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Activities at the Fair [return to all activities]

Our History through Cookbooks
Saturday, November 17, 2007 1:00 PM

• Barbara Haber

Barbara Haber served as Curator of Books and developed a major collection of over 16,000 volumes on cooking and food at the Radcliffe Institute’s Schlesinger Library at Harvard University. She has been instrumental in the community in establishing
organizations and events for collectors and enthusiasts in the New England area.

In her book From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals, Haber investigates the ways in which food and cooking have defined milestones throughout American history. The book explores the widespread appeal of cookbooks and their importance in understanding our heritage.

Seen on Today, Martha Stewart Living and other TV programs and interviewed in Newsweek, the New York Times, and Bon Appetite, Barbara Haber has delighted audiences with her fascinating stories of the special and often surprising ways that cooking and food have defined people’s lives. “In my work at the Schlesinger Library I met many collectors of cookbooks—it is a popular hobby—and have lots of amusing stories to tell … I also have serious advice for people who want to collect these books seriously.”