Cooking Up Change

It has been 100 years since the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, granting women the right to vote in the United States. To celebrate this anniversary, Rider University has created a cookbook to honor the women who fought for this right and to demonstrate how they achieved it.

The Rider University Women’s Suffrage Centennial Cookbook brims with delicious recipes along with commentary on the importance of voting for women in the United States today. These pieces, written by women from across the country, highlight the history of oppression women have faced in the United States, the ongoing fight for equality, and the importance of sustaining and exercising the right to vote.

An opportunity to learn through cooking, this book is also a historically accurate representation of the past. Cookbooks were used more than a century ago, during the Civil War, as a means of communication among women, a concept that continued long after the war ended. During the Women’s Rights Movement [1848—1920], cookbooks were used to encourage support for the cause. Writers and contributors would include secret messages hidden within the content along with sarcasm and words of encouragement for their readers. The mere writing and publication of cookbooks at the time helped reinforce women’s worth outside of the home.

The supportive words in the cookbooks helped rally women together and strengthened the fight for equal rights.

• The Rider University Women’s Suffrage Centennial Cookbook [185 pages, soft cover, $19.20 plus shipping] can be ordered at rider.edu/cookbook or 609.896.5000, ext. 7032. All proceeds benefit the scholarship assistance fund for women attending Rider University.