina. So, all of those grand mansions on the battery and all those grand ole' South Carolina plantations.”[1]

The initial search for this blog post was: “cornbread” + “tradition” which returned 7 stories. Helen Turner-Thompson (1931-), a gospel musician and piano instructor worked with the choirs of numerous churches in the Cleveland, Ohio area shares: “There are some songs, 'Take My Hand Precious Lord' is another one. I akin that to 'Amazing Grace' because when it says "I am weak, I'm worn, I'm tired, through the storm, through the rain, hold my hand". These were things--you have to realize in this era, there was [The Great] Depression, there was the WPA [Works Progress Administration] system. There was the, the labor where people worked hard for money, but they were paid little. And the food then consisted of the greens and the sweet potatoes and the salt pork and the navy beans and the black eyed peas and the cornbread. This was the sta--and the neck bones--and I still love them. This was the stable of the black persons. And those songs gave strength to black people.”[2] Harry Robinson Jr. (1941-), who joined Bishop College as librarian and director of its African American museum mentions: “Oh, food, gumbo, you always had gumbo on Christmas. You had, I don't remember a lot of turkey, I don't remember a lot of turkey, but you had chicken and some of them even had wild food, you know, like, coons and that kind of stuff. And when you had turkey, when I remember the turkey always stuffed with rice dressing, rice and oysters and that was good eating. And I never cared much about oyster but I liked the taste, the flavor of the oyster and the rice and even this day I like the taste of the oyster and rice. And we didn't deal with cornbread dressing, that was, that was a phenomenon for me when I left home, you know, to go away and they--cornbread dressing.”[3] A follow-up search was prompted: “cornbread dressing” which returned 4 stories.

The next search was: “cornbread” + “church” which returned 41 results. Vernon Jones (1960-), who was the youngest CEO of DeKalb County, Georgia shares: “whatever family challenge you had going on… you would see the preacher come. And also at that time… it was a big deal to have the preacher over to your house for dinner. On Sundays… that was a big deal, especially to… the women of the church. They liked to host the pastor at their house for dinner. And I can remember one time being at… my aunt's house, who, gosh, boy… she loved the preacher, and… she had fixed dinner. We were over there, and there was… a widower, a man named Mr. Ted Quick [ph.], great American, World War I [World War One, WWI] veteran. The preacher was there, he was there, and they were talking. They were about to eat. And they were talking about cornbread. And the preacher was talking about how much he loves cornbread, and old man, Mr. Ted Quick, was saying that he loved it, but he was talking about how much he ate when he was a kid. He said that I'd eaten so much cornbread, you could have shucked my shit. And… my aunt got so furious for him cursing in front of… the preacher like that. And she cleaned that house; she cleared everybody out… I'm saying all that to say it was so much respect for the minister, and you'd better not say anything out of line. And for him to just--he was just saying, you know, two men sitting there, they were just talking. And you know, if anybody know about shucking corn, and then he was talking about cornbread and eating so much cornbread you could have shucked, you know, and I didn't mean to… But, but I can remember that just as clear, and gosh, that was talked about around that town… for years and years and years, but any rate, just thought about that.”[4] Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts III (1949 - 2022), former pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City highlights: “Ernestine Brown was one of the church members who, who I really believe loved me, and I loved her. And I got to know her primarily 'cause I used to work with the children in front of the church. And when I say work with the children, I mean we'd be out in the street dancing, and you know, I used to wear bib overalls and bowties. And you know, we'd turn up James Brown, you know, in those days… but I'd also be working with them to clean up the park across the street. I'd be trying to get them into the church and teach them more about God through Christ, to help them to raise money for youth programs, take them on youth retreats. Our church clerk, Venia Davis, was, who is very close to me now, worked very close with me then. And so Ernestine, you know, she lived on the block. She went to the church. And she used to lean out the window, and she said come here, boy (laughter). And I'd go over and talk to her, and you know, we became friends…. my children were small, and you know, she'd look at them and comment about them… and Ernestine belonged to I think it was the Crusaders… But every Sunday after church, members of the Crusaders would leave church and go to her house. And Ernestine would cook, and she'd fry fish, and she'd make bread pudding and cornbread and greens. She's from South Carolina, and--but she wouldn't only do it on Sundays. She would do it usually in the week. And whenever she would do it in the week, and she'd see me, she'd give me some bread pudding in aluminum foil and some nice fried fish that was warm and just wonderful (laughter), great. And I'd--she'd hand it out the window. And Ernestine was there. She was a fixture. Then one day I looked up, and Ernestine wasn't there… Well, fortunately, Ernestine was able to get one of the newer apartments that had been built over here on 135th Street in the (unclear) Park, which was St. Philip's Church. And, and I say fortunately not only because it was a nicer apartment… but also because Ernestine is--another thing, we have a health ministry now. I mean she'd cook all that good food and eat all that good food, and she was big as a house. And of course, she suffered from high blood pressure, diabetes, and eventually her sight left her. So it was fortunate in that she had a smaller place, and it was more accessible for the handicapped, 'cause eventually she had to use a walker and a wheelchair.”[5]

