Obamas. The center is a one of a Kind Research institution debt dedicated to collection and interpretation of global black experience and in january the center was named the National Historic landmark by the National Park service so they know what you all know. She land mack status recognizes the vast collection of materials that represent the history and culture of people to of african descent and our exhibitions, Film Screenings and conversation wes have woven the narrative that shapes our nation and world and we hope you are able to explore our archival collection which has over ten million items and come here for the Public Programs and then visit one of our five divisions to find rare books, photographs other, kinds of collections and other resources. So i would tell you about the rest of the program for february but since its black history month, every mock here the schomburg center. Ill tale you about back mystery month in march have a womens festival. This year well feature on evening discussing ella fitzgerald. And performances by women. This event ands conclude found on the schomburgs web site, as well as through event bright by searching schomburg and you can find it in our Winter Program brochure. I want to say thank you to any Schomburg Society members we have here. Your support yes, okay. [applause] your support makes it possible for us to deliver consistent, high caliber programming for the low cost or free to be public. Before we turn to tights program ill ask everyone to silence your cell phones and no flash photography or video and before have a chance to dues you tower penal as ill bring out kevin young, the director of the schomburg center. Hello, hello. Were very committed to have adrian here and have you all here. The good looking crowd out there. She told you in the good news. We have National Historic landmark status, which were delighted by. We have the black power show up right now and were almost done with our renovation, which has been going on over a year, and we really are excited for the new spaces and to have you come warm them up with us. There was a moment ago that it was going maybe be come out here and say im Tawnya Hopkins and conduct some of the interview with adrian, who ive known a while, and as a brilliant food writer. The soul food scholar, but im going to turn it over the stage to adrian and ton tonya and welcome again. Thank you. [applause] let me introduce you paternalists. Adderall dan mill iris a recovering lawyer who worked as a special assistant to president bill clinton witch all know some of those. Right . Today he is a culinary historian. His first book, soul food, the surprising story of an american cuisine was pushed in august of 2013. Soul food won the 2014 James Beard Foundation book award for reference in scholarship himself second become i, the one featured tonight this pre residents Kitchen Cabinet a certified Kansas City Barbecue Society judge and a former Southern FoodAlliance Board member. Leading us through the conversation is Tonya Hopkins whose career ban in marketing as a qualitative researcher for food, wine, and premium spirits and the experiences field her perspective on ethnic and mainstream foot cool follow kole culture. And the food a multimedia platform through which she also provided historic and contemporary culinary consulting and content. Narrated historic dinners, tastings and events. As co founder of the nonprofit James Hemings foundation, she is a food historian and a wine specialist for historically inspired dinners including the june 2016 james beard house event based on the 1790 reconciliation dinner, prepared by James Hemings who send set the table for americas future. Welcome Adrian Hiller and Tonya Hopkins. [applause] Everybody Knows me and my bags. Adrian. Whats up. Long time no see. Right. I know its been a while. First time i met this brother, yall, was at Southern Food conference in mississippi. I dont remember. I dont recall. Host you dont remember when i tell this story. Guest i know. Host he tells the story, im call excitement my to first one, 15 years ago, and im like, what is this brother going to talk about . And he tells the story about the long lost delicacy of possum. Guest thats right. Host i was like, what his talking about . And but turns out that was great. And i actually refer to that. I give you props. Guest see . Possum and taters. 100 years ago. That was the dish, believe it or not. Host apparently it was. People looking for long lost soul food recipes, dont overlook the possum. So, tonight were here to talk about your latest book which i have in my security bag here, the president s cabinet. Untold stories of africanamericans who have fade our families from the washingtons to the obamas. And i thought it was interesting you worked in the white house and you said you didnt even never went into the kitchen . Guest well no; im the kind of dude if im not supposed to be someplace im not going. And the white house is not a place to wander around. If youont need to bthere. But i worked in something called the president s initiative for one americaout have never heard of it but it was an outgrowth of president clintons initiative on race. If if we actually talked to one another and listened might find out we have loot more in common. That went on for a year and a half and then after that, the board that ran that, including the John Franklin recommended there be an Ongoing Office in the white house to deal with racial reconciliation. Host when you start lead to search how many years a long time. Guest this book was eight years in the making, and really what ininexpired me to do it was unemployment. Host as always. Guest so, the change of an administration, what happens if youre a political appointee the way i got the job is the old farced way. Knew someone. So a friend of mine at Georgetown Law School called me up while i was