Cliveden's Living Kitchens: Cookin' for the Big House: Slavery, Race, Gender, and the Kitchen Axis
7pm - 9pm
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Audiences take in Liberty To Go To See, 2015, at Cliveden’s Main House, an interactive dramatic event based on the Chew Family Papers, produced by the New Freedom Theatre and featuring a script created through a year-long partnership between Cliveden and the Philadelphia Young Playwrights.
Through Cliveden's Living Kitchens, Cliveden of the National Trust undertakes a historical interpretation project that compares domestic life in two centuries through the exploration of the 1767 and 1959 kitchens inside Cliveden's historic Germantown mansion, revealing how architecture, design, and the technology of the times defined the experiences of those enslaved and in service and their relationships with the household's family. As part of the project, Cliveden presents a series of "Kitchen Conversations"—moderated discussions with scholars, community members, and activists about issues surrounding race, history, and memory.
In this "Kitchen Conversation," Dr. Kelley Fanto Deetz will lecture on her forthcoming book Bound to the Fire: Virginia's Enslaved Plantation Cooks and their Kitchens. Deetz will discuss the social dynamics of entertainment, feasting, and the labor demands. This event includes a meal by The Caribbean Diner.