A Culinary Look at Women in History Part 4: The Women of Cloverdale, Virginia

Hot cross buns, recipe included

My Grandmother Lucy Opie was one of many women who migrated from Cloverdale, Virginia to North Tarrytown in the late 1920s or the early 1930s. In North Tarrytown, the majority of the southern-born migrant women came from Virginia, followed by North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Maryland, in descending amounts. Most of them rented homes, creating a black enclave in the Valley Street section of town. They worked predominately at private homes for white residents as cooks, live-in domestic servants, and laundresses. Lucy Opie did domestic work, particularly cooking. A superb cook, she prepared traditional southern dishes. What was unique about her cooking, according to her daughter Dorothy Opie, was, “the first ingredient she put in was a piece of love, stirred it up.” She was an excellent baker, often preparing biscuits, pies, and an Easter time favorite I grew up on in the Hudson Valley—hot cross buns. Here is a hot cross bun recipe: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/easter/hotcrossbuns.htm

Upcoming lecture March, 30, 2010
Dr. Frederick Douglass Opie
Long Island University Brooklyn Campus
Speaking about
“Black and Latino Relations in New York 1959-2008”
Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Health Sciences Building, Room 121.
Book signing to follow
This event is free and open to the public
For more information call 718 488-3374
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