Camp Bacon: Of Bondage and Bacon

[audio mp3="https://heritageradionetwork.org/sites/default/files/wp-uploads/2016/07/Camp-Bacon-Of-Bondage-And-Bacon.mp3"][/audio]

The rendering of lard in big wash pots over fire. Crackling skin with a little salt. These are the memories of Cordelia Thomas, a former slave woman on a Georgian plantation. To her, plantation food consisted of more than just chitlins and soul. To Christopher Wilson, Cordelia’s story is part of a bigger picture of the complex history of the food that slaves ate.

[caption id="attachment_37812" align="aligncenter" width="640"]Bacon samples at Camp Bacon. (Source: www.zingermanscampbacon.com) Bacon samples at Camp Bacon. (Source: www.zingermanscampbacon.com)[/caption]

 

Christopher spoke about this under-explored piece of American history in a talk on Saturday June 4th in Dexter Michigan, at the Zingerman’s 7th Annual Camp Bacon on the food of enslaved African Americans in the Lowcountry.

Christopher Wilson currently serves as Director of the Experience and Program Design and the Program in African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.