The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South
This nonfiction tome explores how the American South became the center of the country’s culinary culture, and how race and politics have shaped the cuisine since the Civil Rights movement. It received the 2018 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters’ nonfiction award.
As Oxford, Mississippi bookstore Square Books explains, “The Potlikker Papers is a people’s history of the modern South, set on farms, in kitchens, and at tables. Beginning with the pivotal role of cooks in the civil rights movement, noted authority John T. Edge narrates the region’s journey from a hive of racism to a hotbed of American immigration. In the process, he traces how the food of working-class Southerners has become a signature of American cuisine.”
I worked with author John T. Edge on this project for more than a year. I performed in-depth archival research, much of it specifically focused on Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Once the manuscript was complete, I fact-checked more than half the book on an extremely tight turnaround before serving as the permissions editor for all included photography.
CLIENT: JOHN T. EDGE
ROLE: RESEARCHER, FACT-CHECKER, PERMISSIONS EDITOR
YEAR: 2017
PHOTOGRAPHER: JOHN T. HILL