Box 1

The cookbooks in this collection date from 1912 to 2014. They are arranged by county and then alphabetically by the original creator of the cookbook. The collection has cookbooks from DeKalb, Lake, LaSalle, and McHenry counties. The bulk of the cookbooks were created by organizations throughout the northern Illinois region as a way to compile recipes and stories from its members. Some of the cookbooks were created as a means for raising money for the organization, while a few were given out for promotional purposes. The Center has other recipes and cookbooks scattered throughout its collections; however, the cookbooks in this collection were given to the Center as single items and compiled into a new collection.