Oral history of Jenny Bardwell, Susan Ray Brown, and Amy Dawson

Identifier:

4224.BardwellJennyBrownSusanDawsonAmy.AudioInt.4.23.18

Title:

Oral history of Jenny Bardwell, Susan Ray Brown, and Amy Dawson

Date:

2018-04-23

Creator:

Brown, Susan Ray, Dawson, Amy, Bardwell, Genevieve

Contributor:

Hilliard, Emily

Description:

Genevieve (Jenny) Bardwell and Susan Ray Brown of Mount Morris, Pennsylvania led an apprenticeship in salt rising bread with Amy Dawson of Lost Creek, West Virginia as part of the 2018 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Master salt rising bread baker Genevieve (Jenny) Bardwell holds an A.S. in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of America, and a B.S. and M.S. in plant pathology from the University of Massachusetts. Jenny is the co-author of Salt Rising Bread: Recipes and Heartfelt Stories of a Nearly Lost Appalachian Tradition and was the co-founder of Rising Creek Bakery in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, both with Susan Ray Brown. Jenny has engaged in a deep, decades-long study of the unique labor-intensive Appalachian bread, focusing particularly on the scientific process and researching analog breads in other cultures. In 2017, she was awarded a Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts to lead a salt rising bread apprenticeship with baker Antonio Archer and in 2018, she was awarded an Folklife Apprenticeship Grant from the West Virginia Folklife Program with fellow baker Susan Ray Brown and apprentice Amy Dawson.Master salt rising bread baker Susan Ray Brown grew up in southern West Virginia, and her family roots go back nearly 300 years in her beloved Mountain State. She holds a B.A. in sociology/anthropology from West Virginia University. Susan is the co-author of Salt Rising Bread: Recipes and Heartfelt Stories of a Nearly Lost Appalachian Tradition and was the co-founder of Rising Creek Bakery in Mount Morris, PA, both with Jenny Bardwell. Susan has engaged in a deep, decades-long study of the unique labor-intensive Appalachian bread, recording oral histories, gathering recipes, conducting scientific studies, and constantly experimenting through her own baking. Find more on her website at www.saltrisingbread.net.Amy Dawson is a native of Lost Creek, West Virginia. She holds a B.S. in geology from West Virginia University and a J.D. from the College of Law at West Virginia University. She manages and co-owns Lost Creek Farm with her partner Mike Costello, hosting travelling kitchen/pop-up dinner events around the greater Appalachian region. In 2018, Lost Creek Farm was featured on CNNs Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain.See our feature on Bardwell and Browns apprenticeship with Dawson here: https://wvfolklife.org/2018/11/12/2018-master-artists-apprentice-feature-genevieve-bardwell-susan-ray-brown-amy-dawson-salt-rising-bread/

Subject:

Bakers, Apprenticeship programs, Food habits, Bread--history, foodways, Bread

Rights:

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Location:

Mount Morris (Pa.), Harrison County (W. Va.)

Format:

audio/wav

Language:

English

Source:

A&M 4224, West Virginia Folklife Program Collection