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<i>[serene classical music playing]</i>

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<i>-All right, cheers.</i>
<i>-Cheers.</i>

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<i>[man] Hercules was the enslaved</i>
<i>African American chef</i>

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<i>for President George Washington</i>

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<i>while the president's house</i>
<i>was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.</i>

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<i>And he was a very accomplished chef.</i>

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<i>A lot of people</i>
<i>who ate at Washington's residence</i>

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<i>celebrated his food in their writing</i>
<i>and their diaries and letters.</i>

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{\an8}<i>His cooking was so good</i>

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{\an8}<i>that he actually made money every year</i>
<i>selling leftovers.</i>

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<i>And he would use that money</i>
<i>to buy clothes.</i>

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<i>There are stories about him,</i>
<i>after his shift was over,</i>

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<i>dressing up in fancy outfits</i>

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<i>and having a gold cane,</i>
<i>walking about town.</i>

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<i>So, he was really quite the character.</i>

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<i>How did Washington ensure</i>
<i>that Hercules remained enslaved?</i>

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<i>When Washington summoned Hercules</i>
<i>from Mount Vernon to Philadelphia,</i>

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<i>there was one problem.</i>

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<i>State law said that if an enslaved person</i>
<i>was on Pennsylvania soil</i>

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<i>for six months or longer,</i>
<i>they were automatically free.</i>

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<i>So, he would pack up</i>
<i>all the enslaved people in Philadelphia</i>

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<i>and take them back to Mount Vernon</i>

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<i>to start that clock over,</i>
<i>and then bring them back to Philadelphia.</i>

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<i>[Stephen] Does Washington fear</i>
<i>that Hercules will run away?</i>

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<i>[Adrian] There's indications</i>
<i>that towards the end of his second term,</i>

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<i>he does start to suspect</i>
<i>that Hercules might try to escape.</i>

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<i>Washington's suspicions are so strong</i>

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<i>that he actually sends Hercules</i>
<i>back to Mount Vernon,</i>

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<i>but not to the kitchen, but to the fields.</i>

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<i>So this world-renowned cook</i>
<i>is now a laborer.</i>

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<i>And then one day, he disappears.</i>

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<i>[dramatic music plays]</i>

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<i>[opening theme song playing]</i>

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<i>[string instruments tuning]</i>

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<i>[playing chamber music]</i>

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<i>[Stephen] </i>Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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<i>I've always associated</i>
<i>the City of Brotherly Love</i>

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<i>with ideas of freedom.</i>

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<i>Quaker settlers led the charge</i>
<i>for abolition here,</i>

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<i>and Pennsylvania was the first state</i>
<i>in the Union to outlaw slavery.</i>

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<i>But emancipation was a gradual process,</i>

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<i>and back when Philly served</i>
<i>as the nation's capital,</i>

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<i>two chefs that cooked</i>
<i>some of the finest meals in the country</i>

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<i>remained enslaved here</i>
<i>by the founding fathers.</i>

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<i>Hercules served George Washington,</i>

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<i>and a man named James Hemings</i>
<i>cooked for Thomas Jefferson.</i>

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<i>And while there are</i>
<i>no known images of these men,</i>

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<i>their legacies are still alive and well</i>
<i>all the way out in California.</i>

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<i>[rhythmic music playing]</i>

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<i>At a spot called Hatchet Hall,</i>
<i>I met Brian Dunsmoor and Martin Draluck,</i>

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<i>two chefs who are recreating</i>

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<i>the cooking techniques</i>
<i>of Hercules and Hemings.</i>

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<i>Both enslaved men mastered</i>
<i>elegant meals over the open fire,</i>

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<i>a method known as hearth cooking.</i>

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<i>I mean, the hardest part</i>
<i>is just maintaining the fire,</i>

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<i>and not killing yourself,</i>
<i>kind of, you know,</i>

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<i>by standing in front of a fire</i>
<i>and melting from the heat.</i>

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<i>We've done well over 1,000 dishes</i>
<i>since we've been open.</i>

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<i>For us, it's more about the techniques,</i>
<i>and challenging ourselves,</i>

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<i>not to mention it's kind of like a bridge</i>

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<i>that helps us tell the story</i>
<i>that we're trying to tell.</i>

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<i>So part of the way that you guys bring</i>
<i>this historical context into your cooking</i>

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<i>is through these dinners.</i>

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<i>Hercules and Hemings…</i>

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<i>Can you tell us who they were</i>

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<i>and tell us a little bit more</i>
<i>about these dinners?</i>

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<i>You could consider them</i>
<i>two of America's first celebrity chefs.</i>

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<i>They were enslaved property</i>
<i>of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.</i>

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{\an8}<i>James Hemings specifically traveled</i>
<i>to France with Thomas Jefferson, um,</i>

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{\an8}<i>learned to cook professionally.</i>

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<i>As most stories in slavery, they got lost,</i>
<i>or didn't get recorded in the first place,</i>

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<i>so just to be able to tell their story</i>

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<i>is the biggest motivation</i>
<i>for doing the dinners.</i>

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<i>[Stephen] So I'm checking out this menu.</i>
<i>Who is this featured?</i>

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<i>For the longest time it wasn't known</i>

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<i>whether that was James Hemings</i>
<i>or Hercules Caesar,</i>

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<i>up until recently, where they found out</i>
<i>that it's actually neither of them.</i>

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<i>-[softly] Okay.</i>
<i>-But the picture was so amazing</i>

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<i>that it-it couldn't--</i>

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<i>We couldn't pick anything else</i>
<i>to be the logo for the dinners.</i>

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<i>[Brian] We're inspired </i>
<i>by American food history,</i>

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{\an8}<i>and we're trying to learn as we go,</i>

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{\an8}<i>and teach people as we go along the way.</i>

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<i>There you go, guys,</i>
<i>here's your veal olive.</i>

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<i>-[Stephen] Thank you. Beautiful.</i>
<i>-[waiter] You're welcome, enjoy.</i>

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<i>So tell me,</i>
<i>what's the story with this dish?</i>

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<i>Well, I think what's interesting</i>
<i>about Hercules is that</i>

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<i>he's apparently</i>
<i>one of the most famous chefs of his time,</i>

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<i>but you can't find </i>a <i>dish</i>
<i>that he's ever created.</i>

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<i>And then you have Martha Washington,</i>

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<i>who has, like, this plethora of dishes,</i>
<i>like, all over the place.</i>

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<i>-Err… It doesn't all add up.</i>
<i>-Right.</i>

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<i>So, a lot of people have a theory</i>

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<i>that a lot of the dishes</i>
<i>that Martha Washington is credited with</i>

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<i>were actually Hercules' dishes.</i>

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<i>So, originally, this dish would have been</i>
<i>a pounded-out veal cutlet,</i>

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<i>rolled with crab meat,</i>

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<i>and then cooked in a sherry cream sauce.</i>

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<i>What we do, we do a whole veal sweetbread.</i>

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<i>And then we serve it</i>
<i>with a sauce of sherry cream,</i>

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<i>with a little bit of mushroom stock.</i>

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<i>And we use Dungeness crab.</i>

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<i>[Stephen] Wow.</i>

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<i>That's so tender.</i>

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<i>So good.</i>

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<i>[Brian] So, what's kind of interesting</i>
<i>about this dish is that</i>

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<i>Hercules was famous</i>
<i>for doing French service,</i>

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<i>but not necessarily French techniques.</i>

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<i>He would do more English-style food,</i>

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<i>whereas James Heming, opposite, you know.</i>

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<i>He actually cooked French food,</i>
<i>after apprenticing in France.</i>

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<i>[rhythmic music playing]</i>

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<i>[Stephen] Wow.</i>

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<i>It's like a present.</i>

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<i>[Martin] Oh, yeah.</i>

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<i>[Stephen] So, what is this dish? </i>

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<i>So, this is a braised rabbit,</i>

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<i>and wood-roasted carrots</i>
<i>over toasted Midlands grits,</i>

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<i>with Madeira mounted with beurre manié.</i>

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<i>So, definitely an ode to James Hemings.</i>

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<i>The relation to Hemings</i>
<i>would be the pan sauce itself,</i>

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<i>using his knowledge of the stew stove</i>
<i>that he brought back with him from France,</i>

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<i>and being able</i>
<i>to mount sauces with butter,</i>

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<i>or handling delicate cream</i>
<i>and butter sauces.</i>

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<i>Mmm.</i>

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<i>I love it.</i>

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<i>So when Hemings returns from France,</i>

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<i>he's using the stew stove to cook.</i>

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<i>[Brian] The stew stove</i>
<i>that Hemings brought back from France</i>

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<i>was kind of a segue into what we have now.</i>

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<i>-[Stephen] Got it.</i>
<i>-[Brian] It's like…</i>

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<i>If they didn't bring that back,</i>
<i>we'd be in big trouble.</i>

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<i>[Martin] We don't have one</i>
<i>in the restaurant,</i>

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<i>but, uh, we kind of simulate it,</i>

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<i>basically keeping whatever you're cooking</i>
<i>away from direct, high heat.</i>

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<i>[diners chattering]</i>

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<i>How have people received,</i>
<i>uh, these dinners?</i>

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<i>I think everybody that's attended</i>
<i>the dinners has responded really well.</i>

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<i>Some people that read about the dinner,</i>
<i>that didn't attend,</i>

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<i>didn't think it was so cool.</i>

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<i>You know, it's a touchy subject,</i>

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<i>and lots of people don't wanna hear</i>
<i>other people talk about it. So…</i>

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<i>Why is that, you think?</i>

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<i>Americans are like ostriches.</i>

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<i>Like, they stick their head in the sand</i>
<i>and pretend that everything is okay.</i>

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<i>We're not guilty of anything,</i>
<i>sitting here, you know?</i>

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<i>It's…</i>

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<i>We're making progress,</i>
<i>and people just need to know.</i>

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<i>People need the facts,</i>

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<i>and they can make</i>
<i>their opinions themselves.</i>

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<i>[melodic guitar music playing]</i>

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<i>[Stephen] Our finale, first of all,</i>
<i>looks really complicated,</i>

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<i>um, but what is this dish?</i>

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<i>It's a variation on one of two dishes</i>

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00:10:06,001 --> 00:10:08,503
<i>that we know of</i>
<i>attributed to James Hemings.</i>

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00:10:08,587 --> 00:10:09,671
<i>This is a snow egg.</i>

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<i>It's basically a creme anglaise,</i>
<i>or ice cream custard,</i>

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<i>with a poached egg white.</i>

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<i>-It's a beautiful dish.</i>
<i>-[Stephen] It's really beautiful.</i>

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<i>Yeah.</i>

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<i>[guitar music continues]</i>

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<i>[Brian] Mm-hmm.</i>

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<i>-Yum.</i>
<i>-[Brian] This is your best batch yet.</i>

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<i>Mm-hmm.</i>

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<i>[Stephen] Wow.</i>

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<i>Cool custard.</i>

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<i>Not too sweet.</i>

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<i>-I love the pomegranates for texture.</i>
<i>-[Martin] Right.</i>

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<i>[Stephen] Such a pleasure to eat.</i>

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<i>[overlapping chatter]</i>

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<i>What is it about the legacy</i>
<i>of these two chefs</i>

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{\an8}<i>that makes you compelled</i>
<i>to want to keep their work alive?</i>

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{\an8}<i>[Martin] I can probably name you</i>
<i>only a handful</i>

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<i>of other Black chefs in general,</i>

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<i>let alone ones that made</i>
<i>such a significant impact</i>

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<i>on the way we eat.</i>

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<i>So, it's important as a Black person</i>
<i>just to be able to tell their story.</i>

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<i>Unarguably, these two guys</i>

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<i>were two of the most important chefs</i>
<i>in American history,</i>

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<i>and they've never gotten </i>
<i>any credit for it.</i>

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<i>And, you know, as enthusiasts and chefs,</i>

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<i>we feel like it's kind of our duty,</i>
<i>now that we've dove in, to keep it going.</i>

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<i>[soft instrumental music playing]</i>

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<i>[chatting indistinctly]</i>

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<i>[Stephen] </i>Both Hercules and James Hemings
were enslaved on plantations in Virginia.

