The Little Gem 1916 Community Cookbook celebrates the culinary and community heritage of Keeseville, New York, located in the Adirondacks, by sharing recipes collected over a century ago. Created to inspire a connection to the past, the cookbook features home-cooked dishes from 1916 contributed by the Ladies of the Baptist Church in Keeseville.

Community Cookbooks

Community cookbooks have a rich history, deeply tied to grassroots efforts, social movements, and everyday culture—especially in the United States. The earliest known community cookbooks in the U.S. appeared during the Civil War era, with the first widely recognized example being the “A Poetical Cookbook” in 1864. It was sold to benefit the Civil War’s wounded, widowed, and orphaned. The book features a wide-ranging collection of recipes inspired by famous poems. For many years it was considered the first cookbook sold for a charitable cause.

Compiling recipes became a socially accepted form of women’s public participation and allowed them to express community identity and shared values through food, even before they had the right to vote. Recipes were contributed by community members, often with names included (e.g., “Mrs. John Smith’s Apple Pie”), giving them a personal connection. These cookbooks not only shared food traditions but also preserved regional dialects, family customs, and local history.

Later on, by the mid-20th century, community cookbooks were created by community organizations, PTA’s and civic groups as a way to raise funds for causes such as school scholarships, disaster relief, art projects, animal welfare, restoring historic landmarks and many more.