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Janice Longone ( Bluestein; July 31, 1933 – August 3, 2022) was an American food historian, Curator of American Culinary History at Special Collections, Hatcher Library,
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
.
Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...
,
James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 21, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside ...
, and ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' food editor
Craig Claiborne Craig Claiborne (September 4, 1920 January 22, 2000) was an American restaurant critic, food journalist and book author. A long-time food editor and restaurant critic for ''The New York Times'', he was also the author of numerous cookbooks ...
were all early fans of Longone's out-of-print cookbook collection. Their enthusiasm prompted her to create The Wine and Food Library in 1972, which offers books by mail order or private appointment and remains one of the most important antiquarian culinary resources in the world.


Personal life

The second of three children, Longone was born to Alexander and Edith Gropman Bluestein, both Eastern European immigrants. She grew up in a six-family tenement house in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester. Her father was a kitchen equipment salesman, and her mother a homemaker. She recalled lively family dinners when her father would quiz the children over traditional
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
dishes like gefilte fish and stuffed cabbage rolls.Steve Friess,
Cookbook Collector Savors Recipes for Living in Michigan
in ''Forward'' (January 28, 2015)
Longone was the first in her family to attend college, enrolling in Bridgewater State Teacher's College (now
Bridgewater State University Bridgewater State University is a public university with its main campus in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest of nine state universities in Massachusetts. Including its off-campus sites in New Bedford, Massachusetts, N ...
). She earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1954 and later did graduate work at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
, where she completed coursework toward a Ph.D. in Chinese history. After graduating from college, Longone married her childhood sweetheart, Daniel T. (Dan) Longone, whom she had met as a teenager during summers spent swimming at Revere Beach near Boston.Joel Goldberg,
Dan Longone's Grape Expectations at the Clements
in ''Ann Arbor Chronicle'' (May 2, 2009)
In 1959 the Longones moved to
Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...
,
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
, where Dan had received an appointment in the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
's Department of Chemistry. He retired as Professor of Organic Chemistry in 1988. The couple was active in Democratic Party politics. Jan Longone worked on the congressional campaign of Wes Vivian, one of the so-called “ Five Fluke Freshmen” who won congressional seats in the Democratic landslide election of 1964. Longone subsequently became District Representative for
Michigan's 2nd congressional district Michigan's 2nd congressional district is a United States congressional district in Western Michigan. The current 2nd district contains much of Michigan's 4th congressional district, Michigan's old 4th congressional district, and includes all of ...
.


Career

When Wes Vivian lost reelection, Longone and her husband began teaching classes on food and wine at the University of Michigan Extension. Their interest in
gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between Human food, food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well ver ...
had begun soon after they married, when Dan gave Jan a copy of the first ''
Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...
'' magazine cookbook. Inside was a coupon for two dollars off a lifetime subscription. As graduate students, the Longones had little money, but they managed to scrape together the forty-eight dollars needed to buy a subscription. Reading ''Gourmet'' changed Longone's life. She became passionately interested in recipes and the history and culture behind them. In 2014 Longone revisited the impact ''Gourmet'' had on several generations of readers by organizing an exhibition on "The Life and Death of ''Gourmet—The Magazine of Good Living''" at the Hatcher Library at the University of Michigan. For two years beginning in 1975 Longone hosted a radio show, “Adventures in Gastronomy,” on
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
affiliate WUOM. In 1983 Longone's interest in food history led her to found the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor, one of the earliest American culinary history groups. She served as its president until 1988 and remained the honorary president. Between 2001 and 2003 she was the major writer and planner of Michigan State University's Feeding America digital cookbook project. Longone's prodigious research and extraordinary knowledge of American culinary history led to important discoveries, such as Malinda Russell's ''A Domestic Cookbook,'' published in 1866 and believed to be the earliest black-authored cookbook in the U.S. Her particular interest in Jewish charity and community cookbooks prompted her to acquire publications from Jewish organizations in every U.S. state. In 2000 the Longones began donating their extensive culinary archive to the University of Michigan to form the Janice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive. It consists of more than 30,000 items, including cookbooks, culinary manuscripts, menus, and ephemera, all of which are being cataloged by an army of volunteers. The archive, originally housed at the university's William L. Clements Library, was dedicated in 2005 with a symposium. Since 2013 it has resided in Special Collections at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library. Over the years the collection has been the source of numerous exhibitions and symposia, such as "The Iceman Cometh…and Goeth!: The Ice Industry in America" (2004) and "The Second Biennial Symposium: A to Z: An Alphabet of Regional and Ethnic Culinary Traditions" (2007). Longone was a founding member of the American Institute of Wine & Food (AIWF) and served on its board of directors, as well as on the editorial board of '' Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture'', to which she also contributed a column, “Notes on Vintage Volumes.” She is the author of entries on American cookbook history for ''The Oxford Companion to Food'' and was an associate editor for ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America''. Longone served as a judge for many cookbook awards, including those sponsored by the AIWF, the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), the
James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is an American non-profit culinary arts organization based in New York City. It was named after James Beard, a food writer, teacher, and cookbook author. Its programs include guest-chef dinners to scholarships for asp ...
, and the McIlhenny Company, which for 20 years sponsored the Tabasco Community Cookbook Awards. She was active in organizing a chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier in Ann Arbor.


Awards

In June 2000 Longone received the ''Food Arts'' Silver Spoon Award for her work in uncovering and preserving American culinary history. In 2011 the Culinary Historians of New York honored her with the Amelia Award for lifetime achievement in culinary history.Catherine Arcure, �
Ann Arbor woman honored in New York for lifetime achievement in culinary history
�� at AnnArbor.com (November 19, 2011)


References


External links


Culinary Historians of Ann ArborLes Dames d'EscoffierJanice Bluestein Longone Culinary Archive
at the Hatcher Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Longone, Jan 1933 births 2022 deaths American women food writers American food writers Food historians American bibliographers Women bibliographers University of Michigan people Historians from Boston American people of Jewish descent