“Watch Night,” or New Year’s Eve service, is another African-American southern religious tradition that I talk about in my book Hog and Hominy: Soul Food From Africa to America http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-14638-8/hog-and-hominy/webFeatures. Watch Night dates back to the end of the Civil War. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln declared his famous Emancipation Proclamation, which set slaves in Confederate territories free as of January 1, 1863. As a result, African Americans across much of the South held religious services, many of them secretly, in which they praised and worshiped God as they watched the New Year and freedom arrive. Thus, after 1863, African Americans regularly celebrated Watch Night and New Year’s Eve in honor of Emancipation Day. Southerners carried their religious traditions with them when they migrated north. Over the next couple of days I will be sharing the food that African Americans have traditionally cooked and served at home for New Year's and at church as part of Watch Night services.
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