James Roberson (1943-), who served as an administrator for the Alabama Board of Education and became the first African American with a Pontiac car dealership highlights: ““My mother's name is Aressa… last name was Craig… [Aressa Craig Roberson]. And my mom to me was probably one of the most influencing persons on how to treat people. My mother grew up in a rural area of Alabama called Clanton, C-L-A-N-T-O-N, where her father [Abraham Craig] was the big time minister and preacher in that area. But she grew up sharing and giving, and she was the one to instill within me whatever you have, you have the ability to share with others, and it multiplies. She was a person who endured a lot, based on the location of where we lived and what community we lived in during the civil rights struggle. She had a lot to be concerned about over the safety of her family and kid. She was a type of mother who prepared a meal every day. And she had a lot of rules in the house. And one rule was, whatever was placed on your plate had to be consumed by you. And I had a lot of problems with that because being a black child, I didn't like cornbread, and cornbread was a stable of blacks. Everybody ate cornbread that had soul. So I would stuff my cornbread in my pockets or pass it off to my brother [Lawrence Roberson] to get rid of it. And sometimes she would catch us and sometimes she would not. She assigned chores to every member of the family. And your chores were not only p.m. chores, they were a.m. chores. She had rules about your bed had to be made and your room cleared and straight before you departed. But yet at the same time, if we had a basketball game going in the backyard, she would come out and play basketball with us. And my mother is one of my miracles. I have two miracles in life. My mom, as she got older, we became closer together. And being the only child left in Alabama, I took care of her, but she never lost her independence.”[6]

A scarce search was inspired by mathematician James Curry (1948-), a pioneering CRAY Supercomputer analyst, served as associate director and professor of of applied mathematics at the University of Boulder, Colorado and it was for “prosperity dishes” which only returned 1 story. Another scarce search was inspired by music producer and songwriter James "Jimmy Jam" Harris, III (1959-) who’s father James Harris, Jr. had a seeming cornbread nickname: James "Cornbread" Harris, Jr.

Daryl Shular (1973-), who is an American Culinary Foundation-certified chef de cuisine, Shular is also three time champion of the Sysco Culinary Competition and he shared: “Growing up in central Florida is a little urban country. All the kids in the neighborhood grew up together, all the parents in the neighborhood helped to raise all the children in the neighborhood. If one kid was bad and Ms. Jenkins down the street saw you doing something bad, you best to believe she was going to tell your mother when she got home and that type of environment. All the kids in the neighborhood, we really would be very innovative as far as like what we would play. We would play a particular game called 'Hot Peas and Cornbread' and one of the games was if you--we use to have a strap--a belt or a stick or anything and you go hide it and the person that gets close to it they would say you're getting hot and they would say hot peas and cornbread, come and get your supper. So whoever could find that stick, gets to hit everybody until they go back to the base and that was kind of one of the games we played. It was innocent, it was fun and it was a you know, little dangerous at times but that's how we were brought up.”[7] This story prompted the search: “Hot Peas and Cornbread” which on resulted in 1 story (this story).

Angeles Echols (1957-), who founded Educating Young Minds, a tutoring program that collaborates with the Los Angeles Unified School District mentioned “skillet hot water cornbread”. This prompted the searches: “skillet cornbread” which returned 1 story and “hot water cornbread” which returned 17 results.

Otis Clayborn Williams (1941-), an original member of The Temptations mentions: “Well, starting with Texas, you know, doing pretty much what kids would do back then, you know. I used to--I remember when coveralls--you know, and running up and down the gravel roads of Texas barefooted. You know, running around with hot water cornbread in one hand and, you know, playing hide and go seek. And, you know, down in Texas they have homes built up on, like, bricks, and you can crawl up underneath. So, that--you know, just the regular thing that kids would do--trying to make the best out of what we had, to--you know, what was in our thing, the realm of living.”[8] He also adds: “(Simultaneous) Oh, well, I remember, you know, the things of hog maws and chitterlings, and seeing the hogs, you know, eating the slop. And I would stand there and I'd ask my [maternal] grandfather, you know, Frank Fisher [Frank Fisher], about that. Because all of the food that was eaten that day that was not used, you would put it in the pail, you know, or you'd dump it over in this here big ass trough, and the pigs would just be eating it. And I wondered why--I noticed in between the hog's hooves was foam. And I asked him about that, and he said, "Well, that all came out of the hog's system." And as I got older, see, I don't eat pork now. Only--about the only pork I will eat is bacon. But I said, "And we eat that?" And he said, "Yeah. You know, son, we have to do what we have to do. Being black folks." You know, being poor, you had to, you know, eat what you could the best way you could. And, but, yeah, you know, hot water cornbread, you know, and biscuits, and syrup, you know, and stacks of pancakes; you know, all those wonderful southern cuisines, you know, kind of cooking. I was raised up on that, but after a while, after I got to Detroit [Michigan] and started finding out about health thing, I backed up off eating pork a long time ago.”[9]

