Native Americans and Julia Child: Food Traditions and Innovators in Massachusetts

Date: April 22, 2010
Contact: Phil Lupsiewicz, 978-275-1705
Contact: David Blackburn, 978-970-5055

LOWELL, MA — Lowell National Historical Park and the Lowell Film Collaborative are pleased to sponsor a series of programs focused on food traditions and innovators in Massachusetts. 

On Tuesday, April 27, join us for Julie and Julia. The feature film (2009) is a comedy-drama written and directed by Nora Ephron. The film depicts events in the life of Julia Child in the early years in her culinary career, contrasting her life with Julie Powell who aspires to cook all 524 recipes from Child's cookbook during a single year, a challenge she described on her popular blog that would make her a published author. The film is being screened in partnership with the Lowell Film Collaborative and will be shown at the Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center, 246 Market Street, at 6:30 pm. The film is free.

Whatever Happened to Julia Child’s Kitchen? Friday, April 30
It’s not every day that someone’s kitchen becomes a museum exhibit. Julia Child’s kitchen – the cabinets, appliances, utensils, pots, and pans – all left Cambridge and found a new home at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. The exhibit remains popular with visitors since it opened in 2002.

To explore the kitchen’s journey to the Smithsonian, join us on Friday April 30 for a talk by Dr. Rayna Green, folklorist and Smithsonian’s curator of Julia Child’s kitchen. She will also touch upon the French Chef’s impact on the home cook in the 1960s and 70s through her cookbooks and her legendary television show produced by Boston’s PBS station, WGBH. The program is free and will be offered at Lowell National Historical Park’s Visitor Center, 246 Market Street, at 7:30 pm.

Native American Foodways in New England, May 1
On May 1, Dr. Rayna Green will give a presentation on Native American foodways of New England. She will provide a broad overview of Native foodways in New England (coastal cultures versus inland, seasonal food, agriculture, etc.) as well as talk about the impact of Native American foodways on what some would define as 'traditional' New England cuisine. This free presentation will be offered at 1:30 pm in the Boott Event Center located on the second floor of the Boott Cotton Mills Museum, 115 John Street.

For more information on these programs, please feel free to call the park at [phone], or visit the web site at www.nps.gov/lowe.