Hog's Head, History and Hymns: An African-American Cookbook Blends Traditional Recipes with Spirituals and Tales of the Underground Railroad

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WACO, Texas (Feb. 4, 2014) -- It was a time when slaves scrabbled for whatever food they could find, grow or collect from their white owners, a time when spirituals held coded messages for fugitives, a time of dangerous escapes to the North or Canada for freedom via the Underground Railroad.
Myria Bailey Whitcomb, a student at Baylor University and a former re-enactor at a Pennsylvania church that was a safe house on the Underground Railroad, was enthralled, saddened and heartened by the legacy of her ancestors.
She wanted to share the heritage and spiritual strength of those times. So she embarked on assembling an unlikely mixture: lyrics of such spirituals as "Wade in the Water" and "Go Down, Moses," memories handed down from those who lived through an unforgettable chapter of American history, and recipes with such ingredients as hog's head, ham hocks, collard greens, chitlins and oxtails.
In "An African American Cookbook" (written under the name Phoebe Bailey), many of the 400-plus recipes exemplify turning something undesirable into something good -- just as tragedy was turned into triumph not only by those who escaped to liberty long before and during the Civil War, but by blacks and some merciful whites who helped them along the way.
"I wanted to honor the Underground Railroad," said Bailey Whitcomb, a student at Baylor's Truett Seminary enrolled in a dual degree program to earn master's degrees in theology and social work. "This is more than a cookbook; it's a history book."
The book includes quotations by "the famous and the not so famous," she said. Those individuals range from abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman -- an African-American "conductor" who escorted more than 300 slaves to freedom -- to elderly members of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Lancaster, Pa., who passed on tales of slavery and freedom handed down from previous generations.
One member, Elizabeth McGill, recalled how her mother would tell her three children stories of "the Old Times" and read from the Bible. She recalled, too, how her mother used flour to patch wall cracks to keep out the cold in a home not much improved from slave quarters.
"We had no ceiling and no water," McGill said. "It was normal to look at the stars at night."
In Pennsylvania, Bailey Whitcomb -- who co-pastors Allen Chapel AME with her husband, Jeffrey Whitcomb, in Athens, Texas -- served as writer, director and actor of "Living the Experience," an interactive reenactment of the Underground Railroad.
In her book, lyrics of spirituals serve as prefaces to recipe sections.
"Such spirituals often carried code languages for enslaved Africans," she said. "In 'Wade in the Water,' the code was to go to the river, where water would cover the fleeing Africans' scent and tracks, making it difficult for bloodhounds to track them."
Individuals or "conductors" in the network provided food, money and "stations" -- hiding places in homes, barns and out-of-the-way spots --as well as aid in nighttime travels, sometimes by boat, sometimes by train, and very often on foot. Besides the conductors, "there were free communities of Africans that had never been enslaved, so they were a wonderful drop-off" for escapees, Bailey Whitcomb said. Many who championed the effort helped escapees find jobs, even providing letters of recommendation.
As for the recipes, many included food that slaves were given by their owners.
"They were given what was undesirable by the white people - but they worked," Bailey Whitcomb said. "Chitlins and pigs' feet. They made it, and it tasted gourmet."
*Myria Bailey Whitcomb will give a free one-woman performance of a cappella spirituals about enslavement and the Underground Railroad at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, at Seventh & James Baptist Church, 602 James Ave., Waco, Texas. Her book is available on amazon.com.
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Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary provides theological education leading to the Master of Divinity, the Master of Arts in Christian Ministry, the Master of Theological Studies, or the Doctor of Ministry degrees that are centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ and consistent with historic Baptist commitments to prepare persons to carry the gospel to the churches and the world. Within the M.Div. degree program, students can choose concentrations in Biblical Studies and Theology, Christian Education, Ministry Leadership, Missions and World Christianity, Worship Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Sports Ministry, and Youth/Family/Student Ministry. Truett Seminary also offers three Dual Degree programs - a M.Div./MSW and MTS/MSW through a partnership with Baylor's School of Social Work, a M.Div./Master of Music through a partnership with the Baylor's School of Music, and a M.Div./MBA through a partnership with Baylor's Hankamer School of Business.
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The Baylor University School of Social Work is home to one of the leading graduate social work programs in the nation with a research agenda focused on the integration of faith and practice. The School offers a baccalaureate degree, a Master of Social Work degree and three joint-degree options (MSW/Master of Business Administration, MSW/Master of Divinity and MSW/Master of Theological Studies) through a partnership with Baylor's Hankamer School of Business and Truett Seminary.