186
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{\an8}<i>My obsession with origins took me</i>
<i>to the state's Blue Ridge mountains,</i>

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{\an8}<i>where Thomas Jefferson built his home</i>
<i>on a sprawling estate he named Monticello.</i>

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<i>James Hemings came to Monticello</i>
<i>when he was nine years old</i>

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<i>with his family,</i>

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<i>including his younger sister,</i>
<i>Sally Hemings,</i>

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<i>who would later bear</i>
<i>at least six of Jefferson's children.</i>

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<i>[woman]</i>
<i>Monticello was a very large plantation.</i>

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00:11:58,530 --> 00:12:02,576
{\an8}<i>Jefferson enslaved</i>
<i>607 people during his lifetime,</i>

194
00:12:02,659 --> 00:12:05,495
{\an8}<i>and 400 of those people</i>
<i>would've been on this plantation.</i>

195
00:12:06,663 --> 00:12:10,542
<i>[Stephen] Do we have any sense of what</i>
<i>enslaved people would have been eating?</i>

196
00:12:10,625 --> 00:12:13,378
<i>[Niya] Yeah. Jefferson was</i>
<i>a very meticulous record keeper.</i>

197
00:12:13,462 --> 00:12:16,256
<i>We have over 65,000 documents</i>
<i>with information</i>

198
00:12:16,339 --> 00:12:18,467
<i>-about this enslaved community.</i>
<i>-[Stephen] Wow.</i>

199
00:12:18,550 --> 00:12:22,888
<i>We know that Jefferson is only giving</i>
<i>meager rations for the enslaved community,</i>

200
00:12:22,971 --> 00:12:24,347
<i>so they had to grow gardens</i>

201
00:12:24,431 --> 00:12:27,309
<i>and they had to trap and hunt</i>
<i>to supplement their diet.</i>

202
00:12:28,435 --> 00:12:30,645
<i>[Stephen] So, James Hemings comes here</i>
<i>as a little boy?</i>

203
00:12:30,729 --> 00:12:34,065
<i>[Niya] That's right. James Hemings </i>
<i>comes here as part of an inheritance.</i>

204
00:12:34,149 --> 00:12:35,901
<i>He's Sally Hemings' older brother.</i>

205
00:12:35,984 --> 00:12:38,278
<i>And so they would have come here</i>
<i>as a family unit,</i>

206
00:12:38,361 --> 00:12:40,697
<i>along with members</i>
<i>of their extended family,</i>

207
00:12:40,781 --> 00:12:43,283
<i>to begin the work</i>
<i>that Jefferson set out for them.</i>

208
00:12:44,326 --> 00:12:46,286
<i>[Stephen] And at what point in his life</i>

209
00:12:46,369 --> 00:12:49,831
<i>does Jefferson decide</i>
<i>that he's well-suited for the kitchen?</i>

210
00:12:49,915 --> 00:12:51,833
<i>James was first</i>
<i>a body servant and a valet,</i>

211
00:12:51,917 --> 00:12:55,462
<i>and Jefferson is starting to identify</i>
<i>those traits within him that would,</i>

212
00:12:56,046 --> 00:12:57,672
<i>um, work well in the kitchen.</i>

213
00:12:58,256 --> 00:13:01,510
<i>And so when Jefferson serves</i>
<i>as a foreign minister in France,</i>

214
00:13:01,593 --> 00:13:03,804
<i>he takes 19-year-old Hemings with him</i>

215
00:13:03,887 --> 00:13:06,306
<i>and has him trained</i>
<i>in the art of French cooking.</i>

216
00:13:07,682 --> 00:13:10,602
<i>So, Jefferson has</i>
<i>kind of an outsized reputation</i>

217
00:13:10,685 --> 00:13:13,814
<i>as one of the nation's</i>
<i>first foodies or food lovers.</i>

218
00:13:13,897 --> 00:13:16,358
<i>[Niya] Jefferson is a man</i>
<i>who's got ambitious ideas</i>

219
00:13:16,441 --> 00:13:18,151
<i>about what it means to be American.</i>

220
00:13:18,235 --> 00:13:21,571
<i>And he does that in the architecture,</i>
<i>he does it with his design,</i>

221
00:13:21,655 --> 00:13:23,532
<i>and he does it especially through food.</i>

222
00:13:23,615 --> 00:13:25,951
<i>If you'd come to Monticello,</i>

223
00:13:26,034 --> 00:13:30,247
<i>you would get what has been described</i>
<i>as half-Virginian, half-French cuisine.</i>

224
00:13:30,330 --> 00:13:32,374
<i>Most Virginians hadn't been to France.</i>

225
00:13:32,457 --> 00:13:35,877
<i>Right? They hadn't had</i>
<i>these more delicate sauces</i>

226
00:13:35,961 --> 00:13:38,338
<i>and fine dishes</i>
<i>being served here at Monticello.</i>

227
00:13:38,421 --> 00:13:40,173
<i>[solemn classical music plays]</i>

228
00:13:40,257 --> 00:13:42,425
<i>[Stephen]</i>
<i>When James Hemings gets back from Paris,</i>

229
00:13:42,509 --> 00:13:44,553
<i>what is the deal he negotiates</i>
<i>with Jefferson?</i>

230
00:13:44,636 --> 00:13:48,098
<i>[Niya] So when they come back from Paris,</i>
<i>they go to Philadelphia.</i>

231
00:13:48,181 --> 00:13:51,685
<i>And James is working as a chef</i>
<i>there in Jefferson's household.</i>

232
00:13:51,768 --> 00:13:54,563
<i>Philadelphia has</i>
<i>a large free Black population.</i>

233
00:13:54,646 --> 00:13:57,899
<i>Um, and James ultimately decides</i>
<i>that he does want his freedom,</i>

234
00:13:57,983 --> 00:13:59,484
<i>and he negotiates with Jefferson.</i>

235
00:13:59,568 --> 00:14:03,864
<i>And Jefferson's response is,</i>
<i>"Well, I've spent a great deal of money</i>

236
00:14:03,947 --> 00:14:07,576
<i>having you trained to prepare</i>
<i>the food that I want served at my house.</i>

237
00:14:07,659 --> 00:14:11,329
<i>The only way you can have your freedom</i>
<i>is if you train someone else."</i>

238
00:14:11,413 --> 00:14:13,456
<i>And ultimately</i>
<i>that's James' younger brother.</i>

239
00:14:13,540 --> 00:14:16,960
<i>And so the key to his freedom</i>
<i>is that he returns to Monticello,</i>

240
00:14:17,043 --> 00:14:19,379
<i>trains his brother</i>
<i>to replace him in the kitchen</i>

241
00:14:19,462 --> 00:14:20,964
<i>before he can have that freedom.</i>

242
00:14:23,174 --> 00:14:24,801
<i>[solemn music continues]</i>

243
00:14:25,886 --> 00:14:28,680
<i>[Stephen] </i>The kitchen where
James Hemings trained his brother Peter 

244
00:14:28,763 --> 00:14:32,017
<i>was</i>, <i>to my surprise, </i>
<i>still a working situation.</i>

245
00:14:32,767 --> 00:14:36,521
<i>And it was here that he popularized</i>
<i>foods like French fries,</i>

246
00:14:36,605 --> 00:14:39,941
<i>ice cream, and our country's</i>
<i>much beloved mac and cheese.</i>

247
00:14:40,025 --> 00:14:42,903
<i>[vibrant string music playing]</i>

248
00:14:42,986 --> 00:14:44,821
<i>Before we get into the mac and cheese,</i>

249
00:14:44,905 --> 00:14:47,866
<i>can you kind of orient me</i>
<i>around the kitchen</i>

250
00:14:47,949 --> 00:14:50,744
<i>about how things would have worked</i>
<i>in the 18th century?</i>

251
00:14:50,827 --> 00:14:52,412
{\an8}<i>In this kitchen,</i>

252
00:14:52,495 --> 00:14:57,250
{\an8}<i>the hearth is the main scene</i>
<i>that's happening.</i>

253
00:14:57,334 --> 00:15:00,503
<i>It's a place</i>
<i>where there would have been fire always,</i>

254
00:15:00,587 --> 00:15:02,339
<i>so you could do oven baking,</i>

255
00:15:02,422 --> 00:15:05,216
<i>um, so that you could roast meat</i>
<i>right in front of it.</i>

256
00:15:05,300 --> 00:15:07,385
<i>So, it's really the heart of the kitchen.</i>

257
00:15:10,597 --> 00:15:14,684
<i>And then you have this masonry unit</i>
<i>called a stew stove.</i>

258
00:15:14,768 --> 00:15:21,483
<i>They're made especially to be efficient</i>
<i>for creams, sauces, delicate frying.</i>

259
00:15:24,486 --> 00:15:26,154
<i>[Stephen] What are we making today?</i>

260
00:15:26,237 --> 00:15:30,659
<i>We are going to make macaroni pie,</i>
<i>is what they would have called it then.</i>

261
00:15:32,786 --> 00:15:35,080
<i>We, of course, call it mac and cheese.</i>

262
00:15:35,163 --> 00:15:40,627
<i>The standard, yummy dish</i>
<i>that we all love has a really old history.</i>

263
00:15:42,295 --> 00:15:44,297
<i>[gentle, bright music playing]</i>

264
00:15:48,385 --> 00:15:50,095
<i>[Stephen] You've got the noodles going.</i>

265
00:15:50,178 --> 00:15:52,847
<i>[Dr. Sorensen] Yes. </i>
<i>And in this particular recipe,</i>

266
00:15:52,931 --> 00:15:55,392
<i>we want to cook them well,</i>
<i>we want them tender,</i>

267
00:15:55,475 --> 00:15:58,478
<i>and they are being cooked </i>
<i>in half milk, half water,</i>

268
00:15:58,561 --> 00:16:04,234
<i>which is an interesting combination</i>
<i>that is very, very effective.</i>

269
00:16:08,905 --> 00:16:11,950
<i>-It already smells like mac and cheese…</i>
<i>-[Stephen] Absolutely.</i>

270
00:16:12,033 --> 00:16:13,952
<i>-…and that's because of the milk in it.</i>

271
00:16:18,957 --> 00:16:19,874
<i>Uh,</i>

272
00:16:21,084 --> 00:16:24,254
<i>a layer of the macaroni.</i>

273
00:16:24,337 --> 00:16:26,506
<i>You're going to layer your butter.</i>

274
00:16:26,589 --> 00:16:29,592
<i>And of course,</i>
<i>you could never use too much butter.</i>

275
00:16:29,676 --> 00:16:32,846
<i>[Stephen] So, how is it</i>
<i>that mac and cheese became ubiquitous,</i>

276
00:16:32,929 --> 00:16:34,472
<i>uh, through this kitchen?</i>

277
00:16:34,973 --> 00:16:38,810
<i>Well, it started, probably,</i>
<i>in this kitchen with James,</i>

278
00:16:38,893 --> 00:16:40,061
<i>but he passed it on,</i>

279
00:16:40,145 --> 00:16:43,565
<i>and it passed on through generations</i>
<i>of cooks who had cooked here.</i>

280
00:16:43,648 --> 00:16:49,404
<i>We know that Jefferson bought</i>
<i>pounds of raw macaroni</i>

281
00:16:49,487 --> 00:16:52,282
<i>six months before his death in 1826,</i>

282
00:16:52,365 --> 00:16:57,037
<i>so it must have been</i>
<i>a well-loved dish here.</i>

283
00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:03,543
<i>And it's hard to know sometimes</i>
<i>how food styles do and accrue,</i>

284
00:17:03,626 --> 00:17:07,714
<i>but James probably learned it in France.</i>

285
00:17:09,049 --> 00:17:10,216
<i>[Stephen] Smells great.</i>

286
00:17:11,051 --> 00:17:14,304
<i>[Dr. Sorensen] So we're gonna put it</i>
<i>in a Dutch oven.</i>

287
00:17:15,180 --> 00:17:18,058
<i>To sit on these very hard, hot bricks.</i>

288
00:17:24,189 --> 00:17:25,190
<i>Macaroni.</i>

289
00:17:29,402 --> 00:17:31,696
<i>Then we're going to put our lid.</i>

290
00:17:33,281 --> 00:17:35,200
<i>And we're going to add…</i>

291
00:17:38,369 --> 00:17:40,121
<i>-coals…</i>
<i>-Oh, okay.</i>

292
00:17:40,205 --> 00:17:44,667
<i>…to the top of this pan</i>
<i>so that the heat can</i>

293
00:17:46,086 --> 00:17:48,254
<i>bake all the way around.</i>

294
00:17:52,425 --> 00:17:55,678
<i>So, how dangerous was it</i>
<i>to do open-hearth cooking at that time?</i>

295
00:17:55,762 --> 00:17:57,055
<i>[Dr. Sorensen] Pretty dangerous.</i>

296
00:17:57,138 --> 00:17:58,890
<i>You know the old saw,</i>

297
00:17:58,973 --> 00:18:01,267
<i>"If you don't like the heat,</i>
<i>get out of the kitchen"?</i>

298
00:18:01,351 --> 00:18:03,937
<i>-[Stephen] Sure.</i>
<i>-There's that. It was always hot.</i>