Valerie Norman-Gammon (1951-), a media executive and television producer shares: “Oh we had okra, we had always--there was a round table, big beautiful antique table or antique now obviously that's in our family and every day there was a glass bowl that sat on the table that had sliced tomatoes and onions and vinegar; always on the table. And my great grandmother, my grandmother [Verna Clair] would make hot water cornbread and collard greens and sit and take the tomatoes and the green and the vinegar and put it on there and eat it. And my grandmother used to--my great grandmother [Mary Lee Armstrong] would reach down and eat it with her hands, I remember all of that; that was so wonderful.”[10] Lou Stovall (1937-), a printmaker who started Workshop, Inc. illuminates when discussing his father: “Well, he was very quiet. He worked, he never missed a day's work. The significant memory that I have of him is that he, along with packing his lunch, he also packed a half pint of liquor every single day. And then he would have it at breaks and at lunch, and so on. And I only actually seen him drunk once or twice, but it might have been several times. And you always knew when he was getting close to having had too much because he would go into the kitchen and start making cornbread. And he made cornbread that was the worst stuff you've ever tasted in your life with just water… But everyone would have to try some and I wouldn't. I never had to because my mother [Irene Brightwell] protected me from(laughs), you know, from all that. So, she would always have something else for me to do.”[11]

Reverend Samuel Billy Kyles (1934-2016), a civil rights activist and pastor also shared: “Slavery happened in America. There's a Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. There's no slavery museum, there's no museum that deals with slavery. That happened in America, and we've got to deal with it. It is a part of Americans. Not just Black History Month. It is a part of the American experience. People owned human beings like cattle. They would sell a father one way, a mother one way, the children another way. I mean, that happened. But we--and the only trouble white people could get in regarding slaves was teaching them how to read, lynch them, burn them, castrate them; whatever you please, but you better not teach them how to read. And many white people did get in trouble and lost fortunes and whatever else helping slaves to learn to read and becoming anti-slavery advocates. All through that museum, you see black and white bleeding together. Several ministers were killed on the marches. A housewife from Detroit, Viola Liuzzo, came down to drive the workers. She was brutally killed. People of good conscious have always come--they've always come forward. You're going to have that kind of help. But as horrible and our ancestors found ways to cope, coping mechanism, they didn't know they were coping mechanisms, but the innards of the hog that was thrown away, they took it and made it delicacies out of them, you know. Couldn't make a whole cornbread, so they short cutted with what they had and made hot water cornbread. I mean, just took throw away scraps and made quilts with designs in them and all that. So not only is slavery a story of a, of, of, of horror. It is a story of a strong determined people who survived everything that was put up on them, barring none. Everything. Anything that was put up on them, they survived it.”[12]

Notes:

[1] Jessica B. Harris (The HistoryMakers A2004.133), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 18, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 8, Jessica B. Harris reflects upon the history and cultural connections discerned by studying food

[2] Helen Turner-Thompson (The HistoryMakers A2004.029), interviewed by Regennia Williams, March 19, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 1, Helen Turner-Thompson explains the adaptability of 'Amazing Grace'

[3] Harry Robinson, Jr. (The HistoryMakers A2006.089), interviewed by Denise Gines, May 4, 2006, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 5, Harry Robinson, Jr. describes his family's Christmas traditions

[4] Vernon Jones (The HistoryMakers A2003.189), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 14, 2003, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 2, Vernon Jones talks about the role of the church in the rural southern community of his childhood

[5] Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts (The HistoryMakers A2005.036), interviewed by Racine Tucker Hamilton, February 1, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 10, Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts remembers church member Ernestine Brown and the deteriorating housing stock in Harlem

[6] James Roberson (The HistoryMakers A2007.104), interviewed by Denise Gines, March 21, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 3, James Roberson describes his mother

[7] Daryl Shular (The HistoryMakers A2006.109), interviewed by Larry Crowe, October 9, 2006, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 7, Daryl Shular describes the sights, sounds, and smells of growing up in Central Florida

[8] Otis Clayborn Williams (The HistoryMakers A2008.068), interviewed by Jacques Lesure, April 1, 2008, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 6, Otis Clayborn Williams describes his earliest childhood memory

[9] Otis Clayborn Williams (The HistoryMakers A2008.068), interviewed by Jacques Lesure, April 1, 2008, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 10, Otis Clayborn Williams describes the sights, sounds, and smells of his childhood

[10] Valerie Norman-Gammon (The HistoryMakers A2012.233), interviewed by Lynn Norment, August 22, 2012, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 7, Valerie Norman-Gammon describes the foods that her grandmother made in Memphis, Tennessee

[11] Lou Stovall (The HistoryMakers A2003.236), interviewed by Larry Crowe, September 27, 2003, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 6, Lou Stovall talks about his father

[12] Reverend Samuel Billy Kyles (The HistoryMakers A2003.029), interviewed by Larry Crowe, February 13, 2003, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 6, story 4, Reverend Samuel "Billy" Kyles calls for more frequent discussions about the impact of slavery, pt. 1