What Mrs. Fisher knows about old southern cooking, soups, pickles, preserves, etc. by Abby Fisher
Abby Fisher was a former slave who migrated from Mobile, Alabama to San Francisco, California in 1877 with her husband and eleven children. She was a talented cook and opened Mrs. Abby Fisher & Co., winning several awards at fairs across the state. Many people suggested that she document her recipes, but this was not possible for her because she, and her husband, could not read or write. The Women's Co-operative Printing Union founded in 1869 and also located in San Francisco was the perfect solution for Mrs. Abby as the founder and women typesetters were sympathetic to the challenges that she faced. All of her recipes were transcribed, typeset, and printed by 1881 to preserve her famous Southern cooking. Her book is known to be the second cookbook published by an African American woman, the first being A domestic cook book: containing a careful selection of useful receipts for the kitchen by Malinda Russell, 1866.
Information about Mrs. Fisher from the following sources:
Helland, Madeline. “Women in Printing Part 3: Women Printers in the 19th Century.” International Printing Museum, International Printing Museum, 5 Mar. 2024, www.printmuseum.org/blog-3/women-printers-3.
Pearce, Katie. “JHU’s Special Collections Acquires First-Edition Copy of ‘What Mrs. Fisher Knows about Old Southern Cooking.’” The Hub, 31 Mar. 2023, hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2023/spring/mrs-fisher-southern-cookbook/.