299
00:18:04,020 --> 00:18:06,147
<i>The dangers, of course, are from burns.</i>

300
00:18:06,231 --> 00:18:09,067
<i>Women wore long clothing.</i>

301
00:18:09,150 --> 00:18:12,153
<i>Being burned</i>
<i>from their clothing catching on fire</i>

302
00:18:12,237 --> 00:18:13,696
<i>could really be a problem.</i>

303
00:18:13,780 --> 00:18:15,698
<i>[gentle music playing]</i>

304
00:18:25,416 --> 00:18:27,293
<i>[Stephen] All right, think it's ready?</i>

305
00:18:27,377 --> 00:18:28,920
<i>-Let's go. Okay. </i>
<i>-All right.</i>

306
00:18:29,003 --> 00:18:31,714
<i>So, our… pothook.</i>

307
00:18:32,215 --> 00:18:37,178
<i>We're going to, again,</i>
<i>lifting straight up and over.</i>

308
00:18:38,054 --> 00:18:39,472
<i>Oh, it's sizzling!</i>

309
00:18:39,556 --> 00:18:40,807
<i>[Stephen] It's beautiful.</i>

310
00:18:48,815 --> 00:18:50,191
<i>-[woman] Hi!</i>
<i>-[Stephen] Hi, Gayle.</i>

311
00:18:50,275 --> 00:18:52,485
<i>Wow. Look at that, that looks great.</i>

312
00:18:52,569 --> 00:18:54,237
<i>-Looks so good.</i>
<i>-[Dr. Sorensen] More butter.</i>

313
00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:55,822
<i>We've been making mac and cheese,</i>

314
00:18:55,905 --> 00:18:58,741
<i>and I understand that you are</i>
<i>a descendant of the Hemings.</i>

315
00:18:58,825 --> 00:19:00,243
<i>I am.</i>

316
00:19:00,326 --> 00:19:03,705
{\an8}<i>I am related to the entire Hemings family.</i>

317
00:19:03,788 --> 00:19:06,541
{\an8}<i>James Hemings would've been</i>
<i>my great-great-great-great uncle.</i>

318
00:19:06,624 --> 00:19:09,669
<i>His brother Peter was</i>
<i>my great-great-great grandfather.</i>

319
00:19:09,752 --> 00:19:13,006
<i>And so, I feel a special relationship</i>
<i>to this mac and cheese.</i>

320
00:19:13,089 --> 00:19:15,466
<i>-[Stephen] Rightfully so.</i>
<i>-[women chuckle]</i>

321
00:19:15,550 --> 00:19:17,927
<i>So you must have grown up</i>
<i>eating mac and cheese.</i>

322
00:19:18,011 --> 00:19:19,220
<i>We all did, didn't we?</i>

323
00:19:19,304 --> 00:19:20,722
<i>-Yeah, we all did, right?</i>
<i>-Yeah.</i>

324
00:19:20,805 --> 00:19:23,474
<i>And so, how did it feel once you realized</i>

325
00:19:23,558 --> 00:19:26,936
<i>that you were a descendant</i>
<i>of the person, or the family</i>

326
00:19:27,020 --> 00:19:28,938
<i>that helped popularize</i>
<i>this dish in the US?</i>

327
00:19:29,022 --> 00:19:31,900
<i>Well, first of all,</i>
<i>I didn't grow up with that knowledge.</i>

328
00:19:31,983 --> 00:19:34,485
<i>I didn't learn that until recently.</i>

329
00:19:34,569 --> 00:19:37,405
<i>And now that I know that,</i>
<i>I'm wondering where my royalties are.</i>

330
00:19:37,488 --> 00:19:38,823
<i>[all laughing]</i>

331
00:19:38,907 --> 00:19:39,908
<i>[Dr. Sorensen] Thank you.</i>

332
00:19:39,991 --> 00:19:42,952
<i>-We're all wondering that, actually.</i>
<i>-[all chuckle]</i>

333
00:19:43,036 --> 00:19:47,498
<i>[Gayle] Beyond that, listen,</i>
<i>it's really an honor.</i>

334
00:19:47,582 --> 00:19:50,251
<i>I'm lucky enough to know that history,</i>

335
00:19:50,835 --> 00:19:55,673
<i>but every Black American has</i>
<i>something like that in their backgrounds.</i>

336
00:19:55,757 --> 00:19:57,550
<i>They just don't know it.</i>

337
00:19:57,634 --> 00:19:59,219
<i>So, I'm honored, I'm privileged,</i>

338
00:19:59,302 --> 00:20:01,471
<i>and I can't wait</i>
<i>to taste this mac and cheese.</i>

339
00:20:02,180 --> 00:20:04,766
<i>-[Dr. Sorensen] If you will hand me…</i>
<i>-[Stephen] So good.</i>

340
00:20:04,849 --> 00:20:07,018
<i>-…our tasting dishes…</i>
<i>-[Gayle] Oh, boy.</i>

341
00:20:07,101 --> 00:20:09,562
<i>-…we will indulge ourselves.</i>

342
00:20:09,646 --> 00:20:11,064
<i>[Gayle] I'm so excited.</i>

343
00:20:14,734 --> 00:20:16,194
<i>[Stephen] Wow, looks so good.</i>

344
00:20:16,277 --> 00:20:17,612
<i>[Gayle] It does look good.</i>

345
00:20:22,909 --> 00:20:25,078
<i>-Mmm.</i>
<i>-[Gayle] Oh, it's so rich. Mmm.</i>

346
00:20:25,161 --> 00:20:27,372
<i>-[Stephen] Wow.</i>
<i>-[Dr. Sorensen] Mm-hmm.</i>

347
00:20:27,455 --> 00:20:28,748
<i>[Stephen] So creamy, too.</i>

348
00:20:28,831 --> 00:20:31,542
<i>And how old is this recipe, Leni?</i>

349
00:20:31,626 --> 00:20:33,253
<i>-Two hundred years old.</i>
<i>-[Stephen] Whoa!</i>

350
00:20:33,336 --> 00:20:35,088
<i>And probably older.</i>

351
00:20:35,171 --> 00:20:37,006
<i>Wow. You know what I love?</i>

352
00:20:37,090 --> 00:20:38,967
<i>Since you cooked it in the milk,</i>

353
00:20:39,050 --> 00:20:40,718
<i>there's a silkiness,</i>

354
00:20:40,802 --> 00:20:42,470
<i>a luxuriousness on the noodle.</i>

355
00:20:42,553 --> 00:20:44,973
<i>I'll have to cook mac and cheese</i>
<i>this way from now on.</i>

356
00:20:45,056 --> 00:20:49,352
<i>Yeah, no, I have begun doing that,</i>
<i>and I love it. I really love it.</i>

357
00:20:50,478 --> 00:20:53,356
<i>So, Gayle, what do you think</i>
<i>your ancestors would think</i>

358
00:20:53,439 --> 00:20:56,567
<i>about the fact that this dish</i>
<i>has become so popular?</i>

359
00:20:56,651 --> 00:20:57,568
<i>[Gayle] Gosh.</i>

360
00:20:58,528 --> 00:21:01,698
<i>Well, I'll tell you how I think about it.</i>

361
00:21:01,781 --> 00:21:04,450
<i>I'm kind of just blown away by the idea</i>

362
00:21:04,534 --> 00:21:07,620
<i>that my ancestors helped originate</i>

363
00:21:07,704 --> 00:21:11,624
<i>this dish in the United States of America,</i>
<i>which has become an American staple.</i>

364
00:21:12,750 --> 00:21:15,503
<i>I'm proud of the stamina they had,</i>

365
00:21:15,586 --> 00:21:19,173
<i>the determination they had,</i>
<i>the character they had.</i>

366
00:21:19,716 --> 00:21:21,843
<i>I don't think anyone can imagine</i>

367
00:21:21,926 --> 00:21:25,179
<i>what it would have been like</i>
<i>to live under those circumstances,</i>

368
00:21:25,263 --> 00:21:28,725
<i>knowing that you would never be free.</i>

369
00:21:29,434 --> 00:21:32,937
<i>And they survived and then some.</i>

370
00:21:34,522 --> 00:21:36,774
<i>Because I'm standing here today.</i>

371
00:21:36,858 --> 00:21:39,027
<i>-We're standing here today…</i>
<i>-[Dr. Sorensen] Mm-hmm.</i>

372
00:21:39,110 --> 00:21:42,030
<i>…and I get so emotional about this,</i>
<i>because of them,</i>

373
00:21:42,113 --> 00:21:43,781
<i>because of their strength.</i>

374
00:21:43,865 --> 00:21:45,158
<i>We stand on their shoulders.</i>

375
00:21:45,241 --> 00:21:47,410
<i>This is nice, I like mac and cheese.</i>

376
00:21:47,493 --> 00:21:48,870
<i>We can use it as a symbol,</i>

377
00:21:48,953 --> 00:21:51,122
<i>but let's think</i>
<i>of who those people really were,</i>

378
00:21:51,205 --> 00:21:53,833
<i>their strength,</i>
<i>their character, their endurance.</i>

379
00:21:53,916 --> 00:21:55,752
<i>So, yeah, I'm super proud.</i>

380
00:21:57,378 --> 00:22:00,340
<i>Not just because I'm descended from them,</i>

381
00:22:00,423 --> 00:22:03,843
<i>but because they represent the very best</i>

382
00:22:03,926 --> 00:22:05,595
<i>of the United States of America.</i>

383
00:22:05,678 --> 00:22:07,680
<i>[classical music playing]</i>

384
00:22:09,932 --> 00:22:11,184
<i>[Stephen] </i>Leaving Monticello,

385
00:22:11,267 --> 00:22:13,603
<i>I thought a lot</i>
<i>about what it must have been like</i>

386
00:22:13,686 --> 00:22:16,564
<i>for James Hemings to train his own brother</i>

387
00:22:16,647 --> 00:22:18,149
<i>in exchange for his freedom,</i>

388
00:22:18,983 --> 00:22:21,903
{\an8}<i>and what his life</i>
<i>must have been like afterwards.</i>

389
00:22:23,279 --> 00:22:24,989
<i>So, what happens to Hemings?</i>

390
00:22:25,823 --> 00:22:29,911
<i>[Adrian] So Hemings teaches not only</i>
<i>his brother Peter, but others,</i>

391
00:22:29,994 --> 00:22:32,163
{\an8}<i>at Monticello how to cook.</i>

392
00:22:32,246 --> 00:22:34,040
{\an8}<i>And then he's freed.</i>

393
00:22:36,876 --> 00:22:38,961
<i>He goes off to Philadelphia,</i>

394
00:22:39,045 --> 00:22:41,297
<i>and then eventually</i>
<i>he makes his way to Baltimore.</i>

395
00:22:43,091 --> 00:22:45,134
<i>What happens to him in Baltimore?</i>

396
00:22:45,218 --> 00:22:48,721
<i>[Adrian] He's either a caterer </i>
<i>or a restaurateur in Baltimore,</i>

397
00:22:48,805 --> 00:22:49,889
<i>stays there for a while,</i>

398
00:22:49,972 --> 00:22:53,518
<i>and then ultimately,</i>
<i>Jefferson gets news that he dies.</i>

399
00:22:53,601 --> 00:22:55,228
<i>He drinks himself to death.</i>

400
00:22:57,647 --> 00:23:01,609
<i>Now, some historians argue</i>
<i>about whether that happened or not,</i>

401
00:23:01,692 --> 00:23:05,154
<i>if it was suicide or just</i>
<i>an accidental drinking himself to death,</i>

402
00:23:05,238 --> 00:23:07,115
<i>but he ultimately ended up dying.</i>

403
00:23:10,284 --> 00:23:13,663
<i>I'm convinced that he would have been</i>
<i>Jefferson's White House chef</i>

404
00:23:13,746 --> 00:23:17,834
<i>had he stayed alive a few months longer.</i>
<i>I think he would have made a play for him.</i>

405
00:23:17,917 --> 00:23:20,128
<i>He had invested so much in Hemings</i>

406
00:23:20,211 --> 00:23:23,256
<i>and really respected his talent,</i>
<i>and loved his food.</i>

407
00:23:24,507 --> 00:23:27,593
<i>[Stephen] So, this is a Virginia ham, </i>
<i>of course.</i>

408
00:23:27,677 --> 00:23:29,637
<i>Is this something</i>
<i>that would have been served</i>

409
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,765
<i>to Jefferson and Washington</i>
<i>by their enslaved chefs?</i>

410
00:23:32,849 --> 00:23:37,478
<i>Absolutely. So, Virginia hams are famous</i>
<i>in their time, as well as now.</i>

