Hercules-A Freedom Pioneer

Presumed Portrait of Hercules by Gilbert Stuart :: Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

This Sunday, I'm co-producing a Emancipation Picnic with the talented Shannon Mustipher. Shannon is a contributor here and runs Superette :: A Store of Ideas.

Hercules. The name alone is attention grabbing enough and only one of several remarkable things about George Washington’s favorite chef. By all accounts his skills in the kitchen were legendary; he had mastery of a range of cuisines and could just as easily prepare a pitch perfect pepperpot stew as a 20 course meal designed to impress heads of state from Europe - his dinner table played a critical role in establishing the image of America as an similarly cultured, prosperous, and erudite. Hercules’ services were so valuable that Washington did everything he could to ensure that he was happy enough to remain. (Though Hercules was technically a slave, the first Presidential home’s location in Philadelphia made his escape very plausible; and his capture and return unlikely).

Read Shannon's entire piece on Superette.