Barbecue Nation

FAIN: GE-50026-08

Atlanta History Center (Atlanta, GA 30305-1380)
Michael Rose (Project Director: September 2007 to November 2009)

Planning of an exhibition that examines the relationship of barbecue to regional and national culture and how themes of race, politics, social class, religion, and concepts of community and identity can be recognized and celebrated with food.

The Atlanta History Center (AHC) seeks support from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for the proposed exhibition, Barbecue Nation. Utilizing a distinct American food, the exhibition examines the relationship of food to regional and national culture and how themes of race, politics, social class, religion, and concepts of community and identity can be recognized and celebrated with food. AHC has been considering the concept of a barbecue-based foodways exhibt for nearly 10 years and we have assembled a distinguished panel of advisors composed of leading experts in the fields of history, sociology, foodways, culinary arts, journalism, and barbecue cooking to provide a strong scholarly and culinary base for the exhibition. Barbecue Nation is founded in the concept of place by which the culture of a region ? or a nation - is expressed by a product of the region?s character - how the foodways characteristics of place can be used to describe place, community, and existence.