411
00:23:37,562 --> 00:23:40,815
<i>And when a president entertained,</i>
<i>they wanted to show the very best</i>

412
00:23:40,898 --> 00:23:43,192
<i>of what they had to offer</i>
<i>from their home state,</i>

413
00:23:43,276 --> 00:23:45,403
<i>and Virginia hams</i>
<i>had that kind of reputation.</i>

414
00:23:45,486 --> 00:23:48,072
<i>-Mm-hmm.</i>
<i>-[Adrian] In addition to Virginia hams,</i>

415
00:23:48,156 --> 00:23:51,534
<i>you could have had beef, fish,</i>
<i>other kind of well-regarded dish,</i>

416
00:23:51,617 --> 00:23:54,745
<i>but certainly Virginia ham</i>
<i>had celebrity status.</i>

417
00:23:54,829 --> 00:23:56,330
<i>Well, should we try some?</i>

418
00:23:56,414 --> 00:23:58,040
<i>-[Adrian] Absolutely!</i>
<i>-All right.</i>

419
00:24:09,719 --> 00:24:10,553
<i>[Adrian] Nice.</i>

420
00:24:10,636 --> 00:24:12,930
<i>-Good stuff, right?</i>
<i>-That's what I'm talking about.</i>

421
00:24:13,431 --> 00:24:16,726
<i>[Stephen] So, Hercules,</i>
<i>who is Washington's enslaved chef.</i>

422
00:24:16,809 --> 00:24:18,811
<i>What ends up happening with him?</i>

423
00:24:19,228 --> 00:24:22,356
<i>[Adrian] There's indications</i>
<i>that towards the end of his second term,</i>

424
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:26,360
<i>Washington does start to suspect</i>
<i>that Hercules might try to escape.</i>

425
00:24:26,444 --> 00:24:28,905
<i>He actually sends Hercules</i>
<i>back to Mount Vernon.</i>

426
00:24:28,988 --> 00:24:33,367
<i>There are records that he's actually doing</i>
<i>hard labor in the fields at Mount Vernon.</i>

427
00:24:33,451 --> 00:24:34,785
<i>Hercules wants to be free.</i>

428
00:24:34,869 --> 00:24:38,122
<i>So, he waits</i>
<i>until Washington's 65th birthday.</i>

429
00:24:38,206 --> 00:24:40,208
<i>There was a big celebration planned,</i>

430
00:24:40,291 --> 00:24:43,169
<i>and while all that was going on,</i>
<i>he disappears.</i>

431
00:24:43,252 --> 00:24:47,173
<i>Washington, who had a volcanic temper,</i>
<i>was really upset about this.</i>

432
00:24:47,256 --> 00:24:48,883
<i>He's writing letters to associates.</i>

433
00:24:48,966 --> 00:24:51,677
<i>He's just trying to find out</i>
<i>Hercules' whereabouts,</i>

434
00:24:51,761 --> 00:24:54,639
<i>even a year after Hercules escapes.</i>

435
00:24:54,722 --> 00:24:56,390
<i>They just never catch up to him.</i>

436
00:24:56,474 --> 00:25:00,686
<i>It's really not until 1801,</i>
<i>the same year that Hemings dies,</i>

437
00:25:00,770 --> 00:25:04,982
<i>that Hercules is spotted in New York City</i>
<i>by the Mayor of New York City,</i>

438
00:25:05,066 --> 00:25:07,109
<i>who used to work with Washington.</i>

439
00:25:07,193 --> 00:25:09,028
<i>And he alerts Martha Washington,</i>

440
00:25:09,111 --> 00:25:11,572
<i>because Washington had already died</i>
<i>by this point,</i>

441
00:25:11,656 --> 00:25:15,159
<i>about Hercules' whereabouts,</i>
<i>but that's the last we hear of Hercules.</i>

442
00:25:16,577 --> 00:25:19,038
<i>[Stephen] We don't know </i>
<i>what happens to Hercules,</i>

443
00:25:19,121 --> 00:25:21,582
<i>but there is</i>
<i>some recent evidence that suggests</i>

444
00:25:21,666 --> 00:25:23,209
<i>that he was here in New York City?</i>

445
00:25:23,292 --> 00:25:28,381
<i>Right, so thanks to some dogged research</i>
<i>by a crack genealogist and some others,</i>

446
00:25:28,464 --> 00:25:31,092
<i>we find out</i>
<i>that Hercules was in New York City,</i>

447
00:25:31,175 --> 00:25:36,013
<i>he took on the name of his previous</i>
<i>slaveholder before Washington,</i>

448
00:25:36,097 --> 00:25:37,431
<i>a guy named John Posey.</i>

449
00:25:37,515 --> 00:25:39,433
<i>So he called himself Hercules Posey.</i>

450
00:25:39,517 --> 00:25:42,520
<i>We know that he lived</i>
<i>in various places in New York,</i>

451
00:25:42,603 --> 00:25:45,815
<i>and was listed as a cook and a laborer,</i>

452
00:25:45,898 --> 00:25:50,069
<i>and he ends up dying on May 15,</i>
<i>1812 of consumption,</i>

453
00:25:50,152 --> 00:25:52,989
<i>which is what we would call</i>
<i>tuberculosis to this day.</i>

454
00:25:53,072 --> 00:25:57,243
<i>So his remains are believed</i>
<i>buried somewhere in New York City.</i>

455
00:25:57,326 --> 00:25:58,953
<i>We don't know exactly where,</i>

456
00:25:59,036 --> 00:26:01,497
<i>but he did spend his final days</i>
<i>in New York City.</i>

457
00:26:02,039 --> 00:26:04,125
<i>So he's still here with us, somewhere.</i>

458
00:26:04,208 --> 00:26:08,004
<i>[Adrian] He's still here with us, I think</i>
<i>it's a wonderful metaphor for his life,</i>

459
00:26:08,087 --> 00:26:10,673
<i>and also these esteemed</i>
<i>African American cooks,</i>

460
00:26:10,756 --> 00:26:13,342
<i>because in many ways</i>
<i>they're still hiding in plain sight,</i>

461
00:26:13,426 --> 00:26:16,429
<i>not fully accepted, not fully recognized.</i>

462
00:26:16,512 --> 00:26:19,265
<i>And part of our endeavors here</i>

463
00:26:19,348 --> 00:26:22,226
<i>is to really show</i>
<i>their contributions to American cuisine,</i>

464
00:26:22,310 --> 00:26:26,439
<i>and show how much they were foundational</i>
<i>to the foods that we love today.</i>

465
00:26:34,113 --> 00:26:36,824
<i>[Stephen] </i>Hercules was not 
the only culinary legend

466
00:26:36,907 --> 00:26:39,744
<i>whose contributions were lost</i>
<i>to the shadows of New York City.</i>

467
00:26:41,454 --> 00:26:44,999
<i>As I dug further</i>
<i>into food history in the Big Apple,</i>

468
00:26:45,082 --> 00:26:47,710
<i>I discovered that back in the 1800s,</i>

469
00:26:47,793 --> 00:26:49,670
<i>oysters were the biggest game in town.</i>

470
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:54,425
<i>And it was a free Black man</i>
<i>named Thomas Downing</i>

471
00:26:54,508 --> 00:26:57,970
<i>who built an empire</i>
<i>in the heart of Wall Street</i>

472
00:26:58,054 --> 00:27:01,140
<i>and was known</i>
<i>as the oyster king of the city.</i>

473
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:06,062
{\an8}<i>"Recipe for New York Oyster Stew,</i>

474
00:27:06,145 --> 00:27:08,606
{\an8}<i>circa 1826, for Thomas Downing."</i>

475
00:27:09,899 --> 00:27:11,484
<i>[Stephen] </i>My friend, chef Omar Tate,

476
00:27:11,567 --> 00:27:15,196
<i>has dedicated</i>
<i>his craft and art to Thomas Downing</i>

477
00:27:15,279 --> 00:27:18,115
<i>and other Black entrepreneurs</i>
<i>of the Mid-Atlantic states.</i>

478
00:27:20,534 --> 00:27:23,663
<i>[Omar] "Made from hand-gathered oysters,</i>
<i>as many as one can carry.</i>

479
00:27:23,746 --> 00:27:25,539
<i>Sea salt and lime and mineral deposits</i>

480
00:27:25,623 --> 00:27:27,917
<i>displayed high as the galoshes</i>
<i>and then some.</i>

481
00:27:29,251 --> 00:27:31,087
<i>Cook time, several moons.</i>

482
00:27:34,090 --> 00:27:35,925
<i>Add cream and allow it to reduce.</i>

483
00:27:36,008 --> 00:27:39,136
<i>Reduce it 'til there's nothing but brown.</i>
<i>Rich and plenty.</i>

484
00:27:39,220 --> 00:27:41,722
<i>Until it reduces and it's no longer white.</i>

485
00:27:41,806 --> 00:27:43,391
<i>Until it reduces your suffering.</i>

486
00:27:43,474 --> 00:27:46,268
<i>Until it reduces the time between</i>
<i>when you last saw your wife,</i>

487
00:27:46,352 --> 00:27:47,853
<i>children, mother.</i>

488
00:27:47,937 --> 00:27:49,980
<i>Reduce it down, slow, patient.</i>

489
00:27:53,651 --> 00:27:54,485
<i>Pro tip.</i>

490
00:27:55,069 --> 00:27:56,278
<i>Watch carefully.</i>

491
00:27:56,362 --> 00:27:58,197
<i>Cream rises and spills over.</i>

492
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:00,324
<i>Serve hot, immediately."</i>

493
00:28:04,578 --> 00:28:06,872
<i>[Stephen] For the last ten years or so,</i>

494
00:28:06,956 --> 00:28:09,917
<i>you've been cooking</i>
<i>in some of the best restaurants</i>

495
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:11,293
<i>in New York and Philly.</i>

496
00:28:11,877 --> 00:28:14,880
<i>So, what's, kind of,</i>
<i>your mission as a chef?</i>

497
00:28:14,964 --> 00:28:17,383
<i>I label myself as Black heritage cooking,</i>

498
00:28:17,466 --> 00:28:20,386
<i>and I'm trying to de-frame what it is,</i>

499
00:28:20,469 --> 00:28:23,514
<i>as African Americans,</i>
<i>we can put out there in the food space.</i>

500
00:28:23,597 --> 00:28:28,978
<i>I think oftentimes</i>
<i>when people look at Black foodways,</i>

501
00:28:29,061 --> 00:28:32,565
<i>as a chef, people assume</i>
<i>"Okay, Southern food, fried chicken."</i>

502
00:28:32,648 --> 00:28:34,608
<i>There are many more stories to tell.</i>

503
00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:38,446
<i>[Stephen] One of the explorations</i>

504
00:28:38,529 --> 00:28:41,991
<i>that you've jumped off on</i>
<i>is Thomas Downing.</i>

505
00:28:42,533 --> 00:28:44,535
<i>[folk guitar plays]</i>

506
00:28:45,828 --> 00:28:48,664
<i>[Omar] Thomas Downing was a man</i>
<i>who built up</i>

507
00:28:48,748 --> 00:28:51,709
<i>one of the best oyster restaurants</i>
<i>in New York City on Wall Street</i>

508
00:28:51,792 --> 00:28:53,669
<i>in the 19th century to mid-19th century,</i>

509
00:28:53,753 --> 00:28:58,090
<i>during a time when most African Americans</i>
<i>in this country were still enslaved.</i>

510
00:29:00,050 --> 00:29:04,138
<i>It's just like a phenomenal story</i>
<i>that people don't know about.</i>

511
00:29:04,221 --> 00:29:05,306
<i>[Stephen] As an oyster town,</i>

512
00:29:05,389 --> 00:29:08,225
<i>there's oysters,</i>
<i>you know, piled on the streets,</i>

513
00:29:08,309 --> 00:29:10,352
<i>there's oyster shells on the sidewalk.</i>

514
00:29:10,436 --> 00:29:15,316
<i>We've been using oyster shells to make</i>
<i>some of the mortar for buildings.</i>

515
00:29:15,399 --> 00:29:16,233
<i>[Omar] Yup.</i>

516
00:29:16,317 --> 00:29:19,320
<i>So this is the environment</i>
<i>that Downing walks into, right?</i>

517
00:29:19,403 --> 00:29:22,031
<i>[Omar] Yeah. But he starts out</i>
<i>collecting and harvesting,</i>

518
00:29:22,114 --> 00:29:25,451
<i>and then selling as an individual,</i>

519
00:29:25,534 --> 00:29:27,203
<i>and then builds off of that.</i>

520
00:29:28,037 --> 00:29:29,914
<i>People were selling oysters outside.</i>

521
00:29:30,414 --> 00:29:34,794
<i>So basically, like a hot dog stand</i>
<i>equivalent of the day.</i>

