Georgia Gilmore (1920-1990) sustained a movement through her kitchen in Montgomery, Alabama.
Georgia Gilmore (1920-1990) sustained a movement through her kitchen in Montgomery, Alabama.
Food has been a unifier for millennia, not just gathering people together to share a meal, but acting as a warm introduction to new histories and traditions. This February on Womanica, we’re celebrating Tastemakers - the Black chefs, cooks, and food historians who created new foodways and preserved important culinary stories of the past. The impact of chefs like Pig Foot Mary, Mama Dip, and Georgia Gilmore stretch far beyond the culinary scene - uplifting their local communities and inspiring those who came after them.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
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Hi, I'm Chef Kia Damon.
I'm a Florida born chef, writer, host and recipe developer. I served as an executive Chef of New York City restaurant Lalito at the age of 24 and became Cherry Bombe magazine's first Culinary Director at 25. Since leaving I've founded Kia Feeds The People, a budding mutual aid effort. I’ll be your guest host for this month of Womanica.
This month, we're talking about Tastemakers. We're celebrating the Black chefs, cooks, and food historians who created new foodways and preserved important culinary stories of the past.
On a quiet street south of the riverbend in Montgomery, Alabama, sat a house where the oven never turned off. Today, we’re talking about the woman who sustained a movement through that kitchen. Let’s talk about Georgia Gilmore.
Georgia Gilmore was born on February 5, 1920, in Montgomery. She and her 6 siblings grew up on a small farm, where they raised cows, chickens, and pigs.
As an adult, Georgia held several jobs. She was a midwife, a domestic worker, and a cook. ILike many of the other Black women in Montgomery who worked in kitchens and homes, she rode the bus to work. At the time, bus conductors could legally force Black commuters to give up their seats to white commuters.
One fall afternoon in 1955, Georgia boarded the bus, dropped her fare in the box, and went to sit down. Before she could, the driver shouted at her to get off and get back on through the back door of the bus. Georgia saw no sense in this. She felt her anger rising– but she collected herself and stepped off the bus. And as she moved toward the back door, the bus sped off. With her fare.
Georgia decided then and there: she wasn’t going to ride the buses anymore.
Two months later, on December 1st, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on the bus.
That part of the story is well known. Less known is the role Georgia played in it.
Four nights after Rosa Parks was arrested, thousands of Black community members gathered at a local church for a meeting. Among them was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who roused the crowd with one of his first speeches as a civil rights leader.
There, in the crowd, was Georgia. She’d never cared too much for preachers, but listening to Dr. King that night, she felt a sudden call to duty. He was preaching the very things she already believed in. That night was the beginning of a resistance movement called the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Movements don’t happen on their own. They require massive amounts of energy– and the ability to sustain that energy. That’s where Georgia came in.
She founded what she called the “Club From Nowhere,” a coalition of maids, cooks, and other workers who supported the boycott. They began by making and selling sandwiches; then, pies and cakes. Soon they were making tons of hearty food – fried chicken, stewed greens, pork chops, and mac n’ cheese.
The Club sold that food at meetings, protests, and even went door-to-door. Sometimes people couldn’t give more than 50 cents; but over time, the Club collected hundreds of dollars a week. All those proceeds went directly back into their efforts, into the movement.
Fundraising for the Civil Rights Movement was dangerous work. Georgia knew every member of the club was risking their livelihood. That’s why she called their operation the “Club From Nowhere,” so that if anyone was asked where their money came from, they could answer honestly by saying: “nowhere.”
The bus boycott would last 381 days. It required weekly meetings and a coordinated carpool network of 300 cars to transport protestors in lieu of the bus. All of these efforts pulled from the funding Georgia raised.
Georgia and the network of women she fostered sustained the boycott. Once the maids and cooks of the movement stopped riding the bus, there were fewer people paying the fare than ever. In other words, they didn’t need the bus company– the buses needed them.
In June of 1956, a federal court ruled that racially segregated seating on buses violated the 14th Amendment. That decision was upheld by the Supreme Court on Dec 20, 1956. The boycott ended the next day.
That same year, Dr. King had been indicted. When Georgia testified in his defense, she was fired from her cafeteria job
Instead of looking for another job, she decided to open a catering business out of her home. Dr. King encouraged her and even funded the business. “All these years you’ve worked for somebody else,” he told her, “now it’s time you worked for yourself.”
So, Georgia’s kitchen became a hub for good food and for Dr. King’s work. He trusted her and her cooking and held many meetings with other civil rights leaders at her home.
Georgia’s activism continued the rest of her life. In 1958, she championed a lawsuit that eventually led to the desegregation of Montgomery’s public parks.
The morning of March 9, 1990 found 70-year-old Georgia cooking a feast to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery. That same day, she died. The very food she had been cooking was fed to those who came to mourn her; it was her last gift through food.
I first learned of Georgia Gilmore when I was 22 years old living in Tallahassee Florida. I came across her story during a time when I was questioning my purpose in the culinary world. Her story taught me the importance of moving with integrity and a spirit for community. Her work moved me to start The Supper Club From Nowhere. These days, I carry on her legacy by breaking bread with those who also understand the power of food.
All month, we’re talking about tastemakers. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to co-creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan, for having me as a guest host.
Talk to you tomorrow!