THANKSGIVING ACROSS HOUSEHOLDS

Thanksgiving’s meaning has changed over the years. But one that has stayed is the coming together of the family. As Chef Walter Royal puts it, “Food was always the center of large southern families. It’s the center…if we could get families back around the table talking, communicating, we’d be a better society.”

Magazine Editor Corynne Corbett adds to this, “there was a saying among the siblings, ‘keep the family together Not only know who the family is but keep the family together, so know who family is, spend time with your family.”

One thing that many African Americans can relate to is the preparation that goes into Thanksgiving dinner. Auto sales entrepreneur Larry Brown gives an example, “Around Christmas and Thanksgiving, my mother would just seem like she cooked for days in preparation for this holiday. I mean, she would cook sweet potato pies, pound cake, lemon meringue pies, upside-down pineapple cakes, and it was just a lot of food… Cause you know that there’s as going to be some real good eating during the holiday period. And she would just start cooking seemed like a week in advance, to have this big meal.”

Public Relations Executive and owner of the communications firm, Talking point Barbra Heineback discusses her family’s food preparation, “..everyone came to my grandmother’s house on the farm. And she would go out and slay chickens and turkeys. And then the men would go to the woods, and they would roast a roast suckling pig, sometimes two. And they would do this in the ground, and they would dig this big ditch. They’d put hot coals that they would bake outside in the oven until the coals were red hot…because when the big came out of the ground, everybody’s starving and ready to go.”

Besides the food preparation, setting the table is a huge responsibility. Talent coach and Model Harriette Cole shares, “We had a formal dining room, and it was our job to set the table. We would set the table the night before  Thanksgiving with beautiful white linen tablecloths and napkins. And we learned how to iron these and how to set the table properly, we would clean the silver. ‘Cause my parents had silver and all…so all the preparation was done before the meal really making a beautiful table was a big part of the responsibility of the girls. And depending on how old we were, we had different tasks, cleaning the silver, setting the table, and making sure everything was in the right place.”

Actor Billy Porter also describes some lessons he took from the holiday, “..And as I got older and started doing the cooking myself, I banned them from my home. I remember doing Thanksgiving dinner, I was probably sixteen, fifteen or sixteen and I was sort of in charge for the first time, and it was my stepfather’s, you know, where we ended up living. And the rule  was you can have chitlins but you got to cook ‘em at your house and warm them up at your house, and put the lid on them before you bring ‘em here.

One of the recurring and prominent themes of Thanksgiving is the amount of cooking that happens within the households. R&B Singer, Pastor, and Songwriter Reverend Dr. Mable John remembers her mother's cooking, “My mother was a great cook. And, growing up, she would start cooking five to seven days before Christmas or Thanksgiving because she would make at least five different kinds of cakes. We made everything from scratch. There was no, what we call then, light bread or store-bought bread. All our bread was homemade. My mother made all the yeast rolls. And the loaves of bread.”

Documentary Filmmaker and Peabody Award Winner Orlando Bagwell also recall his mother's cooking, “Thanksgiving was a big holiday, lots of family would come over. It was a big table of people. My mother would cook everything. I probably watched her cook everything, so now I can create it by heart without even knowing the recipes.”

Lola Johnson, A television Host says, “...Thanksgiving and she’d always put her finger — she’d stuff the turkey and then put a little of the dressing on the outside of the turkey, and then she’d put her handprint there and bake it, and ocne it was baked her handprint would still be there.”

Psychologist Julia Reed Hare (1939-2019) recalls the fond memories that are associated with her Thanksgiving cooking, “The smell of Thanksgiving is always a reminder of a home that’s very wholesome..women would cook pies that were so good that you’d have to take off your shoes and wiggle your toes to enjoy them.”

