Culinary collection at Virginia Tech libraries celebrates 10 years
You are what you eat; and, a collection of books at the Virginia Tech Libraries dedicated to just that pursuit is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
A decade ago, gifts from Dora Greenlaw Peacock and Laura Jane Harper created a collection of books dedicated to culinary arts and history available at Virginia Tech’s University Libraries. Today, the Peacock-Harper Culinary History Friends continues to support the collection at Virginia Tech.
The collection includes more than 3,500 books that chronicle three centuries of food customs, choices and habits, eating behaviors, and the social, economic, scientific and historical progress of the culinary arts.
The Peacock-Harper Friends are celebrating this anniversary with an event at the Roanoke Country Club on Friday, March 12, beginning at 11:30 am. Culinary historian and author Nancy Carter Crump will discuss the development of Virginia foods, from the 17th century English colonists who adopted Native American and African American foodways through the Civil War period. The event also includes a lunch with recipes adapted from Crump’s book, Hearthside Cooking — Early American Southern Cuisine Updated for Today’s Hearth and Cookstoves .
The event is open to the public and costs $30 to attend. Register by March 5, find more information by visiting the Peacock-Harper website at Virginia Tech’s Special Collections, or contact JoAnn Emmel by e-mail or by calling (540) 231-9259.
