The Martinsville-Henry County Heritage Museum will have an exhibit on cooking through history, and the public is invited to share related artifacts and old local recipes.
Area residents are invited to lend the museum old cookware and utensils that represent times gone by. Lent items would be on display as part of the exhibit for 6 months, then returned. Stories behind the cookware would be included.
To drop off items, stop by the museum between 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays. The Heritage Museum is at 1 E. Main St., Martinsville (former Henry County Courthouse). To arrange a different time, email wilson.mhchs@gmail.com.
Send recipes with local origins, and the stories behind them, to wilson.mhchs@gmail.com, or call Wilson at 276-403-5361, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays.
Items and recipes will be accepted through and including March 19.
The exhibit is curated by MHC Historical Society (MHCHS) Intern Raylee Wilson, but the original idea came from Katie Connelly of Martinsville.
Last year, when MHCHS Executive Director Holly Kozelsky was at a meeting of the Current Events Club, Connelly suggested the museum have an exhibit on cooking. Kozelsky was putting together an exhibit on home sewing for the museum and, Connelly and other women at the meeting said, an exhibit on cooking would be a natural sequel.
Connelly and other club members talked about how many Martinsville women were among the first home cooks to have a Cuisinart, which was introduced in 1973. The local women had developed an interest in fine cooking through taking extensive cooking classes in Greensboro, N.C., and shopping at the market there for ingredients that weren’t available here. The Cuisinart which Connelly, like many of her friends, special-ordered from interior designer Lou Harris Interior Design in the 1970s will be on display.
Wilson, a senior at Ferrum College, is studying for a major in history with minors in religion and museum studies. Her passions include local history and staying involved in community programs whether it be volunteering or educational events. During her high school years, Wilson was a member of many history clubs, where she found her love and dream of working in museums.