522
00:29:34,877 --> 00:29:36,337
<i>Exactly. Yeah.</i>

523
00:29:36,420 --> 00:29:38,547
<i>I read that, at the time,</i>

524
00:29:38,631 --> 00:29:41,884
<i>New Yorkers, on average,</i>
<i>were eating 600 oysters a year.</i>

525
00:29:41,967 --> 00:29:42,802
<i>[Omar chuckles]</i>

526
00:29:42,885 --> 00:29:46,931
<i>What were they, like,</i>
<i>a half a penny, you know, at that time?</i>

527
00:29:47,014 --> 00:29:48,224
<i>What a luxury.</i>

528
00:29:48,307 --> 00:29:50,935
<i>Well, should we…</i>

529
00:29:51,018 --> 00:29:53,938
<i>-explore the culinary side of your work?</i>
<i>-[Omar laughs]</i>

530
00:29:55,397 --> 00:29:56,982
<i>[lively strings play]</i>

531
00:29:57,066 --> 00:29:59,527
<i>[Omar] I mean, </i>
<i>particularly with this dish, um,</i>

532
00:29:59,610 --> 00:30:03,906
<i>because Thomas Downing is unique</i>
<i>and very specific to the New York story,</i>

533
00:30:03,989 --> 00:30:07,451
<i>I wanted to bring together things specific</i>
<i>and unique to New York in general.</i>

534
00:30:07,535 --> 00:30:10,454
<i>So, this dish,</i>
<i>there are two applications of oysters.</i>

535
00:30:10,538 --> 00:30:13,249
<i>Oyster stew was very popular</i>
<i>in the 19th century.</i>

536
00:30:13,332 --> 00:30:17,253
<i>[Stephen] So, the soup has cream, thyme,</i>

537
00:30:17,336 --> 00:30:18,546
<i>a little bit of…</i>

538
00:30:18,629 --> 00:30:20,923
<i>[Omar] Yeah. Cream, thyme, black pepper,</i>

539
00:30:21,006 --> 00:30:23,175
<i>oyster fat,</i>
<i>which is a very special component.</i>

540
00:30:23,259 --> 00:30:27,555
<i>It's oysters that got poached</i>
<i>at, like, 140 degrees for several hours,</i>

541
00:30:27,638 --> 00:30:32,059
<i>blended until</i>
<i>all the flavors lend itself into the oil.</i>

542
00:30:32,142 --> 00:30:36,397
<i>It's a very clean, pure oyster flavor</i>
<i>that I use to cook the vegetables down in.</i>

543
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,900
<i>The vegetables are</i>
<i>garlic, onion and celery.</i>

544
00:30:39,984 --> 00:30:43,070
<i>So, it's just like</i>
<i>layers of oyster on top of itself.</i>

545
00:30:43,153 --> 00:30:44,655
<i>[Stephen] Oyster on oyster.</i>

546
00:30:44,738 --> 00:30:46,949
<i>All right, well, </i>bon appetit<i> to us.</i>

547
00:30:47,032 --> 00:30:48,158
<i>[Omar] Cheers, man.</i>

548
00:30:49,159 --> 00:30:50,703
<i>-Cheers.</i>
<i>-[laughs]</i>

549
00:30:54,206 --> 00:30:55,082
<i>Oh, wow.</i>

550
00:30:55,165 --> 00:30:56,292
<i>Yeah, what do you think?</i>

551
00:30:56,375 --> 00:30:57,918
<i>It's so good, man.</i>

552
00:30:58,002 --> 00:31:02,298
<i>I really taste</i>
<i>the richness of that oyster fat.</i>

553
00:31:02,381 --> 00:31:06,802
<i>It adds such an intensity</i>
<i>and complexity to the soup.</i>

554
00:31:06,886 --> 00:31:08,512
<i>I'm very happy with this.</i>

555
00:31:08,596 --> 00:31:09,638
<i>-[Omar laughs]</i>
<i>-Right?</i>

556
00:31:09,722 --> 00:31:11,098
<i>This is actually the first time</i>

557
00:31:11,181 --> 00:31:13,434
<i>I'm sitting and eating this</i>
<i>with a person, so… [laughs]</i>

558
00:31:13,517 --> 00:31:15,269
<i>I'm just as excited as you.</i>

559
00:31:19,231 --> 00:31:20,232
<i>Mmm.</i>

560
00:31:20,941 --> 00:31:22,276
<i>I love the apple there.</i>

561
00:31:22,943 --> 00:31:24,570
<i>That's so refreshing to eat.</i>

562
00:31:25,237 --> 00:31:26,280
<i>[Omar] Very good.</i>

563
00:31:26,363 --> 00:31:27,197
<i>Very good.</i>

564
00:31:27,281 --> 00:31:31,452
<i>Mmm. It tastes like limestone</i>
<i>and herbs, and apple.</i>

565
00:31:32,411 --> 00:31:34,914
<i>Let's talk a little bit more</i>
<i>about him as a restaurateur,</i>

566
00:31:34,997 --> 00:31:37,583
<i>-[Omar] Mm-hmm.</i>
<i>-because from what I understand, you know,</i>

567
00:31:37,666 --> 00:31:40,252
<i>obviously there's a lot of oyster taverns</i>
<i>back in the day.</i>

568
00:31:40,336 --> 00:31:43,881
<i>But his restaurant is a place where,</i>

569
00:31:43,964 --> 00:31:47,968
<i>you know, bankers, attorneys,</i>
<i>politicians are all coming to eat.</i>

570
00:31:48,052 --> 00:31:50,971
<i>One hundred percent.</i>
<i>I mean, in my opinion,</i>

571
00:31:51,055 --> 00:31:53,682
<i>Thomas Downing walked</i>
<i>into the dive bar scene and was like,</i>

572
00:31:53,766 --> 00:31:55,809
<i>"We need a cocktail lounge."</i>
<i>Know what I mean?</i>

573
00:31:57,394 --> 00:31:59,480
<i>[Stephen] The story is pretty amazing,</i>

574
00:31:59,563 --> 00:32:03,567
<i>because in the basement</i>
<i>of this extremely fancy restaurant,</i>

575
00:32:03,651 --> 00:32:06,779
<i>Thomas Downing and his son George</i>

576
00:32:06,862 --> 00:32:12,242
<i>are helping to harbor folks</i>
<i>who have run away from slavery.</i>

577
00:32:12,326 --> 00:32:13,160
<i>[Omar] Right.</i>

578
00:32:13,243 --> 00:32:14,912
<i>[Stephen] And the juxtaposition of that</i>

579
00:32:14,995 --> 00:32:18,540
<i>just makes Downing, to me, </i>
<i>one of the iconic--</i>

580
00:32:18,624 --> 00:32:20,042
<i>-He's a superhero.</i>
<i>-Really.</i>

581
00:32:20,125 --> 00:32:21,752
<i>I love that part of his story.</i>

582
00:32:21,835 --> 00:32:25,798
<i>He's able to navigate</i>
<i>those two worlds so seamlessly.</i>

583
00:32:25,881 --> 00:32:28,550
<i>So much so that when he dies,</i>

584
00:32:28,634 --> 00:32:30,928
<i>the Chamber of Commerce</i>
<i>shuts down for the day.</i>

585
00:32:31,011 --> 00:32:32,179
<i>Right.</i>

586
00:32:32,262 --> 00:32:35,224
<i>I mean, the rumor…</i>
<i>There's like 1,000 people at his funeral.</i>

587
00:32:35,307 --> 00:32:36,892
<i>I mean, wow, right?</i>

588
00:32:36,976 --> 00:32:41,271
<i>But why do you feel like it's so important</i>
<i>to keep his work and his legacy alive?</i>

589
00:32:41,897 --> 00:32:44,024
<i>I never had an oyster</i>
<i>until I was 22 years old.</i>

590
00:32:44,108 --> 00:32:44,942
<i>[Stephen] Wow.</i>

591
00:32:45,025 --> 00:32:48,487
<i>[Omar] And I only experienced them</i>
<i>because I became a professional cook</i>

592
00:32:48,570 --> 00:32:51,156
<i>and started working</i>
<i>at a fine-dining restaurant in Philly.</i>

593
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,368
<i>And so, we were serving only white folks,</i>

594
00:32:54,451 --> 00:32:57,454
<i>so oysters seemed to be</i>
<i>only for white folks to me, you know?</i>

595
00:32:57,538 --> 00:33:01,291
<i>For me, it was about reclaiming that,</i>

596
00:33:01,375 --> 00:33:05,004
<i>because not only is it our history,</i>

597
00:33:05,087 --> 00:33:08,465
<i>but the fine part of it</i>
<i>is our history as well.</i>

598
00:33:08,549 --> 00:33:12,219
<i>And Thomas Downing is completely</i>
<i>and 100% responsible for that.</i>

599
00:33:15,597 --> 00:33:18,726
<i>[Stephen] </i>But Thomas Downing
wouldn't have been at the top of his game 

600
00:33:18,809 --> 00:33:21,729
<i>without the working-class</i>
<i>Black oystermen that supported him.</i>

601
00:33:22,479 --> 00:33:26,275
{\an8}<i>And they built their community</i>
<i>on the water's edge of Staten Island</i>

602
00:33:26,358 --> 00:33:28,318
{\an8}<i>and called it "Sandy Ground."</i>

603
00:33:31,321 --> 00:33:36,243
<i>Can you tell me what made</i>
<i>Sandy Ground so special historically?</i>

604
00:33:38,078 --> 00:33:43,459
{\an8}<i>Sandy Ground is the oldest continuously</i>
<i>inhabited African American community</i>

605
00:33:43,542 --> 00:33:45,169
{\an8}<i>in the United States,</i>

606
00:33:45,252 --> 00:33:49,923
<i>settled by free Blacks with descendants</i>
<i>still living in the community.</i>

607
00:33:54,344 --> 00:33:57,222
<i>New York supplied the world with oysters,</i>

608
00:33:57,306 --> 00:33:59,558
<i>and as an oystering community,</i>

609
00:33:59,641 --> 00:34:02,561
<i>it grew to 180 families,</i>

610
00:34:03,103 --> 00:34:05,355
<i>two churches, and two schools.</i>

611
00:34:05,439 --> 00:34:09,276
<i>Right out here</i>
<i>on the south shore of Staten Island.</i>

612
00:34:10,194 --> 00:34:14,448
<i>They were able to harvest</i>
<i>enough oysters to be able to live and, </i>

613
00:34:15,616 --> 00:34:17,826
<i>you know,</i>
<i>take care of their families.</i>

614
00:34:20,329 --> 00:34:23,832
<i>Growing up in Sandy Ground</i>
<i>gave me the confidence that I needed</i>

615
00:34:23,916 --> 00:34:26,418
<i>to step out wherever I wanted to go.</i>

616
00:34:26,502 --> 00:34:30,923
<i>And so that oyster community,</i>

617
00:34:31,006 --> 00:34:34,218
<i>with all those people</i>
<i>that looked just like me,</i>

618
00:34:34,301 --> 00:34:37,763
<i>helped me to know that I could be</i>
<i>whatever I wanted to be.</i>

619
00:34:37,846 --> 00:34:38,764
<i>[Stephen] Mm-hmm.</i>

620
00:34:39,681 --> 00:34:42,684
<i>That's such an important part</i>
<i>of our legacy, too.</i>

621
00:34:43,268 --> 00:34:44,144
<i>I think,</i>

622
00:34:45,020 --> 00:34:48,857
<i>often when we talk about our ancestors</i>
<i>and our history,</i>

623
00:34:49,566 --> 00:34:53,695
<i>we tend to talk about them</i>
<i>in a way that makes it feel like</i>

624
00:34:53,779 --> 00:34:56,240
<i>-we have all been erased.</i>
<i>-Mm-hmm.</i>

625
00:34:56,323 --> 00:34:59,618
<i>And what's more true</i>
<i>is what you're saying, is that</i>

626
00:34:59,701 --> 00:35:01,870
<i>their legacies live in us.</i>

627
00:35:01,954 --> 00:35:07,167
<i>Sandy Ground is included in the state</i>
<i>and national registers of historic places.</i>

628
00:35:07,251 --> 00:35:11,421
<i>So there will always be a record</i>
<i>for somebody who wants to look for it.</i>

629
00:35:12,297 --> 00:35:15,801
<i>Communities change,</i>
<i>but the history remains the same.</i>

630
00:35:18,595 --> 00:35:19,972
<i>[gentle guitar plays]</i>

631
00:35:29,523 --> 00:35:31,525
<i>[Stephen] </i>When I think
about New York City,

