Giving Thanks

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GIVING THANKS.  On November 17, with a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, the Foundation brought Penelope Bingham’s Thanksgiving program to Pinckneyville. This “Road Scholar” holds degrees from Wellesley College and the University of Chicago and has been an avid collector and appraiser of cookbooks for many years. Her personal collection of cookbooks now exceeds well over two-thousand volumes, and she has given numerous programs on American culture and cookbooks to libraries and professional organizations around Illinois. Food and tradition are the heart and soul of this most-loved, most-observed holiday. Bingham’s program considered the evolution of Thanksgiving from the “First Thanksgiving” in 1621 to the present day and invited the audience to think about what this holiday and its food traditions mean for our American culture and identity.