Henrietta Stanley Dull (December 7, 1863 – January 29, 1964) was an American cook and

food writer Food writing is a literary genre that focuses on the cultural and historical significance of food. It encompasses various forms, including recipes, journalism, memoirs, and travelogues, and can be found in both fiction and non-fiction works. Food ...

. She was a respected authority on the

cuisine of the Southern United States The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several subregions, including Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, cuisine of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, Southeastern Native American tribes, ...

, and her 1928 book ''Southern Cooking'' is regarded as a definitive work on the subject. In 2013 she was inducted into the

Georgia Women of Achievement The Georgia Women of Achievement (GWA) recognizes women natives or residents of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia for their significant achievements or statewide contributions. The concept was first proposed by Rosalynn Carter in 19 ...

Hall of Fame.

Biography

Henrietta Stanley, nicknamed "Hennie", was born in Stanley Mill, Laurens County, Georgia in 1863, to parents Ira Eli and Mary Mourning Elizabeth Breazeal Stanley. She married Virginian Samuel Rice Dull on June 15, 1887, and the couple settled in Atlanta. When her husband became seriously ill in the early 1900s, Henrietta began selling homemade food to support their family. She later reflected, Dull's cooking proved so popular that she was able to build a successful

catering Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major service ...

business. She gave cooking lectures and classes, and companies such as Atlanta Gas Light,

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

, and White Lily Flour began hiring her to endorse and demonstrate their products. In 1920, assisted by a young

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel that was published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel ''Gone With the Wind (novel), Gone ...

, Dull began writing a weekly column named "Mrs. Dull's Cooking Lessons" for the ''

Atlanta Journal ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

''. Published until 1945, this contained illustrated recipes, advice, and correspondence with readers. Dull died at age 100 at a private hospital in Atlanta on January 29, 1964. She was buried at

Westview Cemetery Westview Cemetery, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is the largest civilian cemetery in the Southeastern United States, comprising more than , 50 percent of which is undeveloped. The cemetery includes the graves of more than 125,000 people and was ...

''Southern Cooking''

Writing as "Mrs. S. R. Dull", Henrietta Stanley Dull compiled 1,300 recipes into the influential

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (food), course (appetize ...

''Southern Cooking'', first published in 1928. This introduced

Southern cuisine The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several subregions, including cuisine of Southeastern Native American tribes, Tidewater, Appalachian, Ozarks, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, African American cuisi ...

to a wider audience throughout the United States, and adapted traditional recipes for preparation with modern gas and electric appliances. Dull's writing style was terse and emphasized pragmatism. Dull included several new recipes and revisions in a 1941 edition of ''Southern Cooking''. This and the original have remained in print sporadically since Dull's death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dull, Henrietta Stanley 1863 births 1964 deaths 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American women centenarians American cookbook writers People from Laurens County, Georgia Writers from Georgia (U.S. state) American women non-fiction writers

Biography

''Southern Cooking''

See also

References