FREE Program with Museum Admission

Registration Encouraged | Admission to be paid at the front desk on the day of the program.

Join author Nora L. Rubel for a fascinating look at the history and legacy of The Settlement Cook Book, first published in Milwaukee in 1901 by Lizzie Black Kander.

Created from cooking classes Kander taught to young immigrant women at the Milwaukee Jewish Mission, The Settlement Cook Book began as a charitable effort to teach practical, nutritious, and affordable cooking. It would go on to become one of the most successful charitable cookbooks in American history, remaining a best-seller for generations.

In her book, Recipes for the Melting Pot: The Lives of the Settlement Cookbook, Rubel traces the cookbook’s evolution through 40 editions, exploring how it reflected and helped shape Jewish American identity amid changing immigration patterns, gender roles, economic mobility, suburbanization, and changes in Jewish life.

Discover the Milwaukee story behind a cookbook that became a cultural touchstone for generations of American families and learn how food can offer a window into history, identity, and community.