If you visited Lippitt House Museum in the summer of 2017, you would have experienced the special exhibition, “The Art of Dining: A Taste of Providence.” While touring the house, visitors learned about social customs associated with dining that were an important part of 19th century life — especially for upper-class families like the Lippitts. Today, thanks to the internet, we have made part of that exhibition available to you in a digital format, which we hope you will explore on our history page.
Revisiting “The Art of Dining'' inspired staff to delve further into themes related to food and culinary customs. As luck would have it, we had Hanna Rashidi, multimedia artist and student of art and creative writing at Brown University, as an intern who was excited to take on this project. We invited her to research the Lippitt family and 1865 - 1920 Providence looking for new connections and foodway stories and to create a series of social media and blog posts to share with you, our virtual visitors.
A common theme in Hanna’s explorations and interpretations is that wherever there are people, there are foodways (eating habits and culinary practices). Foodways are one of the ways that culture expresses itself. Culture, economy, environmental conditions, and more influence foodways.
This series reflects Hanna’s curious mind. Knowing that May Lippitt Steedman volunteered with the Providence Red Cross in the Nineteen Teens, Hanna was struck by the campaigns for self-rationing, which led her to ask questions and explore some history that certainly seems relevant to today. seeing Hanna’s fresh perspective, and we are sure you will enjoy her coming posts as much as we have.
View "The Art of Dining: A Taste of Providence" on our history page.
Visit our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds and search for #TasteofProvidence to find related posts.