Henrietta Stanley Dull

{{Short description|American cook and food writer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Henrietta Stanley Dull | image = Photo of Henrietta Stanley Dull.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Henrietta Celestia Stanley | birth_date = {{Birth date|1863|12|07}} | birth_place = [[Stanley Mill, Georgia|Stanley Mill]], [[Laurens County, Georgia|Laurens County]], Georgia, United States | death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|01|29|1863|12|07}} | death_place = [[Atlanta]], Georgia | burial_place = [[Westview Cemetery]] | occupation = Cook, food writer | alma_mater = | spouse = Samuel Rice Dull (married 1887–1919) }} '''Henrietta Stanley Dull''' (December 7, 1863 – January 29, 1964) was an American cook and [[Food writing|food writer]]. She was a respected authority on the [[cuisine of the Southern United States]], and her 1928 book ''Southern Cooking'' is regarded as a definitive work on the subject.<ref name=AJC>{{Cite news |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1999/01/21/she-wrote-the-book-on-southern-cooking/ |title=She Wrote The Book On Southern Cooking |last=Auchmutey |first=Jim |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=January 21, 1999 |access-date=April 12, 2017 |via=orlandosentinel.com}}</ref>

In 2013 she was inducted into the [[Georgia Women of Achievement]] Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.georgiawomen.org/copy-of-honorees-2 |title=Georgia Women's Hall of Fame |publisher=[[Georgia Women of Achievement]] |access-date=April 12, 2017 |archive-date=April 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413153612/http://www.georgiawomen.org/copy-of-honorees-2 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Biography== Henrietta Stanley, nicknamed "Hennie", was born in [[Stanley Mill, Georgia|Stanley Mill]], [[Laurens County, Georgia|Laurens County]], Georgia in 1863, to parents Ira Eli and Mary Mourning Elizabeth Breazeal Stanley.<ref name=Foreword>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sabe3fbY-VkC&pg=PP15 |chapter=Foreword |title=Southern Cooking |last=Fowler |first=Damon Lee |publisher=[[University of Georgia Press|UGA Press]] |isbn=9780820328539 |pages=ix–xii |year=2006 |access-date=April 12, 2017 |via=Google Books}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Edible>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Fg7BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA201 |chapter=The New South's Old South Cookbooks |title=The Edible South: The Power of Food and the Making of an American Region |last=Ferris |first=Marcie Cohen |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press|UNC Press]] |isbn=9781469617688 |pages=201–204 |year=2014 |access-date=April 12, 2017 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfbAcOkf48wC&pg=PA24 |chapter=Dull, Henrietta Stanley |title=The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture |last=Edge |first=John T. |publisher=ReadHowYouWant.com |isbn=9781458721969 |pages=24–26 |date=September 1, 2009 |access-date=April 12, 2017 |via=Google Books}}</ref> She later reflected,

{{blockquote|Suddenly I found I had to be the breadwinner. I knew how to make good things to eat ... I mastered a gas range. I made it work for me and talk for me.<ref name=AJC/>}}

Dull's cooking proved so popular that she was able to build a successful [[catering]] business. She gave cooking lectures and classes, and companies such as [[Atlanta Gas Light]], [[Macy's]], and White Lily Flour began hiring her to endorse and demonstrate their products.<ref name=AJC/><ref name=Foreword/>

In 1920, assisted by a young [[Margaret Mitchell]],<ref name=AJC/> Dull began writing a weekly column named "Mrs. Dull's Cooking Lessons" for the ''[[Atlanta Journal]]''. Published until 1945, this contained illustrated recipes, advice, and correspondence with readers.<ref name=Foreword/>

Dull died at age 100 at a private hospital in Atlanta on January 29, 1964. She was buried at [[Westview Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/82228339/mrs-dull-dies-wrote-cook-book/ |title=Mrs. Dull Dies; Wrote Cook Book |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Constitution]] |page=11 |date=1964-01-30 |access-date=2021-07-26}}</ref>

==''Southern Cooking''== Writing as "Mrs. S. R. Dull", Henrietta Stanley Dull compiled 1,300 recipes into the influential [[cookbook]] ''Southern Cooking'', first published in 1928.<ref name=Foreword/> This introduced [[cuisine of the Southern United States|Southern cuisine]] to a wider audience throughout the United States, and adapted traditional recipes for preparation with modern gas and electric appliances.<ref name=AJC/><ref name=Foreword/> Dull's writing style was terse and emphasized pragmatism.

{{blockquote|This is the day of efficiency, and the woman who admits she can never get through the kitchen is a thing of the past. In order to be efficient, she must know how to manage.<ref name=Edible/>}}

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.<ref name=Foreword/>

==See also== * ''[[What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking]]''

==References== {{Reflist}}

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