Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was an American novelist, women's rights activist, abolitionist, journalist, and activist for Native American rights. Child is famous for her fiction and domestic manuals, which enjoyed international popularity during the mid 19th century. However, her work also drew controversy due to her tackling such issues as male dominance and white supremacy. First published in 1865, "The Freedmen's Book" contains a collection of...

Along with simply written recipes for roasting a pig and preparing corned beef, hasty pudding, carrot pie, buffalo tongue, and scores of other dishes, this fascinating book, with its lively and direct style, also offered 19th-century readers suggestions for treating chilblains and dysentery, cleaning white kid gloves, educating one's daughters, and much more.