There aren’t many recipes specifically for blackberry pie. Usually, older recipes for “berry pie” will specify that blackberries, blueberries, or raspberries can be used.
Blackberry pie has been a longtime favorite of mine. I grew up making them with my grandmother so I wanted to make one for her birthday in September. I have also been falling behind on blog posts so I searched the newspapers for ‘blackberry pie.’
The recipe was shared in the Afro-American in 1938 by Mrs. Ida Reid. Mrs. Reid said that she enjoyed housework – and blackberry pie – and that she was heavily involved in her husband G. B. Reid’s Washington, DC department store.
The store was a longtime fixture at 11th and U (often stylized as “You”) streets in Northwest DC.
Mrs. Ida Reid’s blackberry pie in the Afro-American women’s pages, 1938
“Dozens of AFRO readers… have kept the AFRO switchboard busy since last week’s edition published a recipe for cornbread made by Mrs. Ronald [Fanniejoe] Reid of 1306 W. Lanvale St.” – Afro-American, February 4, 1956
After The Afro-American printed Harlem Park resident Fanniejoe Reid’s cornbread recipe in January 1956, the recipe kind of went ‘viral.’
One anonymous reader wrote in to inquire about employing Mrs. Reid. “Mrs. Norma Gladden of 816 N. Calhoun St., who admitted being proud of her ‘southern cooking,’ said she had never tasted so delicious a cornbread,” wrote the Afro-American in the follow-up article. “Mrs. Estelle Owens of 3213 Piedmont Ave. said that the recipe was the chief subject of conversation at the meeting of her lodge on Wednesday night.”
The Afro-American, 1956
Reid was a trained chef who was also “a regular attendant at AFRO cooking schools.” She’d worked at a hotel in Ocean City, at Baltimore public schools, as well as taking on occasional private catering jobs. After 1956 she became known as “the cornbread lady” to readers of the Afro-American.
Reid was born Fanniejoe Nixon in Baltimore on February 15, 1912. Both of her parents, Voyd and Louis Nixon, were born in Maryland, and their parents before them. The family lived on the 700 block of Caroline Street along with Voyd’s mother and several extended family members.
Although the 1930 census lists Fanniejoe’s job as waitress in a tea room, she was also trained as a beautician and established a salon at Lafayette and Gilmor. This is presumably how she met her husband, a beauty supply salesman. Ronald C. Reid was born in Jamaica in 1906 and came to Baltimore as a child. He’d been a waiter at the famous Hotel Rennert before getting into beauty products sales. After the two married in 1930, she turned the operation of the salon over to him and she once again focused on cooking.
Fanniejoe & Ronald Reid in the Afro-American, 1935
In the 1940 census, the Reids are shown residing at 1532 Harlem Avenue with seven of Fanniejoe’s family members, plus two lodgers. These type of living situations were very common in Baltimore, where the restrictive segregated housing rules provided limited areas for even middle-class, well-connected Black citizens to live.
The immediate and robust reaction to Fanniejoe Reid’s cornbread recipe gives interesting insight into the relationship between the (primarily female) readership and these type of recipe columns (or at least those in the Afro-American). Readers tried the cornbread within a week of the article’s printing. They reached out to the paper to respond, and to Fanniejoe at home on the telephone. “I can’t get away from the phone long enough to do my meals,” she told the Afro-American.
Following the lively response to the cornbread recipe, Fanniejoe Reid was given her own column in the paper, entitled “Cooking Is Fun.” Over the next four years she regularly shared advice on cooking and hosting. She told readers “how to put appeal in Lenten Menus” with baked salmon and oyster omelets. Reid asserted that despite the French reputation for ragout “there are some delightful stews that have come down through our American mothers.” She shared recipes for everything from peach cakes to salads, sweet potato pone, corn dumplings, “sumptuous sandwiches,” and Cointreau chiffon pie. When readers requested recipes, she was always ready to oblige.
Reid with schoolchildren, Afro-American, 1956
“Cooking should never be a utilitarian thing,” she wrote. “You should get fun out of the hours you spend in your kitchen.” Still, she often dispensed shortcuts for those who didn’t share in her enthusiasm for the culinary arts.
It appears that the “Cooking is Fun” column was turned over to a Betsy Patterson in April of 1960. Fanniejoe’s final column shared some hot breads, tips for scrambled eggs and muffins, and a recipe for “Glazed Pineapple Fingers,” a pineapple scone with icing. No fond farewell to readers.
Fanniejoe Reid passed away in 1973, and Ronald in 1998. Her legacy in the Afro-American women’s pages remains enshrined in the archives, and in the food of any family who ever saved a recipe from “the cornbread lady.”
Recipe:
Notes:
About 30 minutes will do it. I’ve made Fanniejoe Reid’s cornbread a couple of times. It may go without saying, but in addition to “the mixing,” the cornmeal makes a huge difference! My favorite so far has been this Hodgson Mills stuff which has a natural but not overbearing sweetness and a nice… “tooth” or whatever. Fanniejoe says its fine to leave out the sugar or adjust the salt because “a good cook always aims towards pleasing the tastes of the ones she is cooking for.”
Before the internet and magazines boasted millions of novel (and disposable) recipes, newspapers were a valuable source for recipes that could become staples in a household. With that in mind, I’m hoping to source more entries from newspaper recipes.
This one was shared in 1939 in the Afro-American by Lillian Lottier, prominent Baltimorean, teacher, activist, and columnist for that paper.
