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Join Curators Jolie Braun and Elizabeth Hewitt from OSU to discuss the inspiration behind the exhibition and how cookbooks reveal the rich tapestry of American history and culture.
Join Jolie Braun and Elizabeth Hewitt, curators for the Essential Ingredients: Cookbooks as History exhibition at the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio, to discuss the inspiration behind the exhibition and how cookbooks reveal the rich tapestry of American history and culture. The Essential Ingredients exhibition is on display at the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio from September 27, 2025 - January 4, 2026.
About the Exhibition:
Essential Ingredients: Cookbooks as History
Cookbooks are everywhere. Many people own at least one. You find them in bookshops and thrift stores. They are frequently given as gifts and passed down through generations. Yet most of us think of them as just collections of recipes, unaware of what else they can reveal.
Drawing from the OSU Rare Books & Manuscripts Library’s collection of nearly 10,000 volumes, this exhibit celebrates more than 200 years of American cookbooks and their unique ability to offer windows into cultures and histories. Essential Ingredients explores cookbooks as a lens for understanding many aspects of the past and present, including social movements, global foodways, local communities, international crises, technological advancements, and personal stories.
About the Presenters:
Jolie Braun is the Curator of Modern Literature and Manuscripts in the Ohio State University’s Rare Books & Manuscripts Library, where she manages and develops the modern literature and history collections and provides special collections-based instruction.
Elizabeth Hewitt is a Professor and Chair of The Ohio State University Department of English. Hewitt holds a PhD and an MA from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College. Her expertise spans pre-1900 American and African American literature, the intersection of economics and literature, and popular culture. She is currently researching the long history of science fiction, focusing on utopian fictions and experiments in the 19th century US.
If you would like to receive an email reminder about this event, please register. Join us in person, or livestream this program on BPL's YouTube channel.
This program is presented in partnership with the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio.
Bexley Public Library was founded in 1924 and first housed in Bexley High School, now Montrose Elementary School. The present building opened in 1929 and was designed by architects O.C. Miller and R.R. Reeves who drew upon French and Italian architecture from the 17th century for the design.
The library is located at 2411 East Main Street, at the intersection of East Main Street and Cassady Avenue. Parking is available in our parking lot on Euclaire Avenue and in front of the library on Main Street. Main Street is a No Parking Tow Zone from 4:00-6:00 p.m. weekdays.
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