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Jessica B. Harris

Jessica B. Harris
Born (1948-03-18) March 18, 1948 (age 76)
Queens, New York, U.S.
Alma materBryn Mawr College
Queens College, City University of New York
New York University
GenreNonfiction, memoir
SubjectCulinary history, personal history, New York City, the 1970s and 1980s, African diaspora
Notable worksHigh on the Hog (2011)
Notable awardsJames Beard Award
Website
www.africooks.com/wordpress/

Jessica B. Harris (born March 18, 1948)[1] is an American culinary historian, college professor, cookbook author and journalist.[2] She is professor emerita at Queens College, City University of New York, where she taught for 50 years, and is also the author of 15 books, including cookbooks, non-fiction food writing and memoir. She has twice won James Beard Foundation Awards, including for Lifetime Achievement in 2020, and her book High on the Hog was adapted in 2021 as a four-part Netflix series by the same name.

Early life

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Jessica B. Harris, an only child, was born in Queens, New York, in 1948.[3] Her family also had a summer home on Martha's Vineyard.[3] From 1953 to 1961, Harris attended the United Nations International School in New York City.[3] She graduated from the High School of Performing Arts when she was 16 years old, and went on to earn an A.B. degree in French from Bryn Mawr College (1968).[3] Her junior year at Bryn Mawr, Harris studied in Paris, France.[4] Following graduation, Harris returned to France to study at the Universite de Nancy for one year.[4] She then earned her master's degree from Queens College (1971) and a Ph.D. from New York University (1983).[5] In 1972, Harris traveled to West Africa to work on her doctoral dissertation.[6]

Career

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In the 1970s, Harris worked as a journalist before becoming a food writer. She was book review editor at Essence and theater critic for New York Amsterdam News, the United States' oldest black newspaper.[3] From July to November in 1999, she worked as a resident food historian for Sara Moulton's Cooking Live Primetime.[7] She has also appeared on various other television shows such as The Today Show, The Main Ingredient, The Curtis Aikens Show, and Good Morning America.[7]

Harris is professor emerita in the English Department at Queens College/C.U.N.Y, where she taught for 50 years.[8] She was the inaugural scholar in residence in the Ray Charles Chair in African American Material Culture at Dillard University in New Orleans.[9] She also founded the Institute for the Study of Culinary Cultures at Dillard.[10] She hosts a monthly program, My Welcome Table, on Heritage Radio Network.[11] She has published 12 books.[12] Her primary subjects are the culinary history, foodways and recipes of the African diaspora. Harris was a 2004 winner of the lifetime achievement awards from the Southern Foodways Alliance[13] and a 2010 James Beard Foundation special award honoree.[14][15] In 2017 she published a memoir My Soul Looks Back.[16]

In May 2021, Netflix released a four-episode series High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America[17][18] based on Harris' 2011 book High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America.[19] In 2020, she won a James Beard Foundation Award for Lifetime Achievement.[20] In September 2021, she appeared on the Time 100, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[21]

Personal life

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Harris resides in Brooklyn, Martha's Vineyard and New Orleans.[22]

Works and publications

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References

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  1. ^ Damian Mosley, Interview with Jessica B. Harris Archived 2015-10-23 at the Wayback Machine, SFA Founders Oral History Project, December 28, 2005.
  2. ^ "Literary Works and Beyond by Jessica B. Harris". July 27, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Garner, Dwight (May 9, 2017). "'My Soul Looks Back' Warmly Recalls New York's Black Elite in the 1970s". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Jessica B. Harris | The HistoryMakers". www.thehistorymakers.org. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  5. ^ "Education Makers - Jessica B. Harris". The HistoryMakers.
  6. ^ Brown, DeNeen (March 8, 2011). "Q&A: Jessica Harris on African American food and 'High on the Hog'". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  7. ^ a b "About – Literary Works and Beyond by Jessica B. Harris". Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  8. ^ "Fireside Chat with Living Legend Jessica B. Harris | NYU Wagner". wagner.nyu.edu. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  9. ^ "Hutchins Lecture by Jessica B. Harris, Thursday, March 20 at 4:30 pm". The Center for the Study of the American South. March 20, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  10. ^ "Jessica Harris". Southern Living. Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  11. ^ "My Welcome Table by Jessica B. Harris". Heritage Radio Network. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  12. ^ DeNeen Brown (March 8, 2011). "Q&A: Jessica Harris on African American food and 'High on the Hog'". Washington Post.
  13. ^ "2004 Lifetime Achievement Award Winners: Nathalie Dupree and Jessica Harris". Southern Foodways Alliance. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  14. ^ "2010 James Beard Foundation Winners Announced". Kurman Communications. May 4, 2010. Archived from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
  15. ^ Dwight Garner (January 25, 2011). "What Africa Brought to the Table". The New York Times.
  16. ^ Dayna Evans, "Do You Remember When Icons Could Preach and Boogie?", The Cut, May 9, 2017.
  17. ^ Rosner, Helen (May 24, 2021). "Tracing the African Diaspora in Food". The New Yorker. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  18. ^ Endolyn, Osayi (May 17, 2021). "The Profound Significance of 'High on the Hog'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  19. ^ Grimes, William (January 7, 2011). "Soul Cuisine". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  20. ^ "The 2020 Lifetime Achievement Winner and Humanitarian of the Year | James Beard Foundation". www.jamesbeard.org. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  21. ^ Hayes, Katelyn (November 11, 2021). "Jessica B. Harris Time 100 Most Influential People of 2021". Reset The Table. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  22. ^ Nadler, Holly (September 5, 2015). "After Katrina: Jessica Harris reflects on the hurricane's 10th anniversary". The Martha's Vineyard Times. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  23. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: Iron Pots and Wooden Spoons: Africa's Gifts to New World Cooking by Jessica B. Harris, Author Atheneum Books $19.95 (195p) ISBN 978-0-689-11872-2". Publishers Weekly. June 1, 1989. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  24. ^ "IRON POTS AND WOODEN SPOONS: Africa's Gifts to New World Cooking By Jessica B. Harris". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  25. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: BEYOND GUMBO: Creole Fusion Food from the Atlantic Rim by Jessica Harris, Author . Simon & Schuster $27 (400p) ISBN 978-0-684-87062-5". Publishers Weekly. February 17, 2003. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  26. ^ "Picks and Pans Review: Beyond Gumbo:Creole Fusion Food from the Atlantic Rim – Vol. 60 No. 19". People. November 10, 2003. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  27. ^ Garner, Dwight (June 1, 2003). "COOKING". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  28. ^ "HIGH ON THE HOG A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by Jessica B. Harris". Kirkus Reviews. October 4, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  29. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: The Martha's Vineyard Table by Jessica B. Harris, Author, Susie Cushner, Photographer . Chronicle $35 (203p) ISBN 978-0-8118-4999-9". Publishers Weekly. February 19, 2007. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
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