Key Ingredients: America by Food

Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit at History Center in Fall 2006

The food on the American table may not define exactly what we are as a nation, but the traditions surrounding our foods speak volumes about who we are. "Key Ingredients: America by Food" a new Smithsonian traveling exhibition, delves into the historical, regional and social traditions that merge in everyday meals and celebrations of the American table.

The Oldham County History Center will house this exhibit from Sept. 2 through October 14, 2006. The exhibit will travel across Kentucky at seven selected locations through 2006 and 2007. Other sites include Georgetown, Elizabethtown, Hazard, Harrodsburg and Paducah. This exhibition is a part of the Museum on Main Street which serves museums, libraries and historical societies in rural America. The SITES-Federation of State Humanities Councils partnership, established in 1991, was formed as a creative response to the challenge faced by rural museums to enhance their own cultural legacies. The Kentucky Humanities Council coordinates this effort for Kentucky.

The Oldham County History Center plans to produce a local recipe book on regional food traditions that would include Native American, African American, English, German, Irish cultures of the past and recent cultures such as Hispanic, that have settled in the county. In addition there will be local exhibits planned that feature the organizations, restaurants, and county fairs, homemakers, and agriculture of Oldham County that are specific to food production and festivities. At one time Oldham County was one of the leading dairy counties in the state and in the 19 th century there numerous truck gardens that supplied Louisville markets. The history center also plans to feature its newly renovated 1840s root cellar that emphasizes food preparation, storage and preservation before refrigeration.

Other activities being planned include "A Taste of Oldham County" that will feature local restaurant specialties and cookbook authors who will be on hand to sell and sign their book. The event is scheduled for September 30.

Anyone that has "food stories" or "family recipes" are encouraged to call the history center at 502-222-0826 so it may be included in the various activities planned for the exhibition.