On December 1, 2022 the Folger’s virtual book club discussed Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. To prepare for the discussion, we pulled together a list of Folger resources related to food and food pathways.
- EXPERIMENT in the kitchen with recipes from the Folger collection
- Early modern recipe combinations to get you through the winter
- Taffety Tarts: How Folger manuscript recipes helped a 17th-century pastry make it into the Oxford English Dictionary
- Mince pies and mirth: Transcribed 17th-century recipes
- LEARN about food pathways
- Making rum in unexpected places
- A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
- Before ‘Farm to Table’: Early Modern Foodways and Cultures
- EXPLORE the connections between black cake and Emily Dickinson
- The Messy History of Emily Dickinson’s Black Cake Recipe
- Make Emily Dickinson’s Black Birthday Cake with The SugaChef
- CONTINUE the conversation with this year’s Emily Dickinson Birthday Tribute
We would like to thank the following organization for its generous support of this program
Join us for a future event
Shakespeare's Birthday Celebration 2026
Shakespeare's Birthday Celebration
Celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday at the Folger with fun, family-friendly activities and birthday cupcakes for all! Make an Elizabethan ruff, watch sword-fighting and printing press demonstrations, write sonnets, and more at this free event.
Sat, Apr 18, 2026, 11am
Shakespeare's Birthday Lecture: "Shakespeare and Immigration" with Dr. Emma Smith
Shakespeare's Birthday Lecture: "Shakespeare and Immigration" with Dr. Emma Smith
Join us for the Folger Institute’s annual Shakespeare’s Birthday Lecture with Dr. Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Oxford University.
Sat, Apr 18, 2026 at 7pm
Screening: Shakespeare's Globe "Richard II," introduced by Adjoa Andoh MBE
Shakespeare's Globe Richard II
Join the Folger for a free screening of the 2019 Shakespeare’s Globe production of Richard II. Adjoa Andoh MBE conceived, co-directed, and played the lead in the UK’s first all women-of-color production of this Shakespeare play.
Tue, Apr 21, 2026, 7pm
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