632
00:35:31,608 --> 00:35:33,068
<i>I think about ambition.</i>

633
00:35:35,154 --> 00:35:39,449
<i>And the spirit of Thomas Downing</i>
<i>and the Black oystermen was alive and well</i>

634
00:35:39,533 --> 00:35:41,118
<i>in the heart of Brooklyn,</i>

635
00:35:42,202 --> 00:35:44,204
<i>in "do or die" Bed-Stuy.</i>

636
00:35:44,913 --> 00:35:46,915
<i>[gentle music continues]</i>

637
00:35:58,594 --> 00:36:00,470
<i>-Hey, what's up, guys?</i>
<i>-[man] Mothershuckers.</i>

638
00:36:00,554 --> 00:36:02,639
<i>-[woman] Mothershuckers.</i>
<i>-[Ben] Wanna try some oysters?</i>

639
00:36:02,723 --> 00:36:03,724
<i>-Yeah.</i>
<i>-[Ben] Yeah?</i>

640
00:36:03,807 --> 00:36:05,267
<i>[woman] I've never had an oyster.</i>

641
00:36:05,809 --> 00:36:06,643
<i>All right.</i>

642
00:36:07,352 --> 00:36:09,104
<i>-There you guys go.</i>
<i>-Thank you.</i>

643
00:36:10,230 --> 00:36:11,106
<i>Yo.</i>

644
00:36:12,649 --> 00:36:14,026
<i>-Very fresh.</i>
<i>-[man] This is good.</i>

645
00:36:15,569 --> 00:36:16,486
<i>I'm here for it.</i>

646
00:36:17,112 --> 00:36:20,824
<i>Ben Harney is better known out here</i>
<i>as "the real mothershucker,"</i>

647
00:36:20,908 --> 00:36:23,619
<i>and his oyster cart</i>
<i>takes it all the way back</i>

648
00:36:23,702 --> 00:36:26,205
<i>to the beginning</i>
<i>of Thomas Downing's legacy.</i>

649
00:36:26,830 --> 00:36:28,999
<i>Yo, what's up, guys?</i>
<i>You want to try some oysters?</i>

650
00:36:29,082 --> 00:36:31,627
<i>-[man 1] Let's do this.</i>
<i>-[man 2] I'll take it. I'll try an oyster.</i>

651
00:36:31,710 --> 00:36:33,754
<i>-Hell, yeah. That's what's up.</i>
<i>-Little oysters.</i>

652
00:36:33,837 --> 00:36:35,672
<i>Oysters raise your libido.</i>

653
00:36:35,756 --> 00:36:38,008
<i>-That's the rumor. Right?</i>
<i>-Yeah, is it true?</i>

654
00:36:38,091 --> 00:36:39,426
<i>[Ben] That's what everybody says.</i>

655
00:36:39,509 --> 00:36:42,095
<i>[man 1] We got the brother </i>
<i>with his oysters.</i>

656
00:36:42,179 --> 00:36:43,013
<i>That's it.</i>

657
00:36:43,096 --> 00:36:46,767
<i>Let me tell you, this is my first time</i>
<i>eating an oyster, you know that, right?</i>

658
00:36:46,850 --> 00:36:48,560
<i>I hope you'll be able to swallow it.</i>

659
00:36:48,644 --> 00:36:49,686
<i>[Ben] Don't worry about it.</i>

660
00:36:49,811 --> 00:36:51,688
<i>[man 1] Yeah, they got a brother </i>
<i>selling oyster.</i>

661
00:36:51,772 --> 00:36:55,442
<i>-It better not be nasty. We can cook.</i>
<i>-[Ben] We're not allowed to do that.</i>

662
00:36:55,525 --> 00:36:58,445
<i>-[man 2] In your mouth, like a shovel.</i>
<i>-[Ben] Throw it back.</i>

663
00:36:58,528 --> 00:36:59,780
<i>Just put it down.</i>

664
00:36:59,863 --> 00:37:03,033
<i>-You put fear in me. I'm telling you.</i>
<i>-Ain't nothing to be scared of.</i>

665
00:37:03,116 --> 00:37:04,284
<i>-You ready?</i>
<i>-[man 2] Yeah, you?</i>

666
00:37:04,368 --> 00:37:06,662
<i>We're doing this for Brooklyn</i>
<i>because we in Brooklyn.</i>

667
00:37:06,745 --> 00:37:09,790
<i>-That's my guy. I like-- This my guy.</i>
<i>-One, two, three. Let's go.</i>

668
00:37:10,707 --> 00:37:11,541
<i>[man 2] Mmm!</i>

669
00:37:13,293 --> 00:37:15,629
<i>Tastes like outside. Like the ocean.</i>

670
00:37:15,712 --> 00:37:17,172
<i>-That's official.</i>
<i>-[Ben] Mm-hmm.</i>

671
00:37:18,715 --> 00:37:23,929
<i>So how many people have you</i>
<i>put on to oysters for the first time?</i>

672
00:37:24,012 --> 00:37:29,017
<i>Yo! Across the board,</i>
<i>men, women, children, you know?</i>

673
00:37:29,101 --> 00:37:31,436
{\an8}<i>It's one of my favorite things to do,</i>

674
00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:33,939
{\an8}<i>is to stop somebody and be like,</i>
<i>"You want an oyster?"</i>

675
00:37:34,022 --> 00:37:35,565
{\an8}<i>And they're like, "Ew, oysters?"</i>

676
00:37:35,649 --> 00:37:38,068
<i>And then I'm like,</i>
<i>"Have you ever had an oyster?"</i>

677
00:37:38,151 --> 00:37:41,238
<i>And they're like,</i>
<i>"No… but I don't like them."</i>

678
00:37:41,321 --> 00:37:43,865
<i>"How do you know you don't</i>
<i>if you've never tried it?"</i>

679
00:37:43,949 --> 00:37:45,826
<i>[Stephen] So, talk to me about the name.</i>

680
00:37:45,909 --> 00:37:47,536
<i>-You got a great name…</i>
<i>-[Ben chuckles]</i>

681
00:37:47,619 --> 00:37:48,870
<i>…the Real Mothershuckers.</i>

682
00:37:48,954 --> 00:37:52,207
<i>I was always going out places,</i>
<i>and people always would be like,</i>

683
00:37:52,291 --> 00:37:54,167
<i>"So you're a bad mothershucker, huh?"</i>

684
00:37:54,251 --> 00:37:55,877
<i>It was the constant joke, you know?</i>

685
00:37:55,961 --> 00:37:57,504
<i>So after a while, I was just like,</i>

686
00:37:57,587 --> 00:38:01,717
<i>"You know what? That actually fits,</i>
<i>it sounds good, and it's simple."</i>

687
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:03,260
<i>I'm a mothershucker!</i>

688
00:38:03,343 --> 00:38:05,804
<i>-[Stephen] Yeah, no. Strong name.</i>
<i>-You know? Yeah.</i>

689
00:38:05,887 --> 00:38:08,015
<i>[Stephen] Cool, well, </i>
<i>should we taste some?</i>

690
00:38:08,098 --> 00:38:10,267
<i>-[Ben] Hell, yeah. Yeah.</i>
<i>-[Stephen] Okay. </i>

691
00:38:10,350 --> 00:38:12,436
<i>[Stephen] Do you have a ritual,</i>
<i>should we cheers it?</i>

692
00:38:12,519 --> 00:38:14,563
<i>-Yeah, cheers.</i>
<i>-[Stephen] All right, cool. Cheers. </i>

693
00:38:14,646 --> 00:38:15,522
<i>Thank you.</i>

694
00:38:20,610 --> 00:38:21,778
<i>[Stephen] Mmm.</i>

695
00:38:22,654 --> 00:38:24,114
<i>-Think about that?</i>
<i>-I like that a lot.</i>

696
00:38:24,197 --> 00:38:25,407
<i>[Ben] Mm-hmm.</i>

697
00:38:25,490 --> 00:38:26,867
<i>-Upside down.</i>
<i>-Mm-hmm.</i>

698
00:38:26,950 --> 00:38:28,368
<i>Mmm.</i>

699
00:38:28,452 --> 00:38:29,494
<i>It goes down easily.</i>

700
00:38:30,078 --> 00:38:32,247
<i>All right, I'm going to do</i>
<i>a mignonette one now.</i>

701
00:38:39,046 --> 00:38:40,380
<i>-Oh, that's real good.</i>
<i>-Right?</i>

702
00:38:41,340 --> 00:38:43,216
<i>It's got a nice little bite to it,</i>

703
00:38:43,300 --> 00:38:45,218
<i>something you can actually chew.</i>

704
00:38:45,302 --> 00:38:47,304
<i>-Yeah, it's got a little bounce. Yeah.</i>
<i>-Mm-hmm.</i>

705
00:38:47,387 --> 00:38:52,726
<i>Why was it important for you to come</i>
<i>to Bed-Stuy to start your oyster cart?</i>

706
00:38:52,809 --> 00:38:56,772
<i>[Ben] This is where I'm from and now,</i>
<i>the area has erupted,</i>

707
00:38:56,855 --> 00:39:00,442
<i>it's literally become</i>
<i>the happening place to be.</i>

708
00:39:00,525 --> 00:39:04,905
<i>And so, for me, introducing oysters</i>
<i>into the area that I grew up</i>

709
00:39:04,988 --> 00:39:06,698
<i>and to the people that I grew up with,</i>

710
00:39:06,782 --> 00:39:09,659
<i>is something</i>
<i>that's really important because</i>

711
00:39:09,743 --> 00:39:12,704
<i>it's always been seen</i>
<i>as somewhat of an elitist thing.</i>

712
00:39:12,788 --> 00:39:16,750
<i>Our people are familiar with crabs,</i>

713
00:39:16,833 --> 00:39:18,585
<i>they're familiar with shrimp,</i>

714
00:39:18,668 --> 00:39:22,339
<i>they're familiar with lobster,</i>
<i>and they'll go crazy for them.</i>

715
00:39:22,422 --> 00:39:23,799
<i>But oysters, and it's like,</i>

716
00:39:23,882 --> 00:39:26,593
<i>"Ew, we don't do that.</i>
<i>We don't eat that." You know?</i>

717
00:39:26,676 --> 00:39:30,472
<i>And I'm just like, why? </i>We <i>do everything.</i>
<i>There's nothing that we don't do.</i>

718
00:39:30,555 --> 00:39:33,934
<i>There's nothing that's not </i>our <i>thing,</i>
<i>you know?</i>

719
00:39:41,942 --> 00:39:43,527
<i>[Stephen] </i>I'm continually amazed

720
00:39:43,610 --> 00:39:48,156
<i>by the force of our creativity</i>
<i>and determination as Black Americans.</i>

721
00:39:48,240 --> 00:39:54,413
<i>And in the 19th century, few places held</i>
<i>more possibility for us than Philadelphia.</i>

722
00:39:55,705 --> 00:39:57,749
<i>We were free here some 80 years</i>

723
00:39:57,833 --> 00:40:00,544
<i>before the Emancipation Proclamation</i>
<i>was issued.</i>

724
00:40:02,504 --> 00:40:04,589
{\an8}<i>And Philly was home to a rich legacy</i>

725
00:40:04,673 --> 00:40:06,550
<i>of Black entrepreneurship,</i>

726
00:40:06,633 --> 00:40:10,095
<i>from street vendors hawking</i>
<i>the famous pepper pot stew,</i>

727
00:40:10,178 --> 00:40:13,056
<i>to the elite families of Black caterers.</i>

728
00:40:16,476 --> 00:40:20,689
<i>So, we're in Philly,</i>
<i>a place that you have roots with.</i>

729
00:40:20,772 --> 00:40:22,524
{\an8}<i>Can you tell me about your family?</i>

730
00:40:22,607 --> 00:40:27,279
{\an8}<i>Yes, so I come from one of the great</i>
<i>Black catering families of Philadelphia.</i>

731
00:40:27,362 --> 00:40:29,573
<i>I didn't know</i>
<i>before doing a lot of this research</i>

732
00:40:29,656 --> 00:40:32,784
<i>that catering was started</i>
<i>by African Americans,</i>

733
00:40:32,868 --> 00:40:34,911
<i>great entrepreneurs in the 1800s,</i>

734
00:40:34,995 --> 00:40:38,248
<i>and my family was</i>
<i>one of those first pioneers of that,</i>

735
00:40:38,331 --> 00:40:39,207
<i>the Dutrieuilles.</i>

736
00:40:39,291 --> 00:40:42,711
<i>This is one of the first photos</i>
<i>I saw of the family that I was like,</i>