practicing law in denver not to dispager any attorneys in the officer but a practicing law was not for me. Was singing spirituals in my office. So i figure shy do something out. So, in this funk, while i was thinking about opening up a soul Food Restaurant in denver the called me and described the initiative for one america, and so i decide the same thing that dick cheny did when george w. Bush asked him to find the president. Was head of the Search Committee and only submitted my name. Thats how i got it. So, we get to the end of the administration, as appointee you write your letter of resignation and shockingly george bush accepted misresignation. I was unemployed and the job market was soft and i was watching a lot of daytime television. So, i thought to myself, should read something. So within to the book store and got book on the history of Southern Food and that book was Southern Food at home on the road and history. And in that book he said the tribute to a africanamerican achievement in cookery has led to be written. This book was ten years old when i got it. He said no one has taken on that project, and so that led to the my first book on the history of soul food, and it was while i was reading sources for that book that i discovered these africanamericans who have cooked for four president s, including some written by schomburg in the 1920s. He was going to write a history of africanamerican cook and can talks about the host found schomburg center. Yes. Guest yes, an early source was something he type up. Host there are also if you dig into dubois or always a lot of. The actually did have a lot of work related to food and i know that the voice of this whole extensive study on the black caters of philadelphia and you touch on that, too, the caterers of washington, dc and how that was a pathway of newman for black people, or wealth and status and class that still trickles in to today. You said the no one had done the piece about africanamerican accomplishments. Is it one piece . Theres so much connection to america food waste unlike any other. I think we have so, even this book, you have this book is doesnt look that thick but it is packed full with stories and people and 44 administrations. All the different people who are involved but so many this could be door there could be another i dont know 50 books. Guest 50 . A million books written from the stories in here. Guest the thing about the africanamerican president ial history in terms of the cooks is a lot is fragments because in the 18th and 19th 19th century, even the 20th 20th century, the africanamericans were looked down upon and servitude positions were something africanamericans were bon to do so the historical sources you only get references to negro cook or colored cook. They didnt even take the time put out the persons full name. So its remarkable that we see a burns full name in some supports and get the 20th 20th century, its better. But cooking was not the glamorous think it is today. One of the few professions that africanamericans could pursue and excel at without garnering white backlash so what is going on in the white house kitchen mirrors the broader society. Host not just about our place, all of that, but also very clear that they are feeling our food, and that you talk about times when white cooks have been fired to rehire black cooks and so forth. So theres also a skill and talent element to this whole lore of the mythical amazing black cooks. Love in the beginning you say how there are cooks who are what you call is dump cooks, scratch cooks, who have more offer the. Improve cook. Guest if youre a scratch cook, your pains or somebody in your families is like that. They dont mess sure and when you try to get a recipe they have an attitude. Have to have everything set out so i know i have my ingredient and is theyre properly measured. Host thats how you approached the book. Gst decided to show all of the key ingredients to president ial food ways, city study of the food culture and what dealed with the president directly, what involved people around the. , and then the things beyond the president s control, like congress, or the Public Perception of the president. Shows how they all interact. Host that very moveddal approach yielded a very detailed, factbased storyfilled bees of work which is phenomenal. Everybody was like, you dont have to read the whole book. Just skim it. Im like, no, i want to read the full book. Its fascinating. I want to get a read dash any other scratch cooks a feel for the scratch cooks. Can it get some hands for scratch . Guest okay. My tribe is much smaller. Host in black world. Guest yeah. Well talk about that. Guest i dont. Host i dont know, gosh you. You have some slide snooze what youre saying i snipnets from the interesting personality. The the its in person was samuel the steward for president washington and saw that picture and thought he looks like white dude there would as loaf heated debate about his race but quite a few of his descene dents believe he was biracial and had african heritage. I showercules, the enslaved cook for George George george and escaped on George Washington s birthday. So she escapes a identify years before hercules does and what is interesting it that is a portrait that is hanging in a museum in madrid, spain, and the title of the portrait is a cook for. George baz and the maintainerrer is gilbert stewart, the painter of the iconic portrait of washington. And the chef he hays is one that would be apron is one that would be worn by an european judge and seeing how what happened with one judge and you read the letters he tries to get hercules after he escapes you think of the song from frozen, left it go . He cannot left it go makes sense that hercules goes oversees. The safest thing to do imade may money selling scraps the story as you know in food history there are stories and