Lottier’s “Royal Tropicaroma Cake” was first popularized in “The Royal Guide to Meal Planning” in 1929 as “Tropic Aroma” cake. I expected pineapples & bananas but this is actually more of a spice cake complimented with coffee and chocolate.
Lillian, born in 1881, was the daughter of Reverend Reuben Armstrong, who came to Baltimore from Harrisburg, PA to become pastor of historically black Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church from 1897 to 1904. According to the church’s website, the ministry of Armstrong was “riveted in the policies of black middle classness and intellectualism. [He] encouraged and sponsored ecumenical involvement, wholesome cooperation, and cultural activities – including forums and literary and musical programs.”
It was from this tradition that Lillian Lottier dedicated herself to a life of working for civil rights and social progress. In 1924, Lottier served as the first female president of the Baltimore NAACP. There she “led the Branch for only a single term but made a tremendous statement and mark on the Branch and the City of Baltimore.” She was a founding member of the Baltimore Urban League, and remained active with that organization as well as the Women’s Presbyterian Society.
“Her social activism gives an insight into the interest of female members of the NAACP. She was a long-time member of the United Protestant group in Baltimore that raised funds for inter-church meetings and charity work starting in 1933 and was executive officer by World War II. During the great depression Lottier was a member of National Negro Congress and was a publicity officer for its Baltimore branch, spearheading campaigns to end racial discrimination in employment, targeting large corporations such as Consolidated Gas, Electric Light, and Power Company [now BGE].” – Borders of Equality: The NAACP and the Baltimore Civil Rights Struggle, 1914-1970
Outside of her own column, Lillian Lottier merited frequent mentions in the Afro-American due to her active involvement in the PTA of several Baltimore schools. Her namesake daughter, Lillian Lottier Bolden (1918-2000) was an educator herself, who taught physically and mentally challenged students in Baltimore City.
“Teachers participated in a wide range of efforts to promote democracy, reform curricula, organize communities, and mentor young civil rights activists. Their engagement, both in the public sphere and behind the scenes, has shaped and influenced the Civil Rights Movement.” – Teachers in the Movement: A civil rights oral history project
Reading through Lottier’s columns in the Afro-American is a reminder of the diverse viewpoints among those working for civil rights. “Borders of Equality” described some of her activism with contraception as being “in the vein of the middle-class progressive urge of the era,” and some of Lottier’s views might not seem progressive those with a modern view of civil rights causes.
Nonetheless, her column is an interesting insight into the generation that laid the groundwork for the civil rights activism of the 1960s. In one spirited column she decries a preacher making a flirtatious “remark” to a parishioner. She passionately censures this affront to morality. Despite the amount of words dedicated to this outrage, the “remark” seems to be lost to time. I for one feel cheated.
“Now, she’s a person that puzzles me. I have often wondered whether she is a saint or a sinner. There are times when she seems pious enough to be a cardinal, and there are times when she seems to have a devil-may-care glint in her eye and a ‘Come-on, I-dare’ look in her face.” – 1930 Afro-American column about Lillian Lottier
1957
Lillian was married to George V. Lottier, a postal worker. Although he was involved with the YMCA and a writers group called the “Scribblers,” he does not appear to have been as outspoken as his wife. The family lived at 1509 Druid Hill Avenue in the Upton neighborhood.
“Even though this sex of ours has convincingly demonstrated our ability to compete successfully with men in almost every phase of life, there are still a few dull-witted, pig-headed, narrow-minded males left for whom we welcome additional proof.” – Lillian Lottier, 1926
The frequent Afro-American coverage of Lillian Lottier’s active life began to taper off in the 1950s. An avid-reader, she remained active in book clubs and celebrated milestones in the lives of her four children. In 1957 the Lottiers’ 50th anniversary is celebrated in the paper. Lillian passed away in 1976 with little fanfare. A Baltimore Sun obituary states that in addition to her four children, she was survived by twelve-grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren.
“At the best our gain in knowledge during a short life-time is but partial and limited, and it does seem a shame to waste any precious hours in willful blindness and self-deception.
Let it be our earnest desire… to do our feebly best to live fully, deeply, richly, and in accordance with the Creator’s wonderful purpose for mankind.” – Lillian Lottier, 1926
Recipe:
.75 Cup butter
1.25 Cup sugar
2 egg
2.5 Cup flour
4 Teaspoon baking powder
.25 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon nutmeg
1 Teaspoon cinnamon
1 Cup milk
1 Tablespoon cocoa
1 Tablespoon boiling water
For icing:
2 Tablespoon butter
2 Cup sugar, powdered
1 Tablespoon cocoa
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon strong coffee
Cream butter; add sugar a little at a time followed by well beaten eggs, mixing thoroughly.
Sift flour, salt, baking powder and spices together. Add a little of the dry ingredients to the first mixture; slowly add milk followed by remaining dry ingredients.
Pour two-thirds of this batter into two greased and floured layer tins.
To remaining third of batter, add 1 tablespoon cocoa mixed with 1 tablespoon of boiling water. Use this batter for middle layer.
Bake layers at 375 F for 15-20 minutes. Put the filling and icing between layers and on top and sides of the cake.
Filling/Icing: Cream butter and add sugar and cocoa very slowly, beating until light and fluffy. Slowly add vanilla and coffee until soft enough to spread.
Recipe adapted from “Cake for a Postman,” Baltimore Afro-American newspaper, 1939