737
00:40:42,794 --> 00:40:45,422
<i>-"Wait a minute. People looked like this?"</i>
<i>-[chuckles] Yes.</i>

738
00:40:45,505 --> 00:40:47,591
<i>"How come we don't know more?</i>
<i>What's her story?</i>

739
00:40:47,674 --> 00:40:49,843
<i>Where'd she come from?</i>
<i>What are they doing?"</i>

740
00:40:49,926 --> 00:40:51,052
<i>So I love this photo.</i>

741
00:40:51,136 --> 00:40:53,722
<i>-[Stephen] She looks amazing. Yeah.</i>
<i>-It says so much.</i>

742
00:40:53,805 --> 00:40:57,100
<i>This is my great-great grandfather,</i>
<i>Albert Dutrieuille.</i>

743
00:40:57,184 --> 00:40:59,519
<i>-[Stephen] Very handsome man.</i>
<i>-[Lauren chuckles] Yeah.</i>

744
00:40:59,603 --> 00:41:01,480
<i>I love this, this is a good kitchen shot.</i>

745
00:41:01,563 --> 00:41:06,401
<i>It gives you a glimpse of the staff</i>
<i>and how things were in the kitchen then.</i>

746
00:41:06,485 --> 00:41:09,154
<i>[Stephen] And the scale too,</i>
<i>it's a really large kitchen.</i>

747
00:41:09,237 --> 00:41:12,449
<i>-[Lauren] Yeah.</i>
<i>-They're obviously quite organized.</i>

748
00:41:12,532 --> 00:41:14,618
<i>-Everyone looks crispy in the uniforms.</i>
<i>-Right.</i>

749
00:41:15,452 --> 00:41:16,453
<i>[Stephen] Love that.</i>

750
00:41:17,537 --> 00:41:19,623
<i>And how did you find this out?</i>

751
00:41:19,706 --> 00:41:23,793
<i>Well, my dad first sent me</i>
<i>a photo that he found with, you know,</i>

752
00:41:23,877 --> 00:41:26,087
<i>this family in, like, fancy furs and cars.</i>

753
00:41:26,171 --> 00:41:27,506
<i>And he's like, it turns out</i>

754
00:41:27,589 --> 00:41:31,676
<i>my grandmother's parents had</i>
<i>this successful catering business.</i>

755
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:34,804
<i>I thought, "That was really cool."</i>
<i>And I thought it stopped there.</i>

756
00:41:34,888 --> 00:41:38,975
<i>And then last year,</i>
<i>a cousin of my dad passed away.</i>

757
00:41:39,059 --> 00:41:40,602
<i>He was living in a home</i>

758
00:41:40,685 --> 00:41:43,063
<i>where the catering business</i>
<i>was run out of.</i>

759
00:41:43,146 --> 00:41:45,232
<i>He was telling me</i>
<i>about going into the basement</i>

760
00:41:45,315 --> 00:41:47,442
<i>and seeing all of the catering supplies.</i>

761
00:41:48,235 --> 00:41:49,861
<i>And I was just like, "Wait, hold up.</i>

762
00:41:49,945 --> 00:41:51,696
<i>-This house was still in the family…</i>
<i>-Yeah?</i>

763
00:41:51,780 --> 00:41:54,199
<i>…and there was still</i>
<i>catering stuff lying around?"</i>

764
00:41:54,282 --> 00:41:57,118
<i>First question I asked him was like,</i>
<i>"Are there any menus?"</i>

765
00:41:57,202 --> 00:41:59,538
<i>Being a foodie</i>
<i>and being in the food scene,</i>

766
00:41:59,621 --> 00:42:03,166
<i>I was just like, I need to get my hands</i>
<i>on a menu to recreate this experience. </i>

767
00:42:03,250 --> 00:42:05,460
<i>Honeydew melon</i>
<i>showed up on a lot of menus.</i>

768
00:42:05,544 --> 00:42:08,129
<i>Bellevue broth,</i>
<i>that was on plenty of menus</i>

769
00:42:08,213 --> 00:42:09,339
<i>that they put together.</i>

770
00:42:09,422 --> 00:42:12,133
<i>Virginia ham and greens,</i>
<i>you've got some Southern influence.</i>

771
00:42:12,217 --> 00:42:14,678
<i>Frankfurters and kraut,</i>
<i>I thought that was interesting.</i>

772
00:42:14,761 --> 00:42:17,180
<i>[Stephen] Yeah,</i>
<i>kind of German influences there, right?</i>

773
00:42:17,264 --> 00:42:18,181
<i>[Lauren] Right.</i>

774
00:42:18,265 --> 00:42:22,018
<i>They range from, like, really simple</i>
<i>to pretty decadent with, like, caviar,</i>

775
00:42:22,102 --> 00:42:24,104
<i>filet mignon, stuffed peppers.</i>

776
00:42:24,187 --> 00:42:25,981
<i>It was-- It was really cool.</i>

777
00:42:26,064 --> 00:42:27,857
<i>You know, I'm struck by the menu,</i>

778
00:42:27,941 --> 00:42:33,738
<i>-by, really, how it's a story of… America.</i>
<i>-Mm-hmm.</i>

779
00:42:33,822 --> 00:42:35,490
<i>How big was this business?</i>

780
00:42:35,574 --> 00:42:36,866
<i>They were very successful.</i>

781
00:42:36,950 --> 00:42:39,327
<i>It's written like</i>
<i>it was a very lucrative business,</i>

782
00:42:39,411 --> 00:42:41,204
<i>well known throughout Philadelphia.</i>

783
00:42:41,288 --> 00:42:42,455
<i>We were at the front.</i>

784
00:42:42,539 --> 00:42:44,833
<i>We were starting the trends,</i>
<i>doing the work.</i>

785
00:42:44,916 --> 00:42:48,253
<i>What we know as catering today</i>
<i>was started by my family</i>

786
00:42:48,336 --> 00:42:49,879
<i>and these other families back then,</i>

787
00:42:49,963 --> 00:42:53,258
<i>and just to know that, like,</i>
<i>we set that tone, owning a business,</i>

788
00:42:53,925 --> 00:42:57,012
<i>um, starting this industry,</i>
<i>that's really cool.</i>

789
00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:03,852
<i>[Stephen] </i>To celebrate that history
in the City of Brotherly Love,

790
00:43:03,935 --> 00:43:06,605
<i>my man Omar Tate, a Philly native,</i>

791
00:43:06,688 --> 00:43:10,442
<i>cooked a feast inspired by the rich</i>
<i>Black food history of Philadelphia.</i>

792
00:43:11,443 --> 00:43:14,613
<i>We were joined by chefs, historians,</i>

793
00:43:14,696 --> 00:43:17,574
<i>and other descendants</i>
<i>of the Dutrieuille catering family.</i>

794
00:43:19,117 --> 00:43:20,327
<i>Welcome, everyone.</i>

795
00:43:20,410 --> 00:43:21,661
<i>-Thank you.</i>
<i>-Thank you.</i>

796
00:43:21,745 --> 00:43:24,789
<i>Thank you all for coming</i>
<i>to this very, very special meal</i>

797
00:43:24,873 --> 00:43:25,874
<i>that we've prepared.</i>

798
00:43:26,583 --> 00:43:30,211
<i>It's super special to me</i>
<i>because I grew up here in Philadelphia.</i>

799
00:43:30,295 --> 00:43:33,548
<i>And there's a very, very rich history</i>
<i>here in Philadelphia.</i>

800
00:43:33,632 --> 00:43:36,051
<i>These things are important.</i>
<i>They don't need to be lost.</i>

801
00:43:36,134 --> 00:43:37,385
<i>They're not gonna be lost.</i>

802
00:43:37,469 --> 00:43:39,846
<i>-Thanks for coming.</i>
<i>-[Stephen] Thanks to you. Cheers.</i>

803
00:43:40,555 --> 00:43:43,183
<i>[Omar] The first thing we're gonna have</i>
<i>is Bellevue broth,</i>

804
00:43:43,266 --> 00:43:46,895
<i>which is something that I actually learned</i>
<i>about by reading the Dutrieuille menu.</i>

805
00:43:46,978 --> 00:43:48,605
<i>I've never heard of it before,</i>

806
00:43:48,688 --> 00:43:51,608
<i>um, but apparently</i>
<i>it's been around for a few centuries,</i>

807
00:43:51,691 --> 00:43:55,695
<i>and it's a broth mixture of chicken</i>
<i>and just a shellfish broth</i>

808
00:43:55,779 --> 00:43:57,864
<i>with whipped cream and parsley.</i>

809
00:43:57,947 --> 00:44:00,075
<i>I'm really excited</i>
<i>to share that with you guys.</i>

810
00:44:00,158 --> 00:44:02,243
<i>-[Stephen] Oh, wow.</i>
<i>-[Lauren] Oh, really good.</i>

811
00:44:02,327 --> 00:44:03,745
<i>-Wow.</i>
<i>-[woman] Oh, my God.</i>

812
00:44:04,329 --> 00:44:06,164
<i>-[man] That's great.</i>
<i>-[woman] How rich is this?</i>

813
00:44:06,247 --> 00:44:08,291
<i>[Stephen] The texture,</i>
<i>the weight of it is so good.</i>

814
00:44:08,375 --> 00:44:10,251
<i>[Omar] It gives it a little more body. </i>
<i>Yep.</i>

815
00:44:10,335 --> 00:44:13,797
<i>It's very light, but it has</i>
<i>a nice density to it, too.</i>

816
00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:15,674
<i>-Super flavorful.</i>
<i>-[woman 2] Yes, it really is.</i>

817
00:44:15,757 --> 00:44:19,511
{\an8}<i>Yeah. It tastes like butter,</i>
<i>but without that greasiness.</i>

818
00:44:19,594 --> 00:44:21,137
{\an8}<i>[Harry] Yeah, not as heavy.</i>

819
00:44:21,221 --> 00:44:22,806
<i>-Yum.</i>
<i>-[Omar] Yeah.</i>

820
00:44:22,889 --> 00:44:25,308
<i>[Valerie] That's a good word </i>
<i>to describe it, "Yum."</i>

821
00:44:25,392 --> 00:44:27,811
<i>[Lauren] We'd never tried Bellevue broth</i>
<i>or heard of it either.</i>

822
00:44:27,894 --> 00:44:29,854
<i>So it's something</i>
<i>that they always presented</i>

823
00:44:29,938 --> 00:44:33,400
<i>at the bigger, most upper-class</i>
<i>banquets and dinners.</i>

824
00:44:33,483 --> 00:44:36,820
<i>I wonder how many people</i>
<i>have tried Bellevue broth,</i>

825
00:44:36,903 --> 00:44:39,489
<i>because if you all found these menus,</i>

826
00:44:39,572 --> 00:44:41,700
<i>and no one at this table's had it,</i>

827
00:44:41,783 --> 00:44:43,535
<i>-you hadn't heard of it before.</i>
<i>-[Omar] Right.</i>

828
00:44:43,618 --> 00:44:45,704
<i>[Stephen] Maybe you're connecting </i>
<i>a part of history</i>

829
00:44:45,787 --> 00:44:48,915
<i>that is, like, several decades missing.</i>

830
00:44:48,998 --> 00:44:52,961
<i>Right. I mean, I really hope so.</i>
<i>I think it's very important.</i>

831
00:44:53,044 --> 00:44:55,171
<i>A lot of times</i>
<i>our history is dark, you know,</i>

832
00:44:55,255 --> 00:44:57,424
<i>or we view it as dark.</i>

833
00:44:57,507 --> 00:45:00,468
<i>But there was just</i>
<i>so much beauty between the lines,</i>

834
00:45:00,552 --> 00:45:03,680
<i>and I feel like menus and food</i>
<i>is the synthesis that happens</i>

835
00:45:03,763 --> 00:45:05,515
<i>between the lines, in between history.</i>

836
00:45:05,598 --> 00:45:06,433
<i>[Valerie] Absolutely.</i>

837
00:45:06,516 --> 00:45:09,728
<i>-[Stephen] You did it justice.</i>
<i>-Yeah, you did. You did a wonderful job.</i>

838
00:45:09,811 --> 00:45:13,356
<i>How do you all feel getting to also taste</i>
<i>a part of this history, too?</i>

839
00:45:13,940 --> 00:45:14,941
<i>[Lauren] It feels amazing.</i>

840
00:45:15,024 --> 00:45:18,820
<i>It's really cool to find a talented chef</i>
<i>to bring these dishes to life.</i>

841
00:45:18,903 --> 00:45:20,363
<i>Our family, they're so humble,</i>

842
00:45:20,447 --> 00:45:22,532
<i>they never really spoke about this</i>
<i>growing up,</i>

