Augustus Jackson: African-American White House Chef

By JULIETTE ROSSANT [Editor's note: be sure to visit subsequent article about Black chefs -- click here.] [Editor's Note: See NPR's Hidden Kitchen: James Hemings and Hercules for more on African Americans in the White House] Superchefblog readers have been writing in with the names of African-American women chefs across the country because of last April's nationwide online readers' poll Vote for White House Woman Chef. One reader said that there has already been an African-American chef in the White House, named Augustus Jackson -- who also invented much of the modern technique for making ice cream. Initial research provides hazy details. Apparently, around the 1820s and 1830s, Jackson was a cook and possibly head cook (that is, chef) at the White House. Before and/or after this, he was a well-known ice cream maker, who developed techniques to control the temperature of custard as it froze. Among his peers (many if not most of whom were also African-American, Jackson's tin-packed ice cream was considered the best in Philadelphia. Jackson became one of the wealthier people in the city. (Click here to read more at ChillyPhilly.com; there is also an fun article on ice cream in The Herald Democrat of Sherman, TX.) Another website mentions what may be a self-published or small-press book The Philadelphia Confectioner about Jackson by Harriette Washington-Williams. Jackson is mentioned on some websites and listed on many more simply as the inventor of ice cream, with little further information. He is no unsung hero, though: Jamaican-born Sound Vibration wrote "A Pattern If You Are Black": All over the globe there is a pattern if you are black If you are black many want us to step back So much ignorant people why is that Stop lights was designed by blacks 1875 to 1963 Garrett A Morgan he did that [...] In Japan they love Reggae and Rap In the train they took several step back when they saw I was black In the Netherlands they too love Reggae and Rap Apartheid & Slavery... there will be no forgetting of that Karma will stop all evil tracks, people continue suffering because they are black In 1832 Ice-cream was created by blacks Augustus Jackson he made that... Mmmm tasty isn't that. So much ignorant people why is that. If you know more about Augustus Jackson, please post a comment to this article! Other sources: Wikipedia Common Ills Black Inventors History of Ice Cream African-American Inventors Restaurant Edge Subsequent articles: Marvin Woods: Obama's Chef in Waiting Make It Super Simple with G. Garvin Food Network: Down Home with the Neelys Marcus Samuelsson: Starbucks Taste of Ebony: Black Chefs Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin G. Garvin: MegaFest Star Juliette Rossant in Heart & Soul Previous articles: Tell Laura Bush: White House Woman Chef Vote for White House Woman Chef Technorati Tags: chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, Black History, African-American History, ice cream, White House, Augustus Jackson --> back to superchefblog