The Ebony Test Kitchen has a new home

MOFAD is thrilled to share that the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has acquired the Ebony Test Kitchen. MOFAD is grateful to have played a role, along with Landmarks Illinois, in the preservation of Ebony Magazine’s Test Kitchen and proud of our work to restore the kitchen and update its components as part of our 2022 African/American: Making the Nation’s Table exhibition. Along with the kitchen, many of its unique components are also part of our donation to the NMAAHC. 

From the moment MOFAD heard about the availability of the Ebony Test Kitchen, which had been carefully removed by Skyline Council members from Landmarks Illinois, we knew it would play an integral part in anchoring African/American. We went to Chicago to pick up the kitchen’s cabinetry, appliances, flooring and ceiling tiles, and wallpaper samples and drove it all back to our home in Brooklyn. Our team worked alongside a group of dedicated artisans to lovingly restore, refurbish, and recreate both the kitchen’s sitting area and cooking space.

While there are no immediate plans to display the test kitchen inside the museum, NMAAHC seeks to feature the iconic kitchen as part of an initiative highlighting foodways’ integral role in African American culture during the modern era through digitization. 

We can’t wait to see the kitchen in its new home and congratulate all those who have ensured that the Ebony Test Kitchen is recognized, preserved and celebrated for many generations to come. 

Click on the following links to access MOFAD’s videos documenting the history of the Ebony Test Kitchen in“Date with a Dish” featuring historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris and interviews with past Ebony Food Editors Charlotte Lyons and Charla Draper.