843
00:45:22,615 --> 00:45:24,743
<i>you know,</i>
<i>so it was kind of a surprise to us.</i>

844
00:45:24,826 --> 00:45:27,078
<i>Alex got to go through the house</i>
<i>in Spring Garden…</i>

845
00:45:27,162 --> 00:45:28,913
<i>-[man] Yeah--</i>
<i>-…and clean it out.</i>

846
00:45:28,997 --> 00:45:30,707
<i>It was like my Indiana Jones moment.</i>

847
00:45:30,790 --> 00:45:32,292
<i>[all laughing]</i>

848
00:45:32,375 --> 00:45:35,336
<i>I went to the basement,</i>
<i>and I went to dig around,</i>

849
00:45:35,420 --> 00:45:36,796
<i>got dirty and all, you know,</i>

850
00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:39,299
{\an8}<i>the cobwebs and pulled it out</i>
<i>and saw the plates.</i>

851
00:45:39,382 --> 00:45:42,761
{\an8}<i>I'm like, what was going on here?</i>
<i>There's so much they didn't tell me.</i>

852
00:45:42,844 --> 00:45:48,933
<i>So, Ms. Patty, we are talking</i>
<i>about this late 19th-century history,</i>

853
00:45:49,017 --> 00:45:50,769
<i>and talking about the Dutrieuilles,</i>

854
00:45:50,852 --> 00:45:55,857
<i>but our connection to catering actually</i>
<i>goes back almost 100 years before.</i>

855
00:45:55,940 --> 00:45:59,778
{\an8}<i>Absolutely. So, Robert Bogle</i>
<i>is known as the father of catering,</i>

856
00:45:59,861 --> 00:46:04,115
{\an8}<i>and before him, there wasn't</i>
<i>actually a catering profession,</i>

857
00:46:04,199 --> 00:46:06,910
<i>and the word "caterer" wasn't known.</i>

858
00:46:06,993 --> 00:46:11,122
<i>Robert Bogle served</i>
<i>both the Black community,</i>

859
00:46:11,206 --> 00:46:15,710
<i>but really was the caterer of choice</i>
<i>for the white society as well.</i>

860
00:46:15,794 --> 00:46:17,796
<i>[lively classical string music plays]</i>

861
00:46:18,254 --> 00:46:22,884
<i>[Omar] The next thing</i>
<i>is the Virginia ham with greens.</i>

862
00:46:22,967 --> 00:46:26,846
<i>Classic comfort,</i>
<i>just simply stewed down with ham,</i>

863
00:46:26,930 --> 00:46:29,474
<i>vegetables,</i>
<i>a little bit of aromatics like onion,</i>

864
00:46:29,557 --> 00:46:31,392
<i>garlic, and just a touch of vinegar.</i>

865
00:46:31,476 --> 00:46:34,854
<i>And we're also going to have</i>
<i>crab salad on crackers.</i>

866
00:46:34,938 --> 00:46:36,147
<i>Another special one,</i>

867
00:46:36,231 --> 00:46:39,442
<i>not specifically related</i>
<i>to the Dutrieuille family's history,</i>

868
00:46:39,526 --> 00:46:43,363
<i>but it's related to the larger history</i>
<i>of catering in Philadelphia in general.</i>

869
00:46:44,072 --> 00:46:45,990
<i>You have to take one of everything.</i>

870
00:46:48,785 --> 00:46:49,828
<i>Yeah, a little more.</i>

871
00:46:53,540 --> 00:46:54,457
<i>Mmm.</i>

872
00:46:54,541 --> 00:46:56,751
<i>-[Valerie] Omar, that's really good.</i>
<i>-Wow.</i>

873
00:46:57,627 --> 00:47:00,755
<i>[Omar] Collards. It's collard greens,</i>
<i>mustard greens, and dandelion greens.</i>

874
00:47:00,839 --> 00:47:02,423
<i>-[all] Oh!</i>
<i>-[Omar] And turnip greens.</i>

875
00:47:02,507 --> 00:47:04,467
<i>-Here we go.</i>
<i>-A collective "oh."</i>

876
00:47:04,551 --> 00:47:06,511
<i>-[diners chuckling]</i>
<i>-Mmm.</i>

877
00:47:07,595 --> 00:47:10,014
<i>-Mmm. That's delicious, chef.</i>
<i>-Wow.</i>

878
00:47:11,474 --> 00:47:13,726
<i>-Omar, you did it again.</i>
<i>-[all laughing]</i>

879
00:47:14,352 --> 00:47:18,022
<i>You're a food person. How are you feeling</i>
<i>being connected to this legacy?</i>

880
00:47:18,106 --> 00:47:19,274
<i>I mean, it's an honor.</i>

881
00:47:19,357 --> 00:47:22,652
<i>I want my grandkids to be able to, like,</i>
<i>look at these menus and be like,</i>

882
00:47:22,735 --> 00:47:24,362
<i>"This is still being made today."</i>

883
00:47:24,445 --> 00:47:26,114
<i>I hold it near and dear to my heart.</i>

884
00:47:26,197 --> 00:47:29,909
<i>It's family, it's tradition,</i>
<i>it's Black history.</i>

885
00:47:29,993 --> 00:47:31,286
<i>It's Philadelphia, which is--</i>

886
00:47:31,369 --> 00:47:33,329
<i>-[Lauren] It's American history.</i>
<i>-American history.</i>

887
00:47:33,413 --> 00:47:37,667
<i>And at the time that it happened,</i>
<i>years before segregation ended,</i>

888
00:47:37,750 --> 00:47:38,877
<i>they were doing so much.</i>

889
00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:42,088
<i>I was looking at the cars</i>
<i>they were driving. How was that possible?</i>

890
00:47:42,171 --> 00:47:44,674
<i>-[Lauren] I had the same thought.</i>
<i>-You didn't see that, you know?</i>

891
00:47:44,757 --> 00:47:46,217
<i>-[Lauren] Yeah.</i>
<i>-Dressed to the nines.</i>

892
00:47:46,301 --> 00:47:49,178
<i>It blows my mind.</i>
<i>So it's an honor to carry on that lineage.</i>

893
00:47:49,262 --> 00:47:51,472
<i>[Lauren] I had the same thought</i>
<i>when Dad sent the photos.</i>

894
00:47:51,556 --> 00:47:54,642
<i>Fur coat and fancy car. I was like,</i>
<i>"Black people lived like this?"</i>

895
00:47:54,726 --> 00:47:55,727
<i>We absolutely did.</i>

896
00:47:55,810 --> 00:47:58,438
<i>Generations and generations of free Blacks</i>

897
00:47:58,521 --> 00:48:01,107
<i>and generations and generations</i>
<i>of entrepreneurship.</i>

898
00:48:01,190 --> 00:48:03,318
<i>We created our own economies,</i>

899
00:48:03,401 --> 00:48:09,324
<i>and we had families like the Dutrieuilles</i>
<i>that carried on that tradition,</i>

900
00:48:09,407 --> 00:48:14,120
<i>fed our communities and were examples</i>
<i>of how we could be self-reliant,</i>

901
00:48:14,203 --> 00:48:16,080
<i>independent, entrepreneurs,</i>

902
00:48:16,164 --> 00:48:18,917
<i>and turn around a dollar</i>
<i>within our community.</i>

903
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:21,252
<i>It was really, really a strong impact.</i>

904
00:48:24,547 --> 00:48:25,798
<i>[Omar] For our entrée,</i>

905
00:48:25,882 --> 00:48:28,468
<i>we will be having pepper pot stew.</i>

906
00:48:28,551 --> 00:48:32,472
<i>Pepper pot stew was</i>
<i>the most popular dish in Philadelphia</i>

907
00:48:32,555 --> 00:48:36,768
<i>in the 18th and 19th century,</i>
<i>and even extended into the 20th century.</i>

908
00:48:36,851 --> 00:48:42,690
<i>There's even a painting of a woman</i>
<i>selling pepper pot to vendors.</i>

909
00:48:42,774 --> 00:48:45,568
{\an8}<i>It was sold as a street vended item</i>

910
00:48:45,652 --> 00:48:49,530
{\an8}<i>by mostly free women of color</i>
<i>up and down Market Street.</i>

911
00:48:49,614 --> 00:48:51,824
{\an8}<i>So I'm very excited</i>
<i>to share that with y'all,</i>

912
00:48:51,908 --> 00:48:54,243
<i>and bring that dish back to prominence.</i>

913
00:48:55,286 --> 00:48:58,289
<i>-[Lauren] Yeah, this looks so good.</i>
<i>-[Valerie] Omar, this is delicious.</i>

914
00:48:58,373 --> 00:48:59,791
<i>-[Harry] Mmm.</i>
<i>-[Lauren] Yeah.</i>

915
00:49:01,125 --> 00:49:02,627
<i>[Valerie] What did you use, oxtail?</i>

916
00:49:02,710 --> 00:49:04,879
<i>Mmm. Oxtail, yes.</i>

917
00:49:06,130 --> 00:49:07,548
<i>[Lauren] It's so good!</i>

918
00:49:07,632 --> 00:49:09,300
<i>[Patricia] It really is.</i>

919
00:49:09,384 --> 00:49:12,595
<i>It has great spice, but it's not spicy,</i>
<i>so what are we tasting?</i>

920
00:49:12,679 --> 00:49:16,015
<i>So, because of the connection</i>
<i>to the West Indies,</i>

921
00:49:16,099 --> 00:49:17,600
<i>there's scotch bonnet in here.</i>

922
00:49:17,684 --> 00:49:22,063
<i>This is tomato based</i>
<i>with the scotch bonnet, paprikas,</i>

923
00:49:22,146 --> 00:49:24,524
<i>garlic, onion, thyme,</i>

924
00:49:24,607 --> 00:49:27,860
<i>but more important</i>
<i>than all those spices, to me,</i>

925
00:49:27,944 --> 00:49:29,988
<i>is time, as in, like a clock.</i>

926
00:49:30,071 --> 00:49:32,198
<i>You have to be patient</i>

927
00:49:32,281 --> 00:49:35,159
<i>and take care of every layer in this stew.</i>

928
00:49:35,243 --> 00:49:39,080
<i>[Stephen] I love this dish </i>
<i>because it's so complex.</i>

929
00:49:39,163 --> 00:49:42,500
<i>With the spice, with the texture</i>
<i>of the rice and the meat.</i>

930
00:49:42,583 --> 00:49:46,629
<i>It's not heavy-handed, but there's</i>
<i>so much flavor. Really beautiful dish.</i>

931
00:49:46,713 --> 00:49:49,549
<i>I mean, quite honestly, like,</i>
<i>when I make this dish,</i>

932
00:49:49,632 --> 00:49:51,217
<i>I don't really use a recipe.</i>

933
00:49:51,300 --> 00:49:53,886
<i>There are recipes for pepper pot,</i>

934
00:49:53,970 --> 00:49:57,849
<i>um, but I really try to draw</i>
<i>a feeling of an ancestral connection.</i>

935
00:49:58,433 --> 00:49:59,767
<i>I feel I'm directly connected</i>

936
00:49:59,851 --> 00:50:02,645
<i>to the way African Americans</i>
<i>liberated themselves in the past,</i>

937
00:50:02,729 --> 00:50:03,771
<i>which is through craft.</i>

938
00:50:03,855 --> 00:50:06,149
<i>So, through these dishes,</i>

939
00:50:06,232 --> 00:50:10,028
<i>we really get to unabashedly tell</i>
<i>our truths,</i>

940
00:50:10,111 --> 00:50:11,571
<i>because everyone wants to eat.</i>

941
00:50:13,656 --> 00:50:17,201
<i>[Stephen] </i>I've always felt
there is a power connected to food,

942
00:50:17,285 --> 00:50:19,829
<i>a grace in gathering for a moment shared,</i>

943
00:50:20,663 --> 00:50:24,584
<i>and a freedom found</i>
<i>in the exchange of emotions and ideas.</i>

944
00:50:25,960 --> 00:50:29,630
<i>As the abolitionist movement</i>
<i>of the early 1800s grew,</i>

945
00:50:29,714 --> 00:50:33,384
<i>and the Underground Railroad brought</i>
<i>more and more people to Philadelphia,</i>

946
00:50:33,885 --> 00:50:38,598
<i>a growing free Black community</i>
<i>was looking to expand their opportunity.</i>

947
00:50:39,557 --> 00:50:43,269
<i>And some set their sights on a territory</i>

948
00:50:44,187 --> 00:50:46,647
<i>that would soon be known as Texas.</i>

949
00:50:49,984 --> 00:50:51,986
<i>[blues guitar music playing]</i>