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Description
Join Washington Heritage Museums and the Slave Dwelling Project for a hearth-cooking demonstration at the eighteenth-century Mary Washington House, exploring the culinary knowledge and skilled labor of the enslaved cooks who shaped colonial foodways. Living historians will prepare period dishes over an open hearth using traditional techniques and tools, while sharing the stories and lived experiences of the enslaved men and women whose expertise sustained households like this one. The demonstration will also examine the household hierarchy behind the kitchen: as mistress of the house, Mary Washington would have controlled access to costly imported spices and ingredients, doling them out and often directing recipes from her own household receipt book — while the enslaved cooks carried out the true skilled labor of transforming those rationed ingredients into meals, drawing on techniques and knowledge of their own. This program continues the Slave Dwelling Project's mission of preserving and honoring the too-often-overlooked history of enslaved people at historic sites across the country.
Date & Time
Sat, Sep 12, 2026 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Venue Details
Mary Washington House
1200 Charles StreetFredericksburg, Virginia 22401