then there are facts and history and sometimes they are hard to discern but we i had learned that he sold such a great cook that people was able to sell meals a stuff to pele but the piece about the scraps. Guest a lot of chefs sometimes the employer would give them the liberty to sell the scrap because people would use them to make candles or repurpose those things. Host the tea leaves from inside the tea bag. Guest right. This brothers cooking was so good he made 5,000 a year and 2,015 in terms of what he was selling and he would actually buy fancy clothes, a gold cane, and washington give him liberties so after the worked he would put on the blue suit with the gold cane and walk around philadelphia and aloud to go to opera. Host and he was trying to be free. This whole mythology about the happy slave and the propaganda around that in society, to make people believe slavery wasnt so bad. Guest right. Host with all these liberties and perks, he still was like, im out, and he took we believe he makes his way. c1 guest what washington would do to get around this is right about the time the six month came, he would pack up the enslaved people, send them back to mount vernon, keep them there for a few week and bring them back to start the clock over again. He did this throughout his two terms. Toward the end of this second term, he sends hercules back, not to the mount vernon kitchen, but into the field to make bricks and do hard labor and that is what spurs hercules to make the dash for freedom. Host after he escapes, washington writes letter like my cook is gone, i need my cook back, the house will fall apart. Guest i know. He is going through the five stages of grief if you read the letters in sequence. Then the letters from Martha Washington read like something from the real house wives of old virginia. Thanks for ling at that joke. I worked hard on that one. Guest i guess it was a punishment but i wonder if hercules knew it was and that is what spurred him to be like i am out of here. Guest the precipitating event is washington expected hercules was going to escape with some of his family members. One of his sons was caught stealing money out of a backpack and believed that was going to finance an escape attempt. Host before we move on to the other important person, i found it interesting this character who is George Washingtons nephew or whatever, luckily for us and the sake of the research, documents in detail about hercules artistry and talent. It sounded like an early bromance where he was going on and all about hercules. Guest George Washington custard is washingtons grand son and we get a since of hercules personal through him. He had a biracial staff. Host multi racial . White and black people . Guest yes. He had enslaved africans from Mount Vernons and endentured whites in the kitchen and his boss was a white man. Evidently hercules was temperamental as a chef. I think he would feel a kinship with gordon ramsey. But he talked about the servants flying at his instructions and if he messed up he would go off on them. Host who else . Guest another interesting woman is laura. Host wait, talk about james before we go to laura. Guest one is James Hemmings. Host he is Thomas Jeffersons chef before becoming president and cooked for him in the summer of 1801 in mont cello not in the white house. Guest jefferson was appointed to be minister of france and takes hemming to france with him and has him trained as a classical french chef for three years and spends a lot to do the is. And he installs hemming host all the money he didnt pay him before. Guest after he finishes his training he starts paying hemming and brings him back from paris and he is here in philadelphia. But in the mid 1790ss hemming says i want to be free and jefferson agrees on two conditions. One, you have to teach other enslaved people at mont cell oh to cook and two leave behind your recipes. He does this and he is free on february 5th. You will see the kitchen recipes in his own hand writing. Host he was literate in english and french. And one of the cofounders of the james hemming association and you can learn about it online and i believe another cofounder is here and i want to give a shoutout. You also talk about the whole interplay between french cooks and french culinary technique and africanamerican cookery and the fusion of virginia and french. Research shows that james is the first, maybe not the only over time, but maybe the only who trained in france for this, you know, chef to cuisine status. Guest right. I think he set the tone for president ial cooking at least through jeffersons presidency. What happens is to enslaved women from mont cello end up being assistant chefs in the kitchen. Hemming doesnt become chef because he drinked himself to death in 1801. Drinks. Host principle chef ash will be on site in montcello and i alluded to the new information that is surfacing that we believe will provide more dimension to james story. Guest okay. But he does die. We have two enslaved women who are working in the white house kitchen and they, after jeffersons presidency, they are the main cooks at montecello. Host you talk about them being trapped in the basement. Guest anybody who has been in washington d. C. In july and august. During the summer the white house had a skeleton crew. It is built in a reclaimed swamp and people in the white house kitchen would actually get tropical diseases. Jefferson wouldnt let those two women go back to their families when they would leave the house during summer break so they had to stay tr there. We seexamples of the husbands trying to escape and jecherson catching them before they get to the white house and returning them. Their life was pretty much in the white house basement. There were slave quarters off the main kitchen. Host right. They lived and slept there and it was hot. And they are cooking from hearth c