Hear Cynthia Clampitt tell the story of how corn has developed over its 10,000 history. Starting off as a weedy grass in Mexico, it was nurtured by Native Americans, then spanned the globe and drove westward expansion. Find out about its historical impact and why it is so vital today. This program is supported by Illinois Humanities.
Cynthia Clampitt is a writer and food historian. She has pursued her love of culture, history, and food in thirty-seven countries on six continents, but in recent years has focused her studies on the American Midwest. She is the author of Midwest Maize: How Corn Shaped the U.S. Heartland, published by the University of Illinois Press and Pigs, Pork, and Heartland Hogs: From Wild Boar to Baconfest, published by Rowman & Littlefield. She has written for three decades about food history, and has also written more traditional history and geography for clients that include the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and National Geographic Learning. Clampitt is a member of the Society of Women Geographers, Culinary Historians of Chicago, the Agricultural History Society, the Association of Food Journalists, the Midwestern History Association, and the history section of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assembly [through the Illinois Arts Council Agency], as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by speakers, program participants, or audiences do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH, Illinois Humanities, our partnering organizations, or funders.
FREE with Museum admission. No registration required.
The program will take place in the North Shore Gas Education Classroom. For more information contact Sarah Salto at ssalto@lcfpd.org.