Many Historymakers recall mostly their mothers cooking their Thanksgiving dinner. Still, Corporate executive and association chief executive for Sloat and Company, Allene Singho Roberts (1943-2014), remembers, “...He was a fine cook, I mean, I would consider him gourmet…But he liked to cook, and he liked to shop for all the major meals — Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, he would do all the cooking. And he was a wonderful chef, he was a wonderful cook, and he loved it, even that we used to laugh sometimes because my mother, you know, she cooked, she was a good cook. But she didn’t have the fervor and enthusiasm and the gusto that he would.” She is not the only one to have a father do the cooking, Corporate Executive George Lewis also adds, “In the earlier years my mother did a lot of the cooking, the latter years once he came off the boats, he did all the cooking, but for the holidays he would, he would do the turkey and for christmas he would do the cooking.”

Journalist Sharon Epperson recalls both her parents cooking, “My mother did most of the cooking, but he made the best-fried chicken, and she’d just let him. And he could make it, and it was phenomenal. It was terrific.”

Whether it is the food or being surrounded by family and friends, Thanksgiving is always a holiday dedicated to family. As Historymaker Bernard J. Tyson (1959-2019) puts it, “Thanksgiving is the most important one…it is just the time to be thankful, no matter what.”

AMBASSADOR UPDATE: Hello, Everyone! I really enjoyed writing this blog because it caused me to think about what I truly love the most about Thanksgiving with my family. I am nearing the end of my semester and winter break, so my outreach will slow down on campus (at least). I have recently discussed the digital archive with my Introduction to History Professor as a possible source for her class Annotated Bibliography assignment. Ms. Richardson did provide a great idea which is to extend outreach outside of our campus during our breaks! If you want to see the videos I used to create this blog, here is the playlist: https://da-thehistorymakers-org.us1.proxy.openathens.net/stories/6;IDList=303368%2C102988%2C95508%2C269393%2C611345%2C378970%2C643504%2C493352%2C296329%2C117082%2C485213%2C505793%2C661275%2C664261%2C533922%2C360954;ListTitle=thanskgiving

SOURCES:

Larry Brown (The HistoryMakers A2005.193), interviewed by Larry Crowe, August 10, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 4, Larry Brown remembers Thanksgiving celebrations in Detroit, Michigan

Harriette Cole (The HistoryMakers A2006.131), interviewed by Denise Gines, November 7, 2006, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 1, Harriette Cole describes her family's preparations for Christmas and Thanksgiving, pt. 1

Barbara Heineback (The HistoryMakers A2005.181), interviewed by Jodi Merriday, August 2, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 7, Barbara Heineback recalls holidays with her family in Georgia

Shari Carpenter (The HistoryMakers A2007.037), interviewed by Shawn Wilson, January 31, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 10, Shari Carpenter remembers family holidays during her childhood

Walter Royal (The HistoryMakers A2012.042), interviewed by Larry Crowe, February 19, 2012, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 5, Walter Royal talks about the closeness of his family

Reverend Dr. Mable John (The HistoryMakers A2007.326), interviewed by Jacques Lesure, November 7, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 7, Reverend Dr. Mable John remembers her mother's cooking

Allene Singho Roberts (The HistoryMakers A2005.062), interviewed by Shawn Wilson, March 10, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 7, Allene Singho Roberts remembers her father's cooking

Sharon Epperson (The HistoryMakers A2014.062), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, March 17, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 1, Sharon Epperson describes the sights, sounds, and smells of her childhood, pt.1

Orlando Bagwell (The HistoryMakers A2007.339), interviewed by Adrienne Jones, December 17, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 4, Orlando Bagwell remembers the holidays with his family

Julia Reed Hare (The HistoryMakers A2004.040), interviewed by Loretta Henry, April 5, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 10, Julia Reed Hare describes the sights, sounds and smells of growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Bernard J. Tyson (The HistoryMakers A2015.005), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, December 17, 2015, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 3, Bernard J. Tyson describes his childhood home

Billy Porter (The HistoryMakers A2016.052), interviewed by Harriette Cole, October 7, 2016, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 2, Billy Porter describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood

George Lewis (The HistoryMakers A2007.247), interviewed by Adrienne Jones, September 7, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 6, George Lewis recalls celebrating the holidays with his family

Iola Johnson (The HistoryMakers A2006.088), interviewed by Denise Gines, May 3, 2006, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 3, Iola Johnson describes holidays in her childhood household