I refer to a lot of resources to research topics for this cultural and culinary calendar and was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon the namesake days — especially today’s: April 11th is “James Day” each year —and since we don’t know James Hemings’ birth date — nor his exact death date (a la Harriette’s — see March 10 post) why not celebrate him today in addition to his FREEDOM DATE from Thomas Jefferson which we now know happened on on February 5, 1796 … and with this year (2026) being the 230th anniversary of James Hemings’ documented manumission (freedom) date from Thomas Jefferson — as a Co-Founder of the James Hemings Society, you may recall that I launched the campaign to anchor into the public record “February 5th as James Hemings Day” for arguably a most consequential yet least recognized figure in foundational American culinary arts and history.
YES you can STILL very easily help me to establish the public record via your choice of simple actions:
Since the first step for officially establishing a “Day” requires documented public recognition and acknowledgment of the date connected to the particular person or topic: Y0u can either comment on, repost/share this post or feel free to create your own post. Whichever you choose just be sure to include the words “February 5th” and “James Hemings Day”. Repetition matters. You don’t have to sign anything, mail anything or contribute financially. Just help to document on public record. DM me if you have any Q’s or need clarification…
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James gets HOT 🔥in JULY! ☀️😎 …[ Ironically with COOL 🧊 Content — Literally 🍨🍦]
…and with this year also being America’s 250th Birthday/Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence (penned by Thomas Jefferson! James’ enSLAVEr no less… ) stay tuned for a very busy ‘James Hemings July’ this year — not only for all the 4th of July hoopla but also because July happens to be the month that the majority of the now iconic and quintessentially American dishes he’s known for have a food holiday in the month of JULY… which I’ve started to refer to as to “James Hemings July ,” accordingly.
this is me a wee bit disappointed that a character representing/called “James Hemings” was conspicuously absent from he biggest musical of all times — when he really coulda/shoulda been a supporting character in at least one key scene…
Truth be told, all the James ‘hot & cool content’ momentum actually gets going in late June on the anniversary date of “The Compromise Dinner of 1790” which took place on or about June 20, 1790, in New York City’s lower Manhattan. Hosted by Thomas Jefferson at his NYC residence, an elaborate and paired multi-course meal prepared by Chef Hemings for Jefferson and his guests: Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. This mega meal meet up is famously depicted in the popular "Hamilton (the Musical)" scene and song called “The Room Where It Happened.” (“it” being the decision to permanently locate the nation’s capital on the Potomac — aka D.C. — among other ‘big deal’ issues). Sadly and disappointingly I might add, James Hemings as a key character is conspicuously absent from that very catchy scene and song…
SNEAK PEEKs…
this Spruce Eats article I wrote not too long ago (see just below) is a great “get to know James” primer…
👆🏽 this article’s a great “get to know James” primer…
👆🏾 this docu film is a great “get to know James” primer …
You can dig even deeper into content centered on James Hemings incredible culinary talents and lasting legacy: check out my “TFG’s James Hemings Hub”: a curated collection of audio 🎧, documentary video 🎥 , articles ✍🏽and other resources 👩🏽💻 (also available via my Linktree ) —in addition to the “Ghost In America’s Kitchen” docu film (see movie poster above 👆🏾),
There’s now a NEW, narrative driven, three-part podcast series entirely focused on James Hemings now available on ATK’s (America’s Test Kitchen) “Proof” Podcast, produced by acclaimed audio journalist Otis Gray, who serves up much of the mystery and suspense surrounding the extraordinary life of an enslaved / eventually emancipated master chef. Gray investigates, interrogates and examines whatever he can unearth to find out “what happened” — so much so I semi-jokingly referred to our collaborative work on the series from finding source material to identifying the right interviewees as if we were doing a “Colonial-era cold case” on James’ life that ended all too soon…
One of the perks for my paid Patreon supporters is the opportunity to access all kinds of extra intel, history, cultural commentaries, interviews and such on the topics they find interesting. Join my PATREON and i’ll see you there where you can get much more scoop — and of course sips!… (And if you’re already a Patreon supporter I look fwd to you redeeming your perks;)…
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PS. It’s national pet day too :) — and i wish i could launch the world’s cutest cat caterer channel on IG :) but alas this pet parent always has way too much